One of the kindest things my husband Chris does is walk around the house, quietly turning off the lights that I meant to turn off but accidentally switched on because I’m distracted by my own thoughts. I’m not just bad with lights—I’m terrible at a lot
Joan Didion famously called writing “a hostile act.” In an interview, she explained: “It's hostile in that you're trying to make somebody see something the way you see it, trying to impose your idea, your picture. It's hostile to try to wrench around someone
Some of you know that I bought a kei truck last year, shortly after the election. I knew I’d need something stronger than a jigsaw puzzle to absorb my nervous energy while I figured out where—and how—to plug in to this brave new world. I’m not
“Honey, lately your low self-esteem is just good common sense.” This line, delivered in devastating style by Cloris Leachman, is the only thing I remember from the 2004 Adam Sandler movie Spanglish. It haunts me whenever I feel hobbled by self-doubt. In other words: daily. Last week, I suggested that
I have inhaled the news that MAGA is upset not for the schadenfreude though that is a balm It turns out they hate being duped— we can work with that
When my daughter Anna was three, she pierced my heart by gazing wistfully out the car window after daycare pickup and saying, "I wish Cody's mommy was my mommy." Cody's mother had spent the afternoon making origami pumpkins with the kids. I had spent
This week’s post came out early, so this message is just to confirm that we’re on for our monthly Zoom this coming Monday, July 7th at 5pm PT / 8pm ET. I’ve now had the giddy experience of removing trolls in real time, so I’m no longer
A couple summers ago, my husband and I “did RAGBRAI”—The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. To kick off, you dip your back tire into the Missouri River. To finish, you dip your front tire into the Mississippi. In between, you ride 500 miles, camp for seven
Now that I’ve stepped back from running my company, I've returned to mediating—peacemaking on a miniature scale. The Dispute Resolution Center (DRC) I’m affiliated with serves my entire county and handles a wide range of cases: parenting plans and asset division for divorcing couples, but
Andy Beshear, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Ruben Gallego, Amy Klobuchar, Wes Moore, Chris Murphy, Gavin Newsom, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, J.B. Pritzker, Josh Shapiro, and Gretchen Whitmer: You, in alphabetical order (because it’s way too early for any other kind of ranking), are 12 people who, I suspect, can see
Is anyone else out there haunted by that Isabel Allende interview from April, where she described fleeing Pinochet’s Chile? She began: “Although things happened very quickly in Chile, we got to know the consequences slowly, because they don’t affect you personally immediately. Of course, there were people who
Is a compelling list of 'Shared Concerns' something we could actually crack? Those of you who joined my unruly Zoom on Monday know what I’m working on: drafting a short list of “universals” that could be taken into any town hall across the country—and everyone present