My name is Julie. In my professional life, I’m a natural resource and environmental economist and retired university professor. In the rest of my life–past and present–I am a wife, a mother (to six children), a daughter and sister, a scientist, an endurance athlete, a musician, an artist, a dancer, a writer, a church-goer, a spirituality-seeker, and many other things. In this blog, I tell stories about my chaotic, high-stress, breakneck speed life. Some are funny, some are sad, some (I hope) will help others who might be struggling with something with which I too currently struggle or with which I have struggled in the past.

According to what I’ve read in the field of neuroscience, our memories are created when we tell ourselves stories about our experiences. Those stories may or may not be accurate in terms of how closely they reflect what actually occurred, but they do typically express our feelings about what happened. My stories, accordingly, are what I think of as, “to the best of my recollection” versions of what happened. If you happened to be in on something that I tell a story about, and if you also happen to remember the facts of what happened differently from how I have described them, please let me know. I’m willing and happy to update my mental stories with new and better information.

(See https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-our-brains-make-memories-14466850/)

Welcome to my blog. I hope you will find something here that is entertaining, enlightening, or encouraging.