A friend of mine who is a yoga teacher once told a class I was in that she loves fresh starts. “Like the best thing for me,” she said, illustrating her point, “is when the first day of the month is a Monday. I love that.” Same, I thought. The…

I grew up in the 70s, in what I think of as a working-poor household. Maybe this is what some describe as lower middle class, but what I mean by it is this: my parents had steady jobs and worked at them diligently, we were always housed and fed, we…

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked damning documents this week, including an internal memo from 2018 which confirmed Facebook execs knew as far back as three years ago that “ . . . misinformation, toxicity, and violent content are inordinately prevalent. . . “ on its apps. The NPR reporter covering…

Rachel Hollis, for those not in the know, is a writer, business owner, motivational speaker, and “lifestyle influencer” who has written several self-help books, had a clothing line on QVC, a Quibi channel, and multiple podcasts. Several of her self-improvement books, which have the tone of the scoldy older sister…

Because One of Us Has To Be, and I Know It’s Not Me. It sucks being wrong. There’s not a person alive who enjoys it, I’d wager. No matter how enlightened we may strive to be, we all prefer the satisfying feeling of being correct while others are in error…

The Derek Chauvin trial and the portrayal of George Floyd — Listening to a New York Times podcast covering the Derek Chauvin trial this week, I heard excerpts of the voir dire, that part of jury selection where prospective jurors are questioned about their reading habits, political beliefs, and various other convictions and opinions, so the attorneys on both sides can…

My struggles with meditation — I’ve tried for years to cultivate a daily meditation practice, and in the last six months or so I’ve been faithful to it. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that much of what I’ve been drawn to in my life are things that aren’t to be mastered, but rather, are…

From Cradle to Grave with Scout We got Scout when he was twelve weeks old, a bit late in the puppy game — they say eight weeks is the perfect age at which to get a puppy: old enough to be independent from its mother, young enough to bond closely…

A Covid Parable A favorite holiday book from my childhood was a tall, thin, battered hardbound volume entitled The Tall Book of Christmas, which featured whimsical drawings and Christmas-themed stories you wouldn’t read anywhere else, like the one about the mean giant who loved Limburger cheese and ruined Christmas by…