Category: Living

Each moment is different. Here are some of mine.

Viral Into Life

WE’VE ALL SEEN THOSE VIDEOS of people semi-spontaneously bursting into song in public places, to the bemusement, amusement, and eventual participation of the earshot citizenry. Let’s take it offline, folks. Bust into song. Right now. Wherever you are and with…

Fear of Fear Ourselves

WE ARE FROZEN INTO SOCIETAL uselessness through fear of liability: who’s responsible, what are the ramifications, an obsessive-compulsive moral handwash. Perhaps that’s one reason scapegoating is so popular: release of tension. Everything flows when the ice is cracked with a…

Season’s Regreetings

THE NEXT TIME SOMEONE OUTSIDE your comfort zone wishes you a merry holiday-you-don’t-celebrate, don’t take umbrage — just wish them a happy “Same To You.” This three-syllable Teflon Shield of Banter will save you from giving and receiving earnest but…

Mindfulness Question

EXACTLY WHAT IN YOUR LIFE requires an opinion? And can kneejerk acceptance be as valid a personal evolutionary strategy as kneejerk fulmination? Contemplating these questions may not make you wiser, but may make you happier. (But there’s no real guarantee…

One Conversation

WE WERE DISCUSSING SYNAGOGUE FUNDRAISERS, and I suggested an egg toss. E. G., who knows who he is but may not want you to, looked at me with the sad seriousness of the ex-military and first responder. “Eggs aren’t for…

Listen Up

TODAY IS THE NATIONAL DAY of Listening, which, if you hadn’t heard — and I hadn’t until about five minutes ago, which saddens me because it’s such a neat idea and it’s in its third year — is dedicated to…

Accented Enlightenment

SO MANY OF OUR VERBAL surroundings are invisible to us; we live like blind fish in a sea of words. Two experiments to make the background pop out: 1. Try shifting the accent on multiword phrases; e.g., “Vanity Fair” turns…