Hey Reader! Everywhere I look, there's so much suffering: war, cruelty, hunger, job loss, fear, anger . . . It's easy to get stuck thinking about how awful the people of this world can be to one another. A few years ago, I stumbled upon a Buddhist practice called tonglen. Rather than focus on breath or emptiness, tonglen involves breathing in suffering and transforming it into compassion and love. The idea is that your heart is so pure and loving that you can alchemize suffering. I love that....
8 days ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! Over the past four and a half years I’ve sent more than 200 of these newsletters. Every Tuesday, it’s been a quiet, but steady effort I contribute to tikkun olam—to heal the world. But wait, you might be thinking, it’s Wednesday. :) Yep, this is the second week, I’ve been late. Last week it was because I spent all Tuesday with friends. Yesterday, I had a battery of doctor’s appointments and then some catch-up hang time with my kid. And it was worth it. Thank you for your patience....
15 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! We weren't made to spend our lives being sedentary, looking at screens all day. Our nervous systems weren't wired to be constantly bombarded by 24/7 news. Our minds weren't designed to always be in hyperdrive. We're equipped to be productive in short bursts. After which, we need to rest, refuel, and recharge. Take a break When we fail to get up and move around, become trapped in doomscrolling, and can't turn off our minds, we risk getting stuck in ever-spiralling loops of anxiety,...
21 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! Most of us would find it difficult to watch someone get hurt and not feel anything. I remember hearing things pop or crunch while playing sports, and it's an unsettling feeling, even when it's not happening to your body. That's because we're hard-wired to want to connect and care for each other. Infants imitate facial expressions and gestures long before they can express themselves with words. And who can resist awwwing over babies—human or otherwise? The central commandment...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader! I used to have a terrible temper. In my senior year, I recall my friend V telling me on a near-daily basis, "Don't let the turkeys get you down," as I raged about one person or another. I hated the phrase. "Turkeys" seemed too innocent a description for the idiots tormenting me. I preferred calling the objects of my ire "twits"—a term that reminded me of my favorite English teacher. The way she would scold any lazy child caught asking terrible questions with it was a marvel. I...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
L'Shana Tova Reader! It's the Jewish New Year, autumn equinox and rapture (depending on your circle), not to mention eclipse season. Things are shifting, to put it mildly. If you feel a little off-kilter, you're in good company. The ten 'Days of Awe' between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is a great time to stop and reflect on where we've been and where we're going. This period of deep introspection is marked by rituals designed to help Jews let go of the past, atone for their mistakes, forgive...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, My child learned at a very young age how to stand up to bullies. During her kindergarten year, there was a boy on her school bus who would say hateful things to her every morning. One Halloween, we happened to walk into a cul-de-sac, and there was the boy. My child marched up to his mother and told her, "You child bullies me." The mother laughed it off, so my child added some color. "He tells me every day that I should kill myself." The mother was horrified and corrected her son....
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader! My friend Claudia is fond of saying, "Perception is reality." But according to new MIT research, it might be more accurate to say, "Perception shapes how you experience reality." I came across this fascinating Thread this morning, recapping an experiment to recreate a famous 'double slit' experiment to see if light behaves like a particle or a wave. In this recreation, researchers were able to isolate single atoms and photons in different quantum fields. What they found is that...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! One of my favorite bosses was obsessed with team dynamics. Of primary concern was keeping people from ‘tipping over’ under the burden of too much work. Overload shouldn’t be your default It was a novel concept to me—that there might be too much for any one person to do. Overload in our household was normalized. We didn’t do second trips to bring in groceries, we’d string bags all up our arms to get it all over with. We didn’t sit around and relax, we’d pack our schedules with...
2 months ago • 2 min read