I have spent my whole life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream. — Bruce Springsteen The other night, I was having dinner with a friend when she said something that really struck me. She said: “I just want less. Less stuff. Less to worry about. Less...
Three years ago I was about to sit down for a dinner party in Newport, Rhode Island when a friend of mine ran up to me and strongly suggested that I move my seat. When I asked him why he just said to trust him and that I'd thank him later. I sat down at my seat anyway and quickly learned...
It’s that time of year for our beautiful country to celebrate its freedom! What better time to evaluate the areas in your personal life where it’s time to create greater feelings of freedom and enjoyment. Here are some question to consider: If your life were a country and yo...
2017. A bitterly cold day in February. I sit in the front row of the school auditorium as my friend Mandy France walks to the podium, tall, purposeful, the swell of her auburn hair flapping onto the shoulders of her pink blouse. My throat stings, on fire all day from a case of lary...
Reaction: a boat which is going against the current, but which does not prevent the river from flowing on. — Victor Hugo My entire life, I’ve always been that person who says to the doctor, “I’m not allergic to anything.” I’ve also been that person who reads the potential s...
Have you ever noticed that the most stressful times of your day seem to occur around transitioning from one thing to the next? For example, it might be leaving the calm of the car and walking into a bustling workplace where you are slammed with the day’s demands. Or, coming home after a lo...
For me, growing up on the East Coast meant the pleasure of seeing fireflies in the summer. But my daughter, who was born in California, had never seen one. In our travels we discovered there were fireflies in the tropical nights of Bali. After she went to bed one night, I tucked in her mosqu...
Tall and tan and young and lovely makes me think of this salad or how I imagine myself eating it on a lounge chair basking on a beach in Thailand (although I am neither tall, tan, or young!). A girl can dream, can’t she? Whether you’re sitting in a snow storm in Minnesota or enjoying a s...
A few days ago, I traveled with Save the Children—I have been an artist ambassador for more than a decade and now serve on the board of trustees—to the tiny, rural, poor town of Deming, New Mexico. Just 30 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, Deming is ground zero for migrant families ...
In his latest book, Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do About it, David Zahl coins the word seculosity which he says describes what he's witnessing in all aspects of daily life: the way more and more of us are ...
