School schedules came out this week. There was an error on my oldest daughter’s schedule and she contacted her guidance counselor to see if she could correct it.
The counselor’s initial solutions were less than ideal. They appeared, understandably, to be the easiest for the school to accommodate but not for my daughter to actually experience day-to-day.
I encouraged her to respond and ask if there were any other options.…
Years ago I dropped one of my AirPods onto a train track. After the train passed, I stupidly jumped down to fetch it, not realizing how far down the track was relative to the platform. To get back to the platform, I had to pull myself up. It quickly became apparent that I could not do it. Fortunately two people on the platform were able to give me a hand before an ensuing train came along.…
On a good day, I find it difficult to sleep on a red-eye flight. Recently, as my family and I embarked on our summer vacation to France, it was impossible. In addition to the standard two to three babies who intermittently scream, we were surrounded on our packed flight by a large pack of college students. There seemed like there were a hundred of them. Talking incessantly.…
When you read the title of this email, the first thought you probably have is of someone who is unselfish and puts others before themselves.
A more literal interpretation of the word is the title of a new book by Brian Lowery, PhD at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. In this provocative and accessible book, Lowery makes the case that there is no such thing as a self – inner or otherwise – that we control or create.…
A new piece I’ve written was published last week by the University of California-Berkeley’s Greater Good Magazine. But did I actually write it? No, I’m not making a cute reference to the powers of ChatGPT. Rather I’m referring to the nature of writing and how our brains produce any creative product.
Appropriately, the article is a primer on the psychological concept of attribution – e.g.…
I learned earlier today that I apparently have not one but two meniscus tears in my right knee. This is in addition to an ACL sprain.
There are two treatment options. One is rest, anti-inflammatories and physical therapy. The other is surgery. The first does not preclude the latter because if it fails, then surgery will still be on the table.
Timing is also a factor.…
The Oscar nominated short documentary “How Do You Measure a Year?” is a film based entirely on a ritual. Each year, filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt asks his daughter to sit in the same spot on their couch and answer the same set of questions. The ritual begins on Ella’s second birthday and extends to her 18th. After not watching any of the footage during those seventeen years, Rosenblatt edits these sessions down to a crisp and moving twenty-nine minute time machine.…
While many of you were reading last week’s note, Beauty, I was sitting in a synagogue attending the funeral of a friend.
He was a regular reader of these weekly missives, occasionally sending me an email to compliment me on my writing or to check in on the health of a loved one I referenced in a particular piece.
By all counts, he was a kind and loving man with a full life.…
There seems to be something that makes us more inclined to see and respond to the ugliness and conflict all around us. How easily triggered we seem to be. Whether it be the failings of others, the bad news that bombards us every day on our phones and screens or the turmoil in our own minds, our antennas seem to be particularly attuned to what we consider threatening.…
Tracy Chapman’s song, Fast Car, tells the story of longing for a better life. Over the course of the song’s four and a half minutes, you’re taken on a ride of yearning, frustration, resignation, and hope.
It is a simple but beautiful song about the complexity of trying to better yourself and your situation.
I heard the song at a pivotal moment in my life where, like the characters in Chapman’s song, I too was longing to escape – to in her words, “leave tonight or live and die this way.”…
I have lived a blessed life with so much to be grateful for. Perhaps naturally, my regrets are limited not to any major life decision but rather rest almost exclusively in the domain of how and when I showed up for other people.
Generally speaking I’d like to consider myself a pretty decent human being yet there are times when I have not been decent to others.…
The word “news” has been around since at least the 1500’s. The word “newsworthy” was only coined in 1890. The inference being people decided a new word was necessary as much of what was being shared as “news” was not particularly worthy.
I have for the last two years largely taken a hiatus from the daily news. Previously my days began and ended with a dose of it. …
In her new work, The Thanksgiving Play, Larissa FastHorse puts four well-intentioned and ill-equipped white people into a classroom. They are tasked with writing a more culturally sensitive play about Thanksgiving that they will stage for their elementary school students. The premise is genius as is almost everything about this production.
