Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Joy of Teaching

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Barbara McAfee

I always have high hopes for my clients and students. With good reason. For decades now, I have witnessed individual voice coaching clients stepping beyond what they believed was possible for them. Timid speakers find their courage to speak out … Continue reading →

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Brain Rats, The Video

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Barbara McAfee

I’ve written about my song, “Brain Rats,” in this blog several years ago. Now I’m revisiting the subject in celebration of the new music video of the song. The song is a goofy, dramatic sendup of the persistent negative thoughts … Continue reading →

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Somewhere Not Far from Here

Posted on September 20, 2018 by Barbara McAfee

It is a foggy morning in Bayfield, Wisconsin. I am visiting dear friends in their home overlooking Lake Superior. Before I am fully awake, I amble to the piano with my first cup of coffee in hand. I sit down … Continue reading →

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Calamity Management

Posted on September 6, 2018 by Barbara McAfee

I’ve entered into a new phase of caregiving with my sweet 94-year-old mama. I’m calling it calamity management. Her memory is faltering more and more these days, so I’m trying to remember what I’m forgetting she forgot. Or something like … Continue reading →

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A Tale of Three Gifts

Posted on August 2, 2018 by Barbara McAfee

Gift #1 July 4th would have been Karly Wahlin’s 33rdbirthday. She died at 27, weary from struggling with her challenging body and ready to leap into the new place she had glimpsed for years. Her mother, Lois Swope, and I … Continue reading →

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Your Voice Matters

Posted on June 22, 2018 by Barbara McAfee

I’m in my car driving home from an evening of Scrabble with my 94-year-old mom. I’m listening to a podcast to keep me company on the familiar thirty-minute drive: “Making Obama” from WBEZ, the public radio station in Chicago. In … Continue reading →

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On Naming Kip

Posted on June 7, 2018 by Barbara McAfee

A handful of us are standing around our cars, preparing to leave after singing for a woman in hospice. We are all members of the Morning Star Singers, a volunteer comfort choir I founded in 2007 to bring singing and … Continue reading →

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Laughing and Crying

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Barbara McAfee

Like many other young women of my generation, I knew every word of Joni Mitchell’s iconic record, Court and Sparkby heart. I had some recent experiences that illuminated one particular line of her song “People’s Parties.” Photo Beauty gets attention … Continue reading →

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Improvising Kindness

Posted on May 3, 2018 by Barbara McAfee

I am in a small city in the Upper Midwest to deliver several keynotes for health care professionals. The morning after my arrival, I am taking an early morning walk along the banks of the Missouri River. The geese are … Continue reading →

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I Wish You A Simple Season

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Barbara McAfee

This year I first noticed the Christmas displays beginning in late September. September. Well before Halloween not to mention Thanksgiving! While I was still occasionally jumping in my favorite Minnesota lakes! Honestly. Every year I face this season with mixed … Continue reading →

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