I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Atlas Obscura, when I came across fascinating research that gave me some great insight into the creep factor. Why do we find some people creepy? Why are men and people perceived to be men seen as creepier than women? What is it that makes our skin crawl?The podcast, in case you are interested, was about the Isla de los Muñecas, (Island

Understanding the Creep Factor

I don’t know about you, but this month I have been vacillating between deliberate ignoring of media and news to avoid panic, and dipping in a bit at a time only to note that, yep. It really is that bad. What should other people do? I don’t know. I can share what I am doing, and can also share that it appears to be working in that I am still

Now What?

A student recently told me about a book by Rhaina Cohen called “The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center”. The book is full of great insights, and although I am not quite done, I am really enjoying it. The premise is simply this: what if our closest friend were, in essence, our primary partners in life? It’s not the first time I have contemplated this, but

The Other Significant Others: Book Review

As I enter the third act of my life, I have become aware that I have developed a very different response (OK, let’s call it what it is, a reaction) to the idea of purpose. All of my life I have considered myself lucky to have had a strong sense of purpose, and while my purpose has changed throughout the years, the feeling that I’m needed here on the planet

Purpose? Or Place?

Have you ever thought about the fact that everything you know, every single thing, was taught to you by someone else? Everything you know how to do, every value you have, every belief, someone had to teach you. Even if we unlearn or reconsider those beliefs, values or facts, we do so usually through not only our experience, but new beliefs, facts and ideas coming to us through others. It’s

What is Education? How do we honor it?

A long time ago, I was introduced to the phrase, “The good is the enemy of the best,” and I thought it was brilliant. I was opposed, as many of us are, to “settling”, to the idea that anything but the very best was something to be striven for. Research, it turns out, has other ideas. Striving for the best may get us a better job, or a better house.

The Best is the Enemy of the Good