It was the perfect tribute. — He was always a bit of an enigma, my father. Born the only child to an older, stage-and-silent-movie-actress mother and entrepreneur father who died when he was eleven, my father lived a lonely life away at boarding school and later a military academy. When we were still very young, his…

The nomadic instinct is a human instinct — Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad — After a couple of years of deep contemplation, I decided I was tired of living a life of not quite… quiet desperation…but lingering melancholy. I felt my life shrinking when it should be expanding. Routine had sidled up, tapped me on the shoulder, and suddenly uttered Boo! I remembered “The…

With the discovery of the Interstellar visitor, Oumuamua, this isn’t just the stuff of dreams. — My brother never told anyone. Then in 1995, thirty-one years later, while watching a TV talk show with a couple of good friends, musician Sammy Hagar spoke about his alien encounter also in the 1960s (he still speaks of it). Both his and Hagar’s experiences were so strikingly similar that…

Become an active listener and not the person in competition. — I’m the quiet one. The listener in the group. Growing up in a large family, wanting to be heard usually resulted in a shouting match, and as the only introvert, I eventually just gave up. For some reason, my best friends and people I love the most happen to be…

Celebrating the Unsung heroes who help us navigate the unexpected potholes in life. — It’s tough out there. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been, quite literally, kicked to the curb a few times over the years. And that includes a dropkick from each of the three big contenders that figure prominently in the life-sucking-psychic-energy department: romance, work, and customer service. But in…

The amazing Helen Mirren is credited with this quote: Your 40s are good. Your 50s are great. Your 60s are fab. Your 70s are F*@cking awesome. When I first read it, the 40s, 50s, and 60s decades resonated. But the 70s? F*@ing Awesome? I tried hard to believe her —…

My 91 year-old mother died this month in an assisted living/memory care facility in Maine. I wasn’t allowed to be with her. As a resident of NYC for the past year, I would have had to quarantine for two weeks making a visit impossible, and I didn’t want to jeopardize…

Remembering a Thanksgiving masterpiece of moments 5 years… —

These 3 easy practices, done together, will manifest positive action and, maybe, an adventure. — Five years ago, I started an inner journey and stumbled upon three easy yet different processes that I, fortuitously, did at the same time. These three things shook up my life and sent me on an adventure that continues to this day. It began with a picture I’d cut out…