Joanne Leedom-Ackerman's Blog
November 3, 2025
Tunnel of Hope…Past and Present
Wars end, eventually.
In the middle of war, the end is hard to imagine, and the aftermath unpredictable—devastation restored, justice reconciled, the younger generation taking over…or not? At the moment focus and hope is on a possible peace in the Middle East between Israel and Palestinians. In Syria citizens are also in a suspended state of optimistic but cautious hope and skepticism after 13 years of civil war. Other areas of the globe remain locked in conflict.
Recently I ...
October 1, 2025
We Are What We Think…and Eat
Walking down a familiar stretch of M Street in Georgetown in Washington DC, I noticed a new restaurant among the surrounding restaurants, all featuring foods from different regions of the world side by side in this half block—France, Afghanistan, India and an “Asian grill.” A half mile away are Mexican restaurants and across the street Ethiopian and Vietnamese restaurants. In this small neighborhood can be found restaurants with their chefs and staffs from most regions of the...
September 2, 2025
Detecting the Counterfeit: Lies, Flimflam and the Real Deal
The swirl of political events spin in the headlines relating to wars and conflict, profound misdeeds, voting manipulations, deceit among leaders, all having profound consequences in my country and others.
I found myself typing words to focus my thoughts—lies, truth, love, counterfeit…Counterfeit, a word and idea to explore. “Counterfeit—An imitation intended to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine.”
How does one tell the truth from a lie, the real from the cou...
August 1, 2025
Finding Kindness and Heroes
Last month’s Substack essay “In Search of Kindness” follows up here with acts of kindness observed.
I was recently visiting my old neighborhood in London where I used to live, walking down High Street Kensington on a sunny July day. The High Street was bustling with people—residents, tourists, children, darting in and out of the High Street Kensington tube station and in and out of shops and hurrying on to their next destinations. I was on my way to a favorite restaurant when...
July 1, 2025
In Search of Kindness
Nobel physicist Albert Einstein advised: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them.” He urged a new way of thinking.
I’ve taken this observation as a guide, a touchstone of thought and problem-solving, be the issue personal, political or cosmic. Often the first instinct is to get pulled into a problem and begin wrestling within its borders to find an answer. In the political sphere when intolerance and cruelty appear to govern policy and actions, ...
June 2, 2025
Devastation & Destruction or Resilience, Reimagining and Rebuilding?
The young woman next to me sat silently at the table for the first hour of presentations and discussion. She was younger than the other women, with long dark hair, frailer than the more robust women around the table. Her slender fingers touched tentatively the papers in front of her.
I was in Honduras with CARE, the humanitarian and development non-governmental organization (NGO) which has worked in Honduras for 70 years.
The women at the table were sharing their...
May 1, 2025
Searching for Place de la Concorde
I walk through the Tuileries Garden on a sunny Sunday morning in Paris with all the celebratory marble gods and generals along the broad path, with flowers and children and families, with the Musée de l’Orangerie and Musée du Louvre nearby and the Place de la Concorde (Harmony Square) ahead.
The 19-acre Place de la Concorde is the largest public square in Paris with the majestic Luxor Obelisk at its center and a view of the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower in the distance...
April 1, 2025
Competing Voices: Warbling in the Dark, Singing in the Morning, Searching for a Symphony
Carolina Wren, Canadian Goose, White-throated Sparrow…birdsong at dawn on a Sunday morning.
The light has shifted and arrives later now that daylight savings is over. More bird sounds rise as the weather warms. The birds appear to harmonize and get along with each other with their different pitches and warbles and squawks. Most sing from high in the trees, out of sight, occasionally flying overhead. The geese and ducks glide silently on the water but talk to each other from t...
March 3, 2025
Time and Tides: Destroying and Building in Washington with “No One To Talk To”
The sun is rising but hiding. I know the sun is there by its effect, by light shining up on the clouds above, even though I can’t see the sun.
It is mid-January in Florida, and I’m sitting fully dressed in the sand by the ocean at high tide on a chilly day. The ocean rolls closer and closer to me on the wet sand. When should I move? I’m testing the tides. Can I hold my ground, or do I have the instinct & wisdom to know when to retreat to higher ground?
I went south for a fe...
February 3, 2025
Going South…
I’m heading South for a few days. The frozen river in front of me has melted, the ducks are swimming again, but sub-freezing temperatures and ice and snow are returning tomorrow, and hunters are still out till the end of January.
I want to think in the sun, or at least in warmer weather for a few days, so I’ll leave the day before Martin Luther King’s birthday and the Inauguration. I’ll visit family and write from a place with sun and sea gulls and add to this blog...
