Who Are Your Cheerleaders?
These are dark days. We need a blast of a past blog, updated to remind us of the bright lights in our lives. Time to connect with the people who motivate us. We need them now more than ever. Recall a moment when you were excited. Was it when you started a new project or…
Read MoreFallback Friday: Zoom Tips
Time for a Fallback Friday I wrote in April 2020, when we thought we would be back in person soon. This last month, the national news has been difficult for me. I’m full of outrage and sadness. So what can I possibly tell you, dear readers, that’s helpful? We are not all the way back,…
Read MoreBe Here Now
Be Here Now was a 10-week seminar I taught in the 70’s for est— a transformational seminar company– 200 people at a time, in four major East Coast cities. I’ve aspired to live in the moment before then, and ever since. Be Here Now is the mantra for today. We were gobsmacked the past couple…
Read MoreKnow When to Hold ‘Em
These last two years seemed all about the choices we constantly were making, even when it didn’t feel like choosing. And now we have to deal with those. The famous song about choosing I’ve been hearing in my head was written by a 23-year old unknown composer. Made famous by Kenny Rogers. The Gambler. It’s…
Read MoreSecond Half Bonus Points
Challenging times. We’ve endured. We’re halfway there. We’ve GOT to be in the second half, right? Joyful bingeing of many hours of Olympic figure skating makes me think we’ll make it, I swear. Sports are always a great metaphor for life lessons. My favorite life lesson in figure skating is the second half scoring: extra…
Read MoreEvery Birthday Leads to This One
When the Sun makes its way into the constellation of Aquarius next week, my birthday season begins. It’s when I take stock of my life—where I stand. And I look at who I have become in the year since my last birthday. Here’s my recent “a-ha”: The more birthdays I have, the more I am…
Read MoreChristmas Day on Avenue Q
Growing up Jewish, I don’t miss the Christmas-morning-presents-under-the–tree-memory. I don’t miss it because I never had it. On Christmas day, my family and I would go to a big, popular movie in the afternoon and eat Chinese food after that. Tradition. As an adult, I celebrated special Christmases with friends under their Christmas trees, with…
Read MoreGrateful for Doctors, Like My Dad
Here’s Dad, getting his Masters of Public Health at UCLA after decades of private practice as a Medical Doctor. He gave me this photo, and on the back, he wrote, “Nov. ’87. To my darling first-born. I love you, Dood” (my pet name for him.) It was the late ‘80s, so he worked on the…
Read MoreGeneral Powell and Me
All week, my heart and mind have been full of fond memories of General Colin Powell. In the late 90’s, I shared the keynote stage with the man the historians call, “the most important person who was never President.” He had been the National Security Advisor in the late 80s, and then the Chairman of…
Read MoreYou Have a Book In You
Really intimidating to think about, isn’t it? I know. Sounds huge. Even when I was training managers in business writing, I noticed a syndrome: “Blank Page Paralysis.” Now I guess it’s blank screen paralysis. Nevertheless. I’ve written four books, three of them since 2006. And I never had the paralyzing thought I was writing a…
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