Authentically Teresa Funke – Never AI
Just Another Grateful Day
“It’s not happy people who are thankful, it’s thankful people who are happy.” I found this quote on the internet the other day. A friend encouraged me to start a regular gratitude practice, and since I have, I’ve noticed that no matter how foul my mood, my gratitude practice lifts it every time. I tick...
Call Me Artist
My husband was recently asked by his boss to retake the Myers-Briggs test. His result was ISFP, also known as “The Artist.” When he saw the word artist and read the description, it shocked him. He figured he must have done something wrong, so he had me watch as he retook the test. I did,...
The Lost Generation Found
I recently returned from a trip to Paris with a friend. We went on a literary walking tour in which our guide showed us the pubs and bistros where some of the most famous writers of the early 20th century gathered to write, debate, drink, celebrate, and argue. Writers like Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Ezra...
Like Halloween? Thank a Writer
Today is Halloween, which means you are no doubt getting ready for a party or filling your bowl with candy for the trick-or-treaters or, if you are the parent of a teenager, like me, cleaning your house before his/her friends arrive to mess it up again. Though I don’t know your plans, there is one...
Have You Dreamed a Dream Lately?
You know the clip on YouTube featuring Susan Boyle singing “I Dreamed a Dream” on Britain’s Got Talent? I’m sure you do. It has over 177 million views, and I think at least 50 of those are mine. This is my go-to video, the one I watch anytime I want a pick-me-up or I feel...
The Folly of Failure
What if failure didn’t exist? No, I’m serious. What if it’s just a word someone invented because he was feeling down about his work and the word stuck. It’s not hard to imagine a time when this word didn’t exist. There was a time when none of the words we use today existed. But at...
You Can’t Say That Word!
A couple of weeks ago, the sitcom Black-ish tackled a subject I’d been hoping they would address, the n-word. If you haven’t seen Black-ish, it’s a clever, funny, heartfelt take on a modern African-American family navigating the tricky waters of diversity. It quite often brings up important conversations, including this one . . . when...
The Brilliance of Illness
It’s hard to be brilliant when you are sick. Remember when you were a kid and became ill, and your mother made a bed on the couch, turned on your favorite cartoons, made you chicken soup and told you everything was going to be better soon? Is it wrong that right now I wish I...