Month: October 2018

There are so many reasons to love Halloween.

It’s the only time of the year when the cobwebs in my house look intentional.

It’s also when I get to fulfill my lifelong dream of being a candy inspector.

But the best reason to love Halloween is because that is when monsters try their hardest to be scary and intimidating, but instead only come off looking ridiculously foolish.

And the more frightening they believe they are, the more comical they appear to others.

I mean, who doesn’t love laughing at monsters – especially while accumulating free snicker bars?

No one. That’s who.

304 blog posts down – only 61 more to ghoul!

If you never venture outside, you’ll never find yourself in the right place at the right time.

#seizeitlikeastoic

303 blog posts down – 62 left to go…

Life holds but one guarantee.

And, that is change.

Change is the only thing we can ever truly bank on.

Yet, it’s the one thing that people most fear betting against.

302 blog posts down – 63 left to go…

My husband summarizes nearly every Jewish holiday as follows:

They attacked us. We fought back. We prevailed. Now we eat.

I thought about his words as I initially hesitated taking my kids to Sunday school this morning.

Then I remembered that cowering doesn’t prevent attacks. It only empowers attackers.

And evil doesn’t win.

If it did, there wouldn’t be so many good brisket recipes.

301 blog posts down – 64 left to go…

I have done all that I could to see the evil and the good without hiding – Jackson Browne

I suppose choosing to see, no matter how painful, is sill better than hiding.

Hiding doesn’t keep us safe. It just prevents us from seeing more of the good.

300 blog posts down – a mere 65 left to go…

Do you know what happens after we stumble?

According to Paul Young, we fly.

At least the Stoics do.

“Through all the things that have to be, we often have to cry. And beneath the weight of gravity we stumble then we fly.” – Paul Young

Sang like a Stoic.

A Stoic who once sported a pretty awesome mullet.

#welovepaulyoung

299 blog posts down – 66 left to go…

My husband likes to tell our kids that “mommy thinks the world is all rainbows and lollipops.”

This is so not true.

I know better than to believe that the world is all just rainbows and lollipops.

The world is filled with rainbows, lollipops AND unicorns.

Everyone always forget about the unicorns.

Do they not bleed just like everyone else?

#stopunicornintolerance

298 blog posts down – 67 left to go…

“Slow down, you crazy child
And take the phone off the hook and disappear for awhile
It’s all right, you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?” – Billy Joel

Despite Billy Joel’s assurances that Vienna is waiting, it’s hard to slow down.

Instead, I often find myself so busy rushing to accomplish and accumulate that I forget the purpose of accomplishing and accumulating.

With just so many hours in a day and so many days in a life, I never want to run out of time.

But, maybe now I don’t have to.

The other day I learned that mankind is about to enter a longevity boom. Anyone who can make it to the year 2030 can expect to see their 110th or even 120th birthday.

Vienna may just have more patience than anyone realizes.

297 blog posts down – 68 left to go…

Even the nicest people have their limits.

That is something frequently overlooked by those who prey on kindness.

The kindest and most timid can turn into a predator’s greatest nightmare once they’ve had enough.

It is an undeniable truth that those who fail to account for breaking points are doomed to miscalculate.

295 blog posts down – 70 left to go…

They say that we are what we eat.

But, it reality, it’s more like we are what feast on.

There is an old Cherokee legend known as “Two Wolves” that goes like this:

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

I suspect that evil wolves have an aversion to organic kale, wheatgrass, ginger, beet root juice and fennel.

So, I think I’m good.

294 blog posts down – 71 left to go…

“Mama, mama many worlds I’ve come since I first left home.”

A great line from an old song that I caught on the radio while I was driving home yesterday.

Who would’ve thought that hours later one of those many worlds would end up in my dream.

My dream found me at 24 years old – 24 but possessing the knowledge of everything I’ve learned ever since.

I was at a pub in New York City, drinking a beer and eating a grilled cheese sandwich, which is so uncharacteristic of me – even at 24.

I have always been more of a salad and wine person. Nevertheless, there I was at a dingy pub, drinking a beer, mixing cheese with carbs and warning drunk twenty-somethings about certain events in the future.

When I was 24 the Internet began to transform the world – much like a new technology is on the verge of revolutionizing today’s society.

While I may never understand the symbolism of the grilled cheese, the dream may just be a warning not to miss this next technological wave.

So I won’t.

293 blog posts down – 72 left to go…

Some people spend their lives planning, preparing and prepping.

They save all of their money, their strength and sometimes even their happiness for a future moment in time.

Others take a different approach.

They race to spend their treasures with no regard for tomorrow.

If you’re expecting to live a long time then why not save a little sunshine for a rainy day?

But, if you’re anticipating an earlier departure, what’s the harm in spoiling yourself in the moment?

Either way, it’s a big gamble.

And the lack of a plan is still a plan.

If the best laid plans often go awry, imagine what happens to the un-laid ones?

292 blog posts down – 73 left to go…

I may get into big trouble for this blog post, but it’ll be soooo worth it.

The other day a pre-teen that I know – who shall remain nameless – confided in me about a crush she has on a boy in school who shall also remain nameless.

And like the first 60 minutes of nearly every John Hughes flick, she agonized over whether or not he liked her back.

Today I got the latest scoop.

It appears, based on very good intel, that the feelings are mutual.

And like the final 15 minutes of nearly every John Hughes film, we were giddy.

As we were jumping on up and down, I told her, “the best part is that all you had to do was just be you.”

291 blog posts down – 74 left to go…

I work in a very fluid industry that is constantly being disrupted by innovation.

Some view this disruption as the greatest thing to happen to mankind.

Others see it as the biggest fraud perpetrated on humanity.

When heeding the opinions of others, I’m reminded that we do not see things as THEY are. Instead, we see things as WE are.

We are all guilty of viewing the world through self-tinted lenses.

I am no exception.

I’m an optimist to a fault.

When given the choice between positive or negative, I’ll pick positive.

I will always choose to see good.

I’d even rather be wrong than have to see bad.

288 blog posts down – 77 left to go…

When I was a kid I used to wonder what I would be when I grew up.

Even though – according to the calendar – I am now a bona fide grown up with a career, I still think about what I’ll be when I grow up.

I probably always will.

Because the only thing we are destined to be is the person we create.

And we are never too old to be the person we decide to be.

287 blog posts down – 78 left to go…

The most revolutionary ideas aren’t always the most productive.

They’re just the ones with the loudest voices.

Likewise, the most impactful inventions aren’t always the most optimal.

They are merely the ones with the biggest marketing budget.

Changing the world entails hearing through the noise and seeing past an unpolished brochure.

Because that’s where some of tomorrow’s most valuable treasures lurk.

286 blog posts down – 79 left to go…

I can barely capture a thought
or notice moments ticking by
I can’t feel the earth spinning
no matter how hard I try

Yet I feel like I’m changing
I think I might be changing

I don’t need to see the sun set
to know that night is here
I don’t need a morning ending
to know that afternoon is near

Yet I feel like I am changing
I really believe that I am changing

I don’t need the warmth
to feel winter’s end
and I don’t need to shiver
to know it’s back again

Yet somehow I can feel myself changing
Yes, I’m pretty sure I’m changing

I don’t need a chart
to show how much I’ve grown
Not even a silly poem
can teach what I’ve always known

that gradually I’ve changed
I know that I have changed… August 4, 2006

We’re always changing.

Yet rarely ever noticing.

Writing forces me to pay attention.

To focus on the things that really matter.

I never want to be so busy growing that I can’t find the time to assess the growth.

Maybe that’s why I do it.

Maybe that’s why others don’t.

285 blog posts down – 80 left to go…