The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.  Joseph Campbell We all seem to be floating in this strange place, desperate to see other people, or to be alone, to meet a significant other or to stem the crush of incoming sick people.  This...Read More

Despite the good cheer that they bring, holidays can and do often dial up stress.  As we move through a holiday season unlike any we have ever seen, here are three pointers for managing it: Agency You get to decide how you want to lead yourself, how you want to show up.  You can take...Read More

  Well-being is realized by small steps but is truly no small thing. – Zeno Founder of Stoic Philosophy (334 BC-262 BC) I’ve been taking Robert Sapolsky’s biology course on YouTube on how stress impacts health.  Here is a fun fact to help us frame the holidays during a pandemic: Naked Mole Rats live in...Read More

A fresh look at Abraham Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ offers wise guidance in these tumultuous times.  It turns out that the pyramid of needs(below) was only created after Maslow’s death. He never imagined a ladder of needs that one climbs, but rather that our basic food, safety and belonging needs (and can we add strong WiFi?)...Read More

Take a rest. A field that is rested gives a beautiful crop OVID For these past few months, I’ve heard many complaints about how draining it is to work via video chat all day.  Why is this so?   It may be that it is harder to focus when looking at multiple people on a...Read More

Our Life is What our Thoughts Make It Marcus Aurelius, 121AD- 180AD   I recently began practicing stoicism—not to become an emotionless person, but to minimize negative emotions.  Its antifragile or toughness-training.  Even though the Stoics wrote their philosophy over 2,000 years ago–their wisdom is so relevant to our modern life.  Who among us does...Read More

Friendship is one of life’s most important healthy pleasures, and one too often taken for granted. A Harvard study found that having no friends (or feeling lonely) is as deadly as smoking, suggesting we ought to pay more attention to who we surround ourselves with. The theory of Dunbar’s Number posits that 150 is the number of perpetually changing...Read More

He who sows hurry reaps indigestion. Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish philosopher 1850-1894 An interesting study at the Princeton Theological Seminary tells a troubling story about how well-intentioned humans can behave when we are in a rush. The students were given a lecture on the parable of The Good Samaritan, and then were told they had...Read More

When I was growing up, I was one of six kids and my father owned a toy store in Hackensack, New Jersey. What I learned as a teenager, was that his leftover inventory became our Christmas presents. While I slept, the delivery truck from his store would back up the driveway late Christmas Eve. What...Read More

 As countries get richer, they do not get happier.                                           The Easterlin Paradox The 2018 World Happiness Report is out and while America’s income per capita has increased markedly during the past 50 years, well-being...Read More