And then life happened...

The last few months have been a series of highs and lows. I had grand plans for the next stages of my work spreading the word about #RadicalEmpathy and my ongoing work in #academe. I've always been very family oriented, but the last year has been a series of challenges on the family front. I prefer to focus on the joyful events, like the arrival of my newest grand-niece, my son Andrew Scott 's graduation from Lewis & Clark College , and the great success we have had at 加拿大麦吉尔大学 in hiring new Black faculty. However, the challenges make it clear that I need to do a better job of setting priorities.

At my son's graduation ceremony, the speaker, Aomawa Shields, spoke about her own challenges with finding time for rest. She discussed the steps she has taken to cut back, say no more, and take more time for herself. Those words were incredibly familiar to me and my sister and we smiled at each other, because we had just had a similar conversation yesterday. I have been thinking about this issue a great deal and as I wrote in a recent blog post, "I am definitely going to pay more attention to what my body is telling me, take time to grieve over my loss of running as an outlet, and say no a lot more. I have been having this discussion over the last few months with many colleagues. I have pushed myself very hard throughout my career, and frankly, I have always enjoyed being busy and don’t regret any of it."

What this means is that I'm realizing that taking time for myself and my family is more important than the hussle. It is a combination of pride and the desire to create change that has kept me pushing so hard, and I'm very proud of my accomplishments, but I'm in a season of life where my boys and the elders in our families need me. I don't want to miss out on those important moments that come at the beginning and end of life. I will continue the work, but on a more limited basis going forward. After all, I'm still an active academic and it's time for me to focus again on immigration and European politics.

As of July, I am stepping down from my position in the Provost's office at McGill, but I'll be working more closely with Dean Lisa S. hapiro, in the Faculty of Arts. If you want me as a speaker anytime in the next year, get on my calendar now! I'll be limiting the events I do, but I'm always happy to connect one-on-one with folks who want advice or could use some support. Eventually I will be shifting my practice to doing more work with individual leaders vs. the workshops and speaking engagements. I'm thankful for all the folks who have worked with and supported me along the way, particularly Earl Coleman , Danielle Harlan, Ph.D. , Justin Gest , Rhonda Brown , Diva Givens , Christa S. , Dave Norris and many more.

Although I will be discontinuing this newsletter, I will still be active on LinkedIn and even writing occasional articles. I appreciate all the connections I have made on this platform and I always enjoy making new connections. It's a matter of finding balance, and it's an ongoing process through life changes.