You all know I like to talk about books—especially good books I’m reading and books by friends. Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora is an award-winning study of how the Atlantic slave trade worked to transform human beings into commodities. Author Stephanie Smallwood takes the records of the Royal African Company and [...]

I’ve been reading this fascinating book by Daniel Gardner called The Science of Fear: How the Culture of Fear Manipulates Your Brain. One of the things he talks about is how our brains haven’t evolved much since the days when our ancestors learned about new dangers around the campfire, even though our information systems have [...]

After weeks of the quiet life, I gave two talks this week—not the readings from the book that I’ve gotten pretty confident about, but two different forty-five minute lectures in a row, which is longer than I usually speak without some type of audience participation. Monday night was to an amazing group of parents of [...]

I’m giving two talks next week, both related to coping with fear. (The one at Pendle Hill on Tuesday is open to the public.) Of course, I have some thoughts on this, but I’m wondering what your thoughts are. What has helped you to overcome fear, especially in a time of transition? Is there a [...]

Last night I woke up around midnight, remembering that we didn’t change the smoke detector batteries when we set back the clocks. When I went back to sleep, I had three odd dreams, the last of which included a row of ringing rotary telephones like my mother's—and like the one that appeared in a dream [...]

It’s been quite a year, and in the early hours of Christmas Eve—when I could go to the gym or sneak down to the basement to finish wrapping presents—it feels like a good time to do some reflection. Besides, I’m not anticipating any other quiet time in the next few days, so I better write [...]

I hope people really do take the time on Thanksgiving to reflect on the gifts of the year. It is a great attitude shifter and one that need not be confined to November. Although Thanksgiving has become in the popular culture as much about the beginning of the shopping season as anything else, it's a [...]

After leading a workshop in October, one of the participants sent me Julia Child’s memoir, My Life in France, as a thank you gift, noting that it was partly about Julia “getting in her lane” (a phrase from my book). It was a wonderful surprise, and I’ve been cooking slightly more elaborate meals as I’ve read [...]

Between leading a retreat at Woolman Hill last weekend and giving two book talks in the DC area this weekend, I never managed to write a blog post. A few fun things have gone up on the Internet, though, so I’ll offer these links: A few weeks ago, Therese Borchard, who writes the Beyond Blue blog [...]

Sometimes messages come in threes. Last week one writer friend said that she doesn’t waste her “best time” checking email. First thing in the morning is reserved for writing. Busy work can be done at her less creative times of day. Then another friend said that she learned from a productivity expert to check email [...]