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New-found

I developed a new-found appreciation for Yacht Rock, after watching this documentary that talked about the musicianship of groups like Steely Dan, Toto and The Doobie Brothers. I had no idea of their jazz underpinnings or their profound influence on so many other groups and music.

Similarly, while I had heard of the storytelling organization The Moth and listened to one or two of their stories over the years, I now have a new-found interest in their work after reading the book The Moth Presents A Point in Beauty True Stories of Holding on and Letting Go.…


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Grateful?

On Thanksgiving, many shared thoughts of people, experiences or things that they are grateful for this year. It is perhaps the best thing about the holiday. The ability to pause from our busy lives, reflect on what we’re thankful for and reach out to share our gratitude with others. A practice by the way, that is best exercised every day, especially during difficult times. As Michael J.…


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Lifetime

“Not in my lifetime,” lamented the older woman at the train station. She was looking out at the adjacent Hudson River and referring to the lack of long-promised development on our waterfront. The lack of progress over generations presumably due to some combination of owners who need to remediate it from intense pollution and contamination caused by factories long closed and a village who is happy to have it transformed into a public park but resistant to commercial or residential development. …


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Mountains

This was a particularly rocky week. Numerous curveballs and conflicts threw me off my game. One particularly challenging morning saw four major stressful situations arise before I had my first sip of coffee. Yet on that day and on every other, I managed to compartmentalize those conflicts, accept life’s inherent unfairness and unpredictability and have a semblance of a good day anyway.

I was in part inspired by a Haitian proverb that I had just read in this book by Oliver Burkeman. …


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States

Water can freeze and become ice. Ice can melt and become water again. Water can be heated and evaporates into gas. Matter constantly changing states of being.

Our emotions can similarly transform into different states, often affected similarly by turning up or down the temperature or introducing other factors that bring tension and transformation.

At the same time, much of transformation and metamorphosis comes down to what is happening internally, a level most often invisible to the eye.…


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United

During the fourth game of the World Series between two long time rivals – the Yankees and Dodgers, there was a long pause.

In unison, the players from both teams, umpires, crew and the almost 50,000 fans stood. Each held a placard with a name on it – representing the person they were standing up for who had – or is – battling cancer. It was part of a national effort from the organization Stand Up to Cancer.…


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Concept

Last week I stumbled upon the new concept album by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis. It is based on the 1979 cult-classic movie Warriors. Those familiar with the movie may recall the iconic line, “Warriors come out to play.”

The plot involves a respected gang leader who calls all rival gangs to a meeting in the Bronx in an attempt to achieve a peace treaty among them all.…


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Productive

“Do you want to see something cute?”

“Not now.”

“Maybe later.”

“I have too much to do.”

This was the after dinner exchange in my house last Wednesday.

This was the cute in question.

If you clicked the link you noticed that it took all of a few seconds to presumably put a smile on your face. If you were a member of my family the smile might have been a little larger due to the personal connection to the “cuteness.”…


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Teachers

Children filed in. Quietly taking seats on padded cushions on the auditorium floor. Hundreds of tiny faces looking up at me – a children’s book author who once sat where they are now.

Returning to the elementary school which was the inspiration for my latest book, I told them stories about my time there, being the new kid, and learning to play kickball.  I read my book to them and answered their questions – ranging from cute to astute.…


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Okay

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.…


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Pressure

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.”…


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Notice

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.…


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Welcoming

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.…


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Schoolwork

Here is a sampling of things I’ve heard from students of all ages this week:

“We had to read a book and if we felt like putting it down because it was boring, we were told that it was a sign that the class wasn’t for us.”

“I was told that my portfolio wasn’t good enough so I shouldn’t apply to art school.”

“We were told that every student was going to fail this test.”…


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Splurge

The vacation itself was a splurge, partially offset by frequent flier miles. Three Hawaiian islands over the course of two weeks. While there we splurged on a few excursions; a luau, a snorkeling trip and swimming with dolphins. The latter of which has been on my bucket list since I was a little boy.

To splurge is to knowingly indulge yourself – often with a cost that you know or feel is extravagant.…


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Zero-sum

You may have heard a lot lately about the concept of zero-sum thinking. At a very basic level, it is the idea that in order for one person (or group of people) to benefit someone else has to lose. It is a psychological concept that we all have probably felt at one time or another in our lives.

But when it comes to opportunity is it true?…


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Slow

I’ve been taking it slow since returning from vacation last week. The pace determined not by jet lag or a desire to stay on island time but inspired instead by two wonderful experiences on my flight.

The first was watching the Japanese film, Perfect Days. On the surface, this would seem an odd choice. The pace of the movie in the beginning is almost painfully slow as it follows the daily habits of a Japanese man whose job is to clean public restrooms.…


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Balance

My wife recently signed me up for a trial Tai Chi Qigong class. I was admittedly skeptical going in, but the class itself was a wonderful exercise in being present in your own mind and body. In the process, getting a better appreciation of your own sources of energy.

As part of the trial class, I also received a thirty minute consultation session after. I sat criss-cross applesauce across from the instructor, who was half my age.…


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Vacation

As you’re reading this, I am on vacation. Perhaps you are as well. Like many, the few weeks before a vacation are spent rushing around trying to clear the desk, empty the email box and remove as much work – not just off our plate but out of our mind. As part of that process, it means that I write two of these weekly posts in advance.…


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#1

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.…


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Decent

A few weeks ago I attended the funeral for my Uncle Dave. He was by every count a decent man, exemplified by the service itself. It began with his fellow volunteer firemen providing a testament to his forty-seven years of service, later multiple moving letters were read from each of his children and grandchildren. The homily offered by the priest spoke of a man he knew well and was clearly so fond of.…


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Anniversary

I spent the 248th anniversary of our country’s birth eating a hotdog at a baseball game. Doesn’t get any more American than that does it?

Actually, it does. The extent to which I spent any time reflecting on the importance of our nation’s founding was the three minutes it took for a soldier to perform our national anthem. Perhaps our country deserved a little more from me on July 4th.…


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Misuse

When we think of the word misuse, we are likely to link it to things like power, money, and time. At different times in my life I have misused all the above. But what else to do we misuse to our detriment?

Last week, I was listening to a conversation between Marc Maron and the singer Jewel.  She was discussing her lifelong struggles with mental health and in particular how much she worried about being good enough or belonging.…


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Construction

As I write this, the sounds of staple guns and buzz saws echo in the background. The cacophony of construction noise coming. from the home next store is now entering its second week.

Last week, it took me twenty minutes to drive two miles to pick up my daughter from a friend’s home. The delay resulted from an unimaginable number of road closures that forced detour after detour, as road repairs were happening en masse.…


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Dad

The history of Father’s Day is pretty fascinating. Confirming the belief of some that dads get short shrift, it took almost 60 years after Mother’s Day was recognized as a national holiday for it to become the same.

It was initially met with skepticism “as one florist explained, ‘fathers haven’t the same sentimental appeal that mothers have.’”

This I believe has certainly changed over the years, at least in the home of this softie.…


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