Someone I know reached out to me recently asking if we might discuss the topic of “loyalty.” A variety of events and experiences in this person’s life had made him wonder: what is loyalty? Why do some people seem to exhibit it fiercely and others not at all? It got me thinking. The more I […]
When opportunity knocks
Recently I’ve been thinking about how important it is (and how good it feels) to be ready when opportunity knocks. This has come up for me in a number of personal and professional areas, one of which is music. If you’ve read more than a post or two of mine then you may know how […]
Default: fear
Your loved one is 5 minutes into their commute and you see that they’re calling you from the car. Default: flat tire? car accident? fear! A colleague asks if they can speak with you about something in the morning: Default: have I angered them? let them down? fear! Fear, anger, resistance, resentment– somehow, in spite […]
Tearing down and building up
There’s a Jewish teaching that I associate (I think correctly) with Rebbe Nachman of Breslov: “If you believe that we can break something then you must also believe that we can mend it.” Unfortunately, it’s much easier to break things than to mend them. It’s much easier to tear down than to build up. It’s much easier […]
Old wounds
They say, “Old wounds die hard.” As someone who has never really kept grudges or picked at old wounds, I’ve never really understood this. But recently I found myself in a situation that was made more complicated because of some old wounds. I’m not really sure what to say about old wounds except that, though […]
Listservs
We live in the age of the listserv. Yes, the listserv– that thing where a bunch of people we know or sort of know are able to send an email to the rest of us. That thing that pings our inbox every-so-often with something that we have the time or the interest to read. That […]