How an 11 year old’s gift comes back to her when she’s 23. — I just got off the phone with my daughter Andra who is 23, living in LA, making $9 an hour as a production assistant, trying to break into the writing business. As do all artistic hopefuls, she has gathered a community of like-strivers who have blended their talents to write…

“Where was the peace when we were getting shot? Where’s the peace when we were getting laid out? Where is the peace when we are in the back of ambulances? Where is the peace then? They don’t want to call for peace then. But you know when people really want…

I just read a fantastic article called “The Confidence Gap,” by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman. In their first sentence I recognize what has been my unconscious strategy for decades: For years, we women have kept our heads down and played by the rules. We’ve been certain that with enough…

I’m at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio with my elder brother Phil who was born with a cognitive disability. I’ve spent more than half a century plumbing the depths of how differently we are abled, and how to push past barriers that hold us both back. In his case…

Why making meaning means more than feeling good. — So many first-world people like me are consumed with the pursuit of happiness, where many other-world people are consumed with just staying alive. I’ve often thought if I were a woman in a refugee camp, I would be so upset to know there are folks in the world with SO…