The Russians have a saying: Work is not a wolf; it will not go back into the forest. In other words, don’t work so hard, because work will always be there. Yet we are often at odds with our work lives and out of balance from the stresses and complexities of earning a living. Office politics can be exhausting, and…
You want something—maybe it’s a car, a job, a dream vacation, the end of an illness, the start of a relationship, Whatever it is, you set your sights on it and then…as the Stones so eloquently said, “You can’t always get what you want.” But will you be satisfied to only get what you need? In a life where free…
I recently attended Omega NYC’s “The Neuroscience of Well-Being, Mindfulness & Love” workshop at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. It was led by Jack Kornfield, Ph.D., and Dan Siegel, M.D.—two people I’d wanted to hear in person for years. Kornfield’s Seeking the Heart of Wisdom, which he wrote with Joseph Goldstein, was one of the first books about…
The devastation wrought in the Philippines by Typhoon Haiyan is beyond comprehension—thousands of lives lost, entire villages obliterated, more than 500,000 people displaced, and as many as 12 million people at risk. It was the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in recorded human history. We can’t fully process such vast suffering, but we can act with compassion by reaching…
I love birthdays! They are the days of the year when we celebrate our individual existences on this lovely planet. And I am shameless about telling anyone who pauses to chat: Today is my birthday! Consequently, between my personal encounters, whether planned or unplanned, and the messages of love that stream in via Facebook and email, my life appears to…
Just because I rely on two smartphones doesn’t mean I like them. My tween daughter doesn’t even want one, and I’m thrilled about that. So when a friend sent me the link to Louis C.K.’s appearance on Conan O’Brien’s show (see below) that’s been all over the Web since Thursday night, of course I clicked “play.” And I got more than…
As I prepare for the coming school year, I’m planning lessons and looking forward to seeing new faces in my classroom. But something that happened over the summer is also on my mind. Our nation’s bifurcated reaction to the tragedy of Trayvon Martin’s death and George Zimmerman’s subsequent acquittal cries out for each of us to rethink race, youth, guns,…
I think many of us find it difficult to get the support we need from our partners. When we hear from a distressed person, our instinct may be to protect or to fix, in addition to being kind. But men and women tend to respond differently when it comes to support. As a woman, I feel there are times when…
