Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper: What Happens When You Protect Your Values

Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.”  — Thurgood Marshall After my daughter watched the documentary Finding Neverland the other night, she wrote me a note that landed deep i...

When Challenges Arise, Focus on Your ‘Why’

Everyone who has achieved significant goals in their work, family or personal life has learned at some point how to put setbacks in perspective, get back up after a defeat and re-energize themselves to try again. More often than not, the first step they take in the face of challenge is a gia...

Why Perfectionism Isn’t Nature’s Way

With over 3.8 billion years of experimentation, nature has many lessons to teach us about life, leadership and creating environments in which every organism, including humans, will thrive. And yet as individuals, we often have thought patterns that contradict nature’s lessons and trip us u...

Cauliflower, Chickpeas & Thyme

This one-pot meal is great for those busy nights. It is super easy and tasty, and it incorporates vegetables that you may already have on hand. It is a delicious gluten-free option for guests. You can serve this very versatile dish all year round. One of my favorites! Here’s what you’...

Author Erling Kagge Tells Us How to Find ‘Silence in the Age of Noise’

Whenever I am unable to walk, climb or sail away from the world, I have learned to shut it out. Learning this took time. Only when I understood that I had a primal need for silence was I able to begin my search for it—and there, deep beneath a cacophony of traffic noise and thoughts, mu...

Excerpt: Outer Order, Inner Calm: Declutter & Organize to Make Room For Happiness

In my study of happiness, I’ve realized that for most of us, outer order contributes to inner calm. More than it should. In the context of a happy life, a messy desk or a crowded coat closet is a trivial problem—yet getting control of the stuff of life often makes it easier to feel...

Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper: This Is What Strong Leadership Looks Like

One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion.”  — Simone de Beauvoir In my time in Abu Dhabi for the Special Olympics World Games, I was struck by a few things. 1) How vast the world is and ho...

Olive Oil Pizza with Lox and Arugula

Going out for pizza in Rome is as integral to the culture as whipping up a plate of pasta is at home. It’s a social occasion shared with boisterous friends (i.e. most Italians). La pizza is ideal when you don’t want to spend a lot time (or money) on dinner because you have bigger plans o...

Transformed by Brain Injury: How I Became a New Wife to a New Husband

On the morning before my 29-year-old husband went missing, he laced up his sneakers and went for a long run around the Tidal Basin, a few miles from our home in Washington, D.C. When he returned, I watched as he stood glistening with sweat and catching his breath in front of the bathroom mir...

How the Success of Actress Yalitza Aparicio Illustrates We Are All Capable of Winning

Yalitza Aparicio is everywhere. She was the second Latina and the only Mixtec woman in history to ever be nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Yalitza was nominated for her role as Cleo in the poetic and beautiful film ROMA, Alfonso Cuaron’s masterpiece about two wome...