Will SARS COVID-19 Ever End?

By Michelle Thompson | July 26, 2021 | 0 Comments
One brown eye looking straight ahead intently

Aaaaaah, in the United States, we’re reopening? Right? Everything is going right back to usual. Go grocery shopping without a mask. Book a cruise for your vacation. Eat in restaurants. Go see a movie in a theater. We. Are. Baaaaaack!! One of the delusions in the U.S. is this insistence on rugged individualism. Each person … Read more

Climate Gentrification

By Michelle Thompson | July 22, 2021 | 0 Comments
Mountain river scene

Yes, this term was new to me as well, until I read this Washington Post article. I suspect you’re well aware about the Surfside condominium collapse in Miami, right? It turns out that BIPOC communities in Miami are on higher ground, away from the shores, where this condominium complex was located. Traditionally, with real estate, properties that … Read more

The Pressure is On

By Michelle Thompson | July 8, 2021 | 0 Comments
Mountain river scene

This summer, there have been amazing developments with the oil and gas industry that have everything to do with climate change. I couldn’t make this up if I tried. First of all, in the Netherlands, Royal Dutch Shell sustained a court ruling that required that they reduce their carbon emissions by 45% by 2035 (that actually may be too … Read more

Academic Writing Anxieties

By Michelle Thompson | June 28, 2021 | 0 Comments
Flyer for event reading Are You an Anxious Academic Writer?

I think you know that Michelle Dionne Thompson Coaching and Consulting is about making sure that women in academia can build sustainable, long-term careers. Writing support is the cornerstone of making this happen. And yet, as this survey reflects, it is also the one part of academic jobs/degrees that causes no end of upset and stress. The … Read more

Practicing Law – Anxieties Survey Results

By Michelle Thompson | June 26, 2021 | 0 Comments
Flyer for event reading Are You an Anxious Lawyer?

When I started Michelle Dionne Thompson Coaching and Consulting, I could have easily just targeted academics with my services because that was the world I was in. And yet, I remembered what was so challenging about practicing law. It wasn’t just the 80 hours per week for 40K per year. It was the never-ending anxieties … Read more

The Joys of Sleep

By Michelle Thompson | May 18, 2021 | 0 Comments
Michelle wearing glasses smiling with hand on head

You all know that I LOVE me some sleep! And that has gone fairly well for me. I must tell you I put another tool in my toolkit to enable sweet dreams. I was at an online retreat with my coach, and she was saying that before she leads retreats, she often doesn’t sleep well. … Read more

Writing Systems?

By Michelle Thompson | February 1, 2021 | 0 Comments
Michelle smiling wearing a black hat with an autum background

Systems and writing may seem contradictory. Don’t we write when the muse hits? Otherwise, we’re suffering from writer’s block, right? You just open the document and write the thing. When you edit, you just do the copy edits with the red pen. There’s no system. My answer to that is NO! Writing is easier and … Read more

My Brain is a Liar . . . How My Brain Undermines Sleep

By Michelle Thompson | September 28, 2020 | 0 Comments
drawing of a brain

You likely think this a really strong statement considering that I was a lawyer for seven years and am currently an academic in addition to a coach. You likely know that I value sleep above all for self-care. If I don’t sleep, writing is a wreck. I eat terribly.  I don’t exercise. I can’t focus. I … Read more

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933 – 2020)

By Michelle Thompson | September 19, 2020 | 0 Comments
Ruth Bader Ginsburg

September 19, 2020 I write this to you a little over 12 hours since we learned of her death from pancreatic cancer. She died on Rosh Hoshana, the Jewish New Year (it’s 5781). One way that Jews memorialize the holiday is by dipping apples in honey to symbolize a sweet new year. What a sour … Read more

Time Management During the Plague

By Michelle Thompson | April 20, 2020 | 0 Comments
old fashioned alarm clock with bells

In NYC, we’re starting week 6 of sheltering in place, and it certainly is a challenge. Perhaps you live alone and have nothing but yourself to work with unless you are doing a call. Perhaps you live-so-not-alone-and-there-are-young-people-underfoot-and-when-does-school-start-again-please. Perhaps you are with your spouse. All of the time. And these new worksite arrangements really put a dent … Read more