The experience of COVID19 Lockdown is as varied as the people who’ve had to live through it – which means there are several billion stories. Yet we are forming a global memory of a universal challenge. One dimension of that shared experience is, in my observation, a deeper appreciation for the broad range of human … Read more
It’s been a wet winter here, so our yard is a reeking mud marsh dotted with swampy pools deep enough that we’ve attracted nomadic geese. We are in COVID-19 lockdown (Day 7). Our internet is spotty and overloaded, and my nine-year-old iMac chose today to fully embrace dementia. Our sump pump is blocked. A skunk … Read more
Doctors ask us to keep two meters apart to reduce transmission of COVID-19. But don’t let physical distance lead to emotional disconnection. We need each other more than ever right now. Whether you are passing people in a hallway, sitting a safe space away, or speaking via video or phone, Smile. When you smile on … Read more
Pandemic and all, this is still annual Act Happy Week. Watch for five 60-second exercises, starting today. Because even if panic is the emotion of the day, you get to choose. The focus of Act Happy Week is to educate the public about purposeful actions you can take to create chemical shifts in your body … Read more
A New Distinction This year was insane. On more than one occasion I literally lost track of myself, needing to ask: Where am I? What day of the week is it? Where am I supposed to be? What am I doing? Or more accurately, WTF am I doing right now, and why? (excuse my language … Read more
My focus on six-word wisdoms last month generated much positive reaction, quite possibly because our attention spans have shrunk to under nine seconds – less time than it’s taken you to read this sentence aloud! Here are a few more, for fun: Ask, “In what ways might I?” You’ve been trained your entire life to … Read more
Relaxation, Mindfulness, and Meditation Many of us suffer from FOMS (Fear Of Missing Something) so we approach life as series of manic, highly active episodes thinly sandwiched between inadequate layers of sleep. We continually pump our systems full of adrenalin and cortisol (and when those fail, more caffeine), and when those chemicals build to toxic … Read more
I love to play with tight language, which is why Haiku has always been my favorite poetic form (17 syllables and rigid rules, yet infinite possibilities). I also love the brutal simplicity of six-word essays, a format over which I obsessed in high school (see https://www.sixwordmemoirs.com for more) Since January I have attended 28 … Read more
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? When I was a kid, this question always pulled me into a philosophical mindset, and I can remember many conversations and/or debates working it from both a logical and emotional point of view. What I most remember about those sessions is that we’d often end in either … Read more
Happy 6th Birthday, IDOH! The United Nations created the International Day Of Happiness in 2012 on a unanimous vote by all 193 member nations (a rare occurrence!), and the day has been celebrated since 2013. The UN Resolution recognized the pursuit of happiness as a human right and a “fundamental human goal.” The founder of … Read more