Joan Fernandez

A Sledgehammer Moment Arcadia National Park, Maine “I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just to the length of it. I want to have lived the width as well.” —Diane Ackerman It may be time to widen. In September 2019 I attended a writer’s retreat with about 20 women writers in Maine close to the lush green solitude of Acadia National Park. The three-day retreat had a comfortable cadence of classes and solo writing time, yoga and veggie-heavy meals. Secluded and...

How the FTF's 9 Core Principles Change Everything A craftsman weaves an elegant scarf in Aswan, Egypt. The unassuming shop is set back from the gauntlet aisle of noisy touristy trinket and t-shirt hawkers. We’re in Egypt. Every tomb or ruin or pyramid site has tourist alleys at the exit points. Now into our second week of the tour we are unfazed by the brazen sales jousting. I think that’s why this quieter enclosure counterintuitively stands out. What is it? We step inside. The chaos in the...

Why It was 100% My Fault and I'm Grateful Anyway. This dude is putting on the charm but I know better. I have to admit something challenging: The unfortunate camel ride? It was entirely my fault. As my husband and I planned our trip to Egypt, while looking through a pamphlet he muttered, “Hmmmm... an optional camel ride?” I instantly perked up. “Yes! We’re doing a camel ride!” I had ironclad reasoning, so I delivered it with a raised eyebrow: “We are going to Egypt! It is what one does in...