Articles on communication by Karen Mathieson
- Ask Me Another Indirect questioning for deeper listening
- Compliment Enclosed Handle praise with more grace
- First Aid When Words Collide Coping with a social emergency
- One Word or Two? How to listen as you write
- The Queen's Speech Five ways for women to develop effective speaking habits
Author Archives: Karen Mathieson
Voice of AmeriPlayers
Workers often arrive in groups for Volunteer Ventures at Metro’s Native Plant Center, ready for a hands-on experience in natural area restoration. Some are families imprinting kids with the habit of helping, others simply gardening friends. Some represent a formal … Continue reading
Posted in Embodied Values, In Relationship
Tagged collaboration, core values, relationships, volunteering
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The Experience of Wisdom
Human wisdom cannot be gauged with the answer to a story problem. Assessing it is more like reading a lifelong take-home exam. Over the past three decades, the very definition of wisdom has been hotly debated among sociologists and other … Continue reading
Pumping Good Advice
In the midst of a dank February, Victorinox developed a catarrh. Whenever my little red wagon rolled to a stop—think of a Swiss Army knife on wheels—I heard a troubling catch in its breath. On a long errand run, I acquired the prescription in … Continue reading
Decisions, Decisions
The Sorting Hat has trouble placing Harry Potter. In the Hogwarts home of valor and chivalry, Gryffindor? Or should it be Slytherin House, a place of serpentine cunning and ambition? Harry asks for Gryffindor, and that settles things—until he shows … Continue reading
Message and Medium
The phrase grated the moment I heard it. “Digital immigrant,” the IT expert said, dropping its companion “digital native” in the next breath. I absorbed my characterization as sadly deprived of thumbs born to text, and accepted that to some … Continue reading
A Slip Twixt Cup and Lip
What is the difference between proper etiquette and good manners? Not much, judging by how interchangeably those phrases are used on the Internet and beyond. That’s at the cost of an important distinction. Etiquette prescribes established behavior in social situations … Continue reading
In the Presence of Laughter
“What is love? ‘Tis not hereafter; present mirth hath present laughter,” sings Feste in Twelfth Night. Designed to amuse Elizabethans in a holiday season, Shakespeare’s tale of wooing gone wrong plays well four centuries later. Yet, the ribald hijinks of Toby Belch are no … Continue reading
Posted in In Relationship, Insights & Actions
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Next Steps in a Natural Friendship
A month ago I wrapped up a project to hike all 80 miles of pathways in Forest Park, the jewel in the leafy crown that is Portland, Oregon’s canopy of trees. A week ago, on a five-mile ramble along trails … Continue reading
Authentic Americana
It wasn’t business as usual at the Happy Sparrow Café on this hot August day. True, proprietors Danny and Mary Quach were working well before first light, preparing racks of buns with sweet and savory fillings to serve as “breakfast with … Continue reading