Susan Arico

Blogs

A race run

This spring my consulting has involved research and analysis on college athletics. One aspect of the work has encompassed the faith-athletics connection. If sportsmanship and godly character are well established among athletes, is winning performance also critical? Questions like that. (Turns out this topic is a relevant and widely discussed

Blogs

On spending and Plato

I've gone through a kind of metamorphosis in my spending habits in the past couple years… Or maybe you could say, in how I think about spending. I used to put off spending money on things for myself, dither and procrastinate while my mixed feelings rumbled. If I

Blogs

When you wake up with a vulnerability hangover

"After I wrote it I had a vulnerability hangover," I said to an old friend as we sat talking about life and writing over dinner. "Isn't that the best term?" he said. He also writes, and often about close-to-the-heart topics where truth and poignancy

Blogs

Lessons in joy from Alvin and the Chipmunks

My kids are obsessed with Alvin and the Chipmunks. Last month the oldest, who's 10, went with a friend to see the latest movie in the theatre; he came back fixated on the hip, wee creatures with the helium-balloon voices. He's a Star Wars lover and

Blogs

Spiritual study abroad

I was 19, and a year felt daunting. Not totally overwhelming, but daunting. I flew over in the early days of September, and by the time Thanksgiving rolled around I felt pretty darn homesick. It was my first time away from the long, well-set table around which my family sat,

Blogs

Pause for poetry

A few months ago I was involved in a fascinating work project at the intersection of faith and culture. Part of the study touched on reading habits among modern American adults. Most people today, surprise surprise, get their info from the internet instead of books. Much more. The hours required

Blogs

Kudos to Kazdin

Here's a parenting book you perhaps haven't heard of: The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child. Not the most enticing title when you're glancing across the bookshelf. If you were to nevertheless decide to pick the book up, you might put it right

Blogs

My phone, my car, and me

Nearly three months ago I took up a practice that I wouldn't have predicted, even a week prior. A practice that seems kind of extreme and unnecessary. I stopped using my cell phone in the car. I'd had a Significant Moment — a scary moment — of distracted