Thirty years ago, I was bored and directionless in a Ph.D. program at the University of Chicago. My father had just died somewhat unexpectedly at the youthful age of 57 and I committed from that moment on, I would ONLY do work that was fun, juicy, and creative. After a couple of months spent grieving…
The brilliant philosopher Jacob Needleman passed away one year ago today. Needleman is the one who famously said, “We’re built to serve something greater than ourselves.” In a letter to the president of the Fetzer Institute, Needleman wrote something else that has continued to inspire me throughout my career: “I believe that the group is…
“Every extraordinary or successful or remotely memorable person in the world has only gotten to where they are because they didn’t give a fuck about being cringey.” @dahman454 on TikTok. I’ve been helping a good friend with her singing gigs for the past few months. It’s amazingly fun AND… I always leave steeped in CRINGE……..
On the reality tv show Top Chef, the competing chefs can’t refuse to work with a particular ingredient. The chefs that have the most “well-developed palettes” are the ones who go on to win the competition. Over my years of academic teaching, I’ve sometimes had Ph.D. students who resisted reading some of the literature I…
One of the deep issues in my life has been crumbling in the face of bullies. And even, crumbling in the face of aggressive people. Maybe it’s the “awe-shucks” Iowa farm girl community I was raised in. But for whatever reason, bullying “mean girl” energy takes me straight back to my first trip away from…
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