During the summer of 2019, my cousin married a Parisian woman. The wedding was in Paris and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend. We arrived several days early to be able to spend some time exploring and experiencing Paris. It was a phenomenal week. On the first…
The Wall Street Journal published a really good piece explaining why being kind helps you, too. As the piece explains, “research links kindness to a wealth of physical and emotional benefits – and it’s an excellent coping skill for the COVID-19 era.” You may not be able to read the…
Early last summer, I read Ibram X. Kendi’s 2016 book, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. It’s an amazing book I highly recommend, and I recommended it in my most recent post, Be an Antiracist. It was in that book that I first heard…
On August 19, 2015, I published a post about #BlackLivesMatter. In that post, I wrote about the movie Fruitvale Station, the true story about the tragic killing of Oscar Grant, which I had seen in 2013, coincidentally, around the same time I had read the extremely important, highly acclaimed book The…
All the talk about essential workers, and the realization that so many of the heroes of this pandemic have been people whose contributions to society were previously taken for granted, reminded me of something my wife told me. Last year she attended a seminar and the presenter held up a…
I always wash my hands at the kitchen sink before eating. For as long as I can remember, I would grab a paper towel (or two) and dry my hands. About a year ago, my wife and I had the long-overdue realization that we were using far too many paper…
We can detest someone's actions without detesting the person. We can hate the sin without hating the sinner. When I think of these words, it reminds me of what Arthur Brooks said about loving your enemies in his book and when I heard him speak, which I wrote about here.…
Imagine you’re walking to work. You see a child drowning in a pond. You’re about to jump in and save her when you realize you’re wearing your best suit, and the rescue will end up ruining your suit, costing hundreds. Should you still save the child? Of course you should.…
At least once a year, an event in the speaker series at 92Y in Manhattan catches my eye. I’ve seen several of my favorite writers, including Malcom Gladwell (three times) and Michael Lewis. This year, I saw Arthur Brooks in conversation with Simon Sinek. I have become a fan of…
This year, my wife and I celebrated our 30th anniversary. Around the same time, I read a blog post called “8 Traits of a Happy Marriage, According to a Couples Therapist.” I agree with all eight of the defining characteristics of long-lasting, happy marriages. I am particularly drawn to these…
I’ve written before about things I learned from Daniel Kahneman’s wonderfully interesting book, "Thinking, Fast and Slow". In a section on availability bias, Kahneman shared useful information for couples. Availability bias is the way we judge situations by relying on immediate examples that come mind. For example, as Kahneman points…
“Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood” is the fifth of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, one of the all-time, best-selling, personal development books. We often jump to conclusions and make assumptions with incomplete information. When we do that—when we fail to seek to understand someone…