We have just said goodbye to 2023 and in the spirit of starting fresh, a “best of” list feels appropriate. It’s satisfying to see what a year can produce in insights, and though it’s always easy to bemoan the scarcity in mental health research investment, it’s important to recognize the progress being made in spite […]
Grit is all of New York’s shared experience–the social glue that transcends class, ethnicity, and borough of origin. But I, for one, am growing tired of the teflon paradigm. Alienated and exhausted from 20+ years of tough guy adjectives, I’ve reached the end of my rope. Yes, New Yorkers are #strong and New Yorkers are
In the early months of Joe Biden’s Presidency, I often pause to imagine his administration’s capacity for solving even one of the existential crises in full bloom right now. It’s not that I don’t believe President Biden has the best intentions: when he professes virulent opposition to horrors like police brutality towards black Americans, I
In the whisper of borrowed time that was early March 2020, I went to a reading at the Philadelphia Public Library. Clearly it was fate; my favorite living author, James McBride, appeared clutching his masterful novel like a visiting angel. “May God hold you in the palm of His hand”, say the members of Five
Putting Deacon King Kong on Repeat by Elsie Ramsey Read More »
Every night, with a small handful of exceptions, I’ve watched a movie in lockdown. I discovered the Criterion Channel and my first, truest love (books) are feeling threatened. It’s been a deep, magical dive into the visual realm. My heart, intellect and spirit have been calmed, awakened, challenged, shattered and rebuilt by cinema’s look at the human
Today I left the house to do two errands. It was eventful in contrast with the past weeks of what feel like dress rehearsals for an uncertain future. I will remember nothing of such days in a year or two. Errands in the car are exciting. I look forward to light brushes with strangers, delighting
On the East Coast, we’ve now been living in phases of quarantine for half a year. The finish line is still not in view. Let’s take a moment to pause and think about the miracle of MAKING IT THROUGH SIX MONTHS. Sure, it’s taken me two tele-therapy sessions a week, additional medication and YouTube energy
Before Corona, in another lifetime, Americans lived a life of collective malaise. Whether you realized it or not, our way of life was subverting your true, genuine happiness. Our leaders could have made different choices. Choices that would make us less financially vulnerable, isolated and fearful, but they didn’t. It was an America with two
