For a little more than 10 years, I have been a member of a local women’s club that meets weekly between fall and spring to have lunch at each other’s homes and hear reports by club members on whatever interests them. From my fellow members, for instance, I’ve learned about seed banks, Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, crypto currencies, and Murano glass, to name a few. While I have often wished the origins of this 100+-year-old club were not so ingrained in the world of white privilege many of us inhabit, I do like being part of a group of curious women who enjoy learning and sharing new things. In fact, being a mediocre (at best) cook who also happens to enjoy my solitude, I much prefer the reporting obligation over the hosting one. I have always enjoyed doing research. I suspect that might have something to do with becoming a librarian at age 44; I finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. And unlike many, I like giving presentations or, even better, reading aloud to an audience. (That’s how most topics are presented in our little club…read from a typed report the presenter holds in front of her. Call me weird but that’s my idea of a good time.)

I have given reports on such topics as the MacArthur Fellowship, introversion, and the architect Jeanne Gang. I spent much of one year satisfying a lifelong interest by investigating whales, and another learning about the amazing art collection of Herb and Dorothy Vogel. It’s not unusual these days for me to come across a subject in my everyday life that piques my interest to learn more so I add it to my ever-growing list of Future Report Ideas.

I have started a similar list for this site i.e., topics that I think about a lot that I’d like to dig into more deeply on the page. Some of these ideas have been percolating in my brain for awhile; others are a little more fresh and new, having surfaced in my consciousness perhaps because I’ve decided to put some real effort into this project. Here are some that come to mind at the outset:

• Buddhism
• Grief
• Relationships
• Narcissism
• Passion and compassion
• Recognizing white privilege
• Books and reading
• Creativity
• Education
• The older I get…

This is not an all-inclusive list and I am not making a commitment to writing about all of the above topics. I offer them here as examples of the kinds of subjects that spin around in my brain. I’ll admit, it feels a little presumptuous to think that other people are going to want to read my musings about the things I think about. And maybe it is. But I’m going to take the leap anyway, trusting that doing so will affirm what I believe to be true: That others think about these things too and that we might just be able to find some common ground, some connection, as a result of meeting here.

Thanks for going along for the ride.