Karen L. Anderson
andersonspeaks.bsky.social
Karen L. Anderson
@andersonspeaks.bsky.social
Educator, mediator, author, trainer-developer, speaker, President of ACTS-ion Solutions, LLC.
Stitches or a scar? I’d ask my kids after a small injury that question. They always answered “scar!” It was a badge of honor & a great story. My kids were raised in dirt & snow—playing frontier, racing downhill & over “thank-you-ma’ams,” & flying through the air on bikes or skis. No internet then.
November 19, 2025 at 2:40 PM
How do you react when someone discounts your feelings or experiences? These are the two expressions that are totally yours, whether they are shared with anyone else. Discounting them is condescending, demeaning, and insufferable. To deflate the discount ask the discounter to share their thinking!
November 16, 2025 at 8:43 PM
AI is really “Automated Information”—artificial in the sense it can be true & factual information or it can be false & fictional information or a combination. AI has no integrity or conscience. AI creates through implanted associations & algorithms. No regulations? Accountability? Ethics? Really?
November 14, 2025 at 2:29 PM
If you can afford it, send a donation to a veterans group, a food bank, or a mental health agency today. Celebrate and support those who have served to keep democracy secure in the world. Vote whenever and wherever you can to do the same.
November 11, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Behind every veteran is a circle of family (members by birth and invitation) who missed them and were scared for them when the service members were deployed. Thank the veterans and their families!
Embrace the day.
November 11, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Dad received orders to move to another USN base. He sold our house in one state, rented another house in another state. A week later his orders changed. He canceled the rental, honored the sale. We were “homeless” for a month. We 8 went on vacation in a tent and old war barracks. Fond Navy memories!
November 11, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Making statements, giving ultimatums, blaming another party, refusing to listen—not productive! Start asking questions about the other’s experiences and thinking on the issue at hand. Seek the “interest” behind the “position.” Address that interest to find common ground.
November 9, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The US Supreme Court is an arbitrator in effect. Litigation takes time and consumes vast funds. Experienced, independent mediators are needed to give Americans a chance to be heard and resolutions to be reached. Faster, cost-effective, and lasting agreements are the result.
November 9, 2025 at 4:28 PM
In the late years of the past century, “How to Handle Difficult People” was a popular public seminar for business managers. All the strategies required rational people having rational behaviors to work together. One or more parties who are irrational cause escalated conflict, impasse, or violence.
November 9, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Bill Eddy, esq., has identified 5 high-conflict personalities: borderline, sociopath (anti-social), histrionic, narcissist, and paranoid. Too many characteristic behaviors of those extreme personalities are at play in the government shutdown. Blaming, threatening, manipulating, stonewalling….
November 9, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Political surveys that I receive in emails ask for my valued opinions and my donations. If I do not give, I get a reminder to “complete the survey”! It seems I have to pay to have my views count. Do we not care about those who cannot afford to donate to political entities? No tax deduction either!
November 9, 2025 at 2:48 PM
“I might lose my soul in imagining,” posted Gene Rowzee on 7 November 2025. This was regarding his thoughts of Customs & Border Protection and Immigration & Customs Enforcement employees’ unconscionable acts. I believe I understand and feel what he means. Power without accountability harms people.
November 8, 2025 at 4:26 PM
@jennymadden90.bsky.social
Thanks for following me. I love malamutes! Have had more than 10 of them—so beautiful, strong, protective, loving, and howling!
November 7, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reviewing wardrobe and accessory possibilities for upcoming events… Kimonos, Kenyan beaded jewelry, a silver squash blossom necklace,
A beret, camouflage…
Is wearing an animal print the ultimate cultural appropriation?
November 7, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Years back I read a book on quantum physics—yeah, I impressed myself, too! I wanted to understand my physicist brother better. My insight: what I thought about in poetry, he studied in theory. Not so different after all. Our vocabularies carry different jargon, yet understanding is possible!
November 6, 2025 at 3:45 PM
“Just be concise and get to the point.” That’s what my seminar participants often say as their primary complaint for business communications. No one has the patience in a busy world to read or listen too long. My tip: begin with your audience’s “point” (their perception) before making your point.
November 2, 2025 at 12:21 PM
@fred.myatproto.social
All is well here. You?
October 28, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Recently, I taught a corporate class in speaking and presenting. Do you find yourself becoming anxious over “ah, um” expressions? Think of those sounds as the brain humming between thoughts. Concentrate on the thought content that follows the hum transition!
October 25, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Many people cope with unpleasantries by denying and avoiding. Our government officials are doing that now. The only way to resolve disputes is to face them—and each other. Face to face and voice to voice. Ask, listen, seek understanding, and create small agreements to arrive at lasting resolution.
October 23, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Too often we judge others through our ignorance rather than knowledge. Keep asking questions and listening. Then ask more questions. Curiosity will bring us closer to understanding. Use both your heart and your mind. THEN accept, select, or reject!
October 19, 2025 at 1:20 PM
October 19, 2025 at 1:11 PM
TV and movies often have a high-pitched musical score that enhances emotionality and buries the dialog. Actually, that provides a metaphor for discerning the truth in news: we have to differentiate among background noise and foreground nonsense and significant sense! So pay attention, All.
October 18, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Fear can paralyze or energize. How do you respond to fear? Avoid it or embrace it or decimate it? Think through times you have experienced fear. What do you plan to do differently or similarly the next time? Fear lives among us. Deliberate now to act later!
October 16, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Updates matter. Thank you for your dedication and courage! Ukraine will prevail. The Western world must advocate and donate! Please help.
October 15, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Silence speaks louder in approval than in disapproval! Be clear about your silence, and your speech.
October 13, 2025 at 11:17 PM