Sandwiched in between failed attempts at two different Brandy Melville stores to procure a grad fit for my daughter, I went for a walk. The walk ostensibly was to go from one store location in the Village to another in SoHo but turned into a walk down memory lane.
I strolled through old neighborhoods where I lived and worked many years ago. Recalling nights out that began with a burger at the Corner Bistro and included stops in bars like the White Horse Tavern and Barrow’s Pub.…
Last Wednesday night, sitting in the dugout waiting for our softball game to begin, the umpire yelled towards us – presumably continuing a conversation started with one of my teammates about politics.
“My sister is a libtard out West. I don’t even talk to her anymore. She lives in Oregon and I hope she stays out there.”
The hostility and apparent sense of self-satisfaction with his words was jarring.
I was so impressed by the work done by our village’s Department of Public Works in the aftermath of last week’s snowstorm. They worked tirelessly throughout the storm in an effort to keep up with accumulating snow and keep our roads as safe as possible. But beyond this, the very next day, they somehow made more than 90% of all the snow in our downtown disappear.…
Sitting in the back of a Lyft, watching miles of road roll past me, I found myself reflecting on friendship with Zach Bryan’s new album serving as my soundtrack.
I was coming from an evening out with old friends. Old in the sense I’ve known them most of my adult life. People who I used to see everyday but now see maybe once or twice a year. …
Christmas has always been one of – if not – the favorite day of the year for me. It is both a wonderful holiday and my birthday.
Our days follow a familiar flow starting with my children coming in to sing happy birthday before we move to the kitchen table and exchange hand made gifts and cards. Their thoughtfulness never fail to warm my heart and moisten my eyes.
Last week, I was listening to a podcast about debt. While the host and guest talked about debt in the traditional sense – mortgage, loans, credit cards and negative bank balances – I was most struck by what they called invisible debt. Debt caused not by spending too much but by wanting more. It is a debt driven by desire and social comparison.
The premise of the discussion was trying to unravel the contradiction between the fact that Americans are on average both wealthier and unhappier than their counterparts living in comparable parts of the world.…
At lunch on Tuesday, I received an email from Ethan Hawke’s agent. They were passing on the screenplay I pitched to them.
After dinner that same night, I received an email from a literary agent. They were passing on a non-fiction book proposal I had shared.
Passing is a kinder, more gentle term for rejection. Yet it still stings all the same. The number of times someone has passed on a project, proposal, pitch, or offer I’ve shared is innumerable.
On my walk to our local library to write this, a stranger stopped me, noticing the logo on my t-shirt. “Penn State, I grew up and went there. You?” I confirmed I did and what ensued was a genuinely nice five minute conversation about our experiences in Happy Valley. We exchanged pleasantries and names and a connection based on an institution two hundred-fifty miles away and a time decades earlier was made.…
Thanks to all of you who became my first paid subscribers last week. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your support. For others who find these notes to be a helpful and valuable way to start your week, I hope you might consider doing the same.
Now on to this week’s post….…
Over the last several months, I’ve confided in a handful of family and friends about some challenges I’ve been facing. Without fail, they were supportive; listening with care and offering wise perspective
A few days ago, however, I realized that with a few expectations, most have never followed up to check in and see how I was doing. Asking if things had gotten better or if I wanted to talk.…
Emerson once wrote that ‘In every work of genius, we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.”
With this definition in mind, songwriters are a particular type of genius creators. With a melody and relatively few words (usually between 100-300), the best have a rare ability to sing to us as if the words were moving from our own minds to mouths.…
I don’t know where it comes from and it can be overwhelming.
I wear many, many hats. With each one of them comes a certain amount of joy and responsibility. At any given time, I feel as if I am likely failing in one capacity or another, sometimes more.
This potential failure is a threat to my ego. My sense of self as someone who is high achieving or “can do it all.”…
For homework, I told my students to go for a walk. The class was Creative Team Dynamics at the Parsons School of Design. I asked them to observe the interactions between people. Some may have been acting in concert towards a common goal, others in obvious conflict, while others still somewhere in between.
In class this week, they shared what they noticed. Many recalled sweet images of children with their parents or couples on a walk.…
Three months ago, as part of the launch of my children’s book, America’s Dreaming, I had a goal of giving away at least one hundred Welcome Wagons filled with books about belonging and kindness to communities of need in the country.
I also had no idea how to make that happen.
Flash forward, we’ve raised enough money for the first hundred wagons and have established partnerships with wonderful organizations like Radio Flyer, Penguin Young Readers, Welcoming America, Raising a Reader, Booked Authors and Brilliant Detroit.…
The familiar picture frame stopped me in my tracks. Reading, “#1 Dad” it was in an exhibit called “Many Voices, One Nation” at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. It sat there with a collection of other items including a toothbrush, comb and glass case. All united by the fact they were found in the desert, forgotten on someone’s journey north from Mexico into America.
I wonder how many father’s over the course of our two-hundred forty-eight year history felt like a #1 Dad for taking extraordinary chances and journeys in the hopes of providing a better life for their family.…
By the time you read this, I will have attended three very different parties over the course of a week.
The first was a celebration of life for a dear friend who died way too young. Friends from her college days and early New York years gathered to remember a life so bright that to simply say her name would bring a smile to your face.…
Several weeks ago a former student reached out to me via LinkedIn looking for some career guidance. He was a great student, a good person with impressive experience for his age. However, given that his field was software engineering, there was little I could offer him….except for my connections. After dropping the ball for a few weeks, he nudged me – as I suggested he do if he hadn’t heard from me.…
Yesterday, I was blindsided by a phone call letting me know that a mutual friend of ours had died.
I have been sad ever since.
To be blindsided is to be hit unexpectedly. The pain is amplified exponentially because you are wholly unprepared.
While on a rational level we know that all people die, we have an expectation that it should only happen after someone has had a chance to live a long and fulfilling life.…
Happy New Year.
Before we jump into 2024, many of us might spend some time reflecting back upon 2023. Among the many questions we ask ourselves are those related to accomplishments; What did we do? What do we have to show for the year? What did we produce?
As I look back, I feel incredibly fortunate to have worked with or been supported by so many talented, wonderful people and organizations that have allowed me to produce more than a handful of things that I can take pride in.…
Over the last year, I’ve received a few notes, emails or texts that included the specific phrase, “I appreciate you.”
Prior to this year I don’t know if I’ve ever seen, said or received those exact words in any form of communication. Now, of course, it’s quite possible that only recently have I done anything worthy enough to receive such a warm and thoughtful collection of words.…
As part of my season of giving, I asked the waitress if she could add the bill from the two police officers sitting in the adjacent booth to my tab.
Smiling, she told me that the couple by the window had already made this anonymous gesture. In turn, I asked the waitress if I could pay for that couple’s meal. That too, she said, had been taken care of.…
In the movie The Intern, Anne Hathaway plays the founder of a tech/fashion startup and Robert DeNiro is her unlikely “senior intern.” At the company’s open layout office, there is a tradition where a bell is rung to celebrate an achievement. You can ring the bell to announce that you’ve done something noteworthy or in recognition of someone else’s efforts or accomplishments. When the bell is rung, everyone stops what they’re doing for a moment to cheer or clap, before going right back to what they were doing.…
Thanks to everyone who responded to my ask to like, share, or comment on last week’s newsletter.
It was very generous of you and very much appreciated.
This morning I read this op-ed by David Brooks in the New York Times who makes a compelling case that people are, by and large, more generous than we give them credit for.
He cited a meta analysis of studies that measured people’s propensity to act generously or selfishly in various situations.…
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.…
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.…