We watch these four characters make mistake after mistake after mistake as they try to find the right approach, plot or words to form their play. …
Twice within twenty four hours, I heard stories referencing the idea of a young child’s experience walking down the street.
The first was during a conversation between the record producer Rick Rubin and podcast host Krista Tippett. They remarked about how wonderful – in the literal sense of the word – a child’s walk down the street is compared to ours. They have no concept of time and hence aren’t in any rush.…
Years ago I read about an Oakland school that was having increasing issues with student behavior. Fights and disruptions would break out with regularity and teachers were struggling to create an atmosphere conducive to learning.
The proposed solution was simple. Give the kids a break.
Many of the children were carrying to school not just their backpacks but the stress and trauma from difficult circumstances in their homes and neighborhoods.…
A few weeks ago I went out to dinner with a friend. We were talking about the speed with which AI was developing. I had recently heard a podcast that speculated about what would happen if someone used AI to startle the financial markets. Perhaps by having a voicebot imitate Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, saying that the bank was nearing insolvency. All agreed it would trigger panic on Wall Street, markets would tumble sharply and so quickly before anyone realized what had happened.…
There are many forms and reasons for silence. Here are three for your consideration:
The first is silence that we allow ourselves. In the chaos of daily life and content at our fingertips to fill a million lifetimes, increasingly we seem to leave less time to just sit in silence. When we quiet our own minds we give ourselves the gift of self-awareness and openness. The word inspiration comes from a latin term meaning “breath into.” …
As I write this, I am looking out at the Palisades – the magnificent vertical walls on the other side of the Hudson. If I look to my left I can see the New York City skyline off in the distance.
Upon seeing both for the first time, I was filled with immense awe. While their familiarity can lessen this sensation, it only takes a few moments of reflection to revive it.…
We had decided that given the relatively short holiday break, we would all stay home. No trips to visit the family. No travel at all.
We would just be together.
“Be” unfortunately was conflated with “do” – as is often the case. Each of us had long lists of things we wanted to accomplish; projects to complete, ways to be productive, ideas about how to do fun things.…
What do you see when you look in the mirror? Does it match the way you feel on the inside?
When you are out in the world, how do others see you? Do they make judgements on who you are or what you’re capable of?
Similarly, how do you see others? Unconsciously do you judge them for how they look rather than imagining “who they are?”…
Wednesday morning began with jury duty. The early evening featured a trip to the emergency room. By midnight, I was on strike from my job as an adjunct professor at the New School.
Jury duty, emergency room, strike. What an unholy trifecta. Any one of them is a situation that we hope to avoid at all costs. The odds of any one person experiencing all three on the same day have to be astronomical.…
I sat in a half empty auditorium filled with folks whose somber looks indicated there were a thousand different places they would sooner be.
Instead, we all waited to see if we would be selected as jurors.
Jury duty is as the name indicates a duty. Even the most civic minded approach this experience with some trepidation. How long will it take? Will I be selected?…
I’ve read countless memoirs and interviewed dozens of people about their journey but none have been as honest, conflicted and raw as Acceptance by Emi Nietfeld. Her story is marked with countless issues and circumstances that she has had to overcome and her book looks to reconcile them in the context of a culture that likes these stories told in a very particular way.
Her experience in crafting her college essay is particularly telling.…
I overslept. Waking up at 6:50 but needing to catch a 7:26 train, I rushed to shower, got dressed, walked the dog, packed my bag, and poured a cup of coffee before dashing off for the 5 minute scamper to the train station. All the aforementioned activities were done with almost no thought, an automated process whose details go unnoticed in the bustle of everyday life.…
Last week, I took a few minutes to create a list of all the major things I’ve done professionally so far this year. While the list was relatively long and I felt a certain amount of pride in reflection, something was just a little off.
I tried to recall how I felt at the time each project was being created. Did I enjoy the process? Did it bring me joy?…
