Choosing Hospitality Over Isolation
Growing up in a household with two wheelchairs, Kevan Chandler experienced firsthand the challenges, and the choices, that shape how a family navigates disability. Kevan and his sister both have…
Creating Belonging in Diverse Communities
I wrote a few weeks ago about curiosity as an act of belonging. I also had a chance to go to Baylor University for a few lovely days of conversation and connection that only…
Reimagining the Good Life: What’s Coming This Season
REIMAGINING THE GOOD LIFE PODCAST What really makes life worth living? This season on Reimagining the Good Life, Amy Julia Becker dives into the ideas, assumptions, and cultural narratives that shape…
Can We Disagree and Still Belong Together
I recently spoke about what it looks like to become communities of belonging. I’m aware that many of our communities are places where we only belong if we all think…
photo by Bryan Johnson
Where Joy and Discomfort Meet
I know many of you are already back to school, or close to it. Here in Connecticut, we still have a few weeks of summertime. Our kids are playing Monopoly…
“Good Genes” and the Gift of Being Human
What if the real beauty of humanity isn’t found in “good genes,” but in the people our culture is most inclined to screen out? Last week in the newsletter, I mentioned…
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Our daughter has Down syndrome. Can she live a full life?
Here's what I know... Penny has different capacities when it comes to learning, but she has no limits on her capacity to love, or to live a full life. Our…
True Friendship Isn’t Built on Pity
Years ago, one of our kids came home from preschool and said, “She cries a lot and doesn’t share her toys.” Our child were talking about a classmate who had…
“You are a human. You belong here.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about belonging—what it feels like, where we find it, and how we create spaces that nurture it, spaces that say, "You are a human. You…
The Lucky Few: Finding Delight and Belonging in Disability
When Heather Avis says she’s one of “the lucky few,” she means it. In this episode, we talk about growing up with our children with Down syndrome, what it means…
