There have been times in human history when the term “Woe is me” was actually stated in seriousness by people who were sad or overly challenged. In modern usage, though, it is said in a more dramatic, humorous way, and sometime with a hint of irony: “I won front row tickets to the concert Saturday...
Last week, I had the opportunity to share my new talk, “Ignite Your Bursts of Brilliance,” with some very lovely members of our local writing organization. Since it’s the start of the year, the director thought it might be nice for me to focus on helping people realize their writing matters so they’d stay motivated...
My husband shared with me a TikTok video in which a high school teacher is showing her students the old music video of “We Are the World.” You know, the hit single recorded in 1985 to benefit African famine relief that featured many of the musical greats of that era, including Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder,...
The other night I had a dream I was working on something creative, and a small group of people gathered around me. They kept saying things like, “Can you explain what you’re doing?” and “Are you getting paid for that?” and “What do you really do for work?” I told them that, while it wasn’t...
As you may know, I’m not one for making New Year’s resolutions. Why wait until January 1 to start improving yourself or your life? I’m really good at maintaining healthy new habits, when I feel motivated to do so. But my motivation can strike at any time. Plus, too many New Year’s resolutions are either...
I can’t explain why, but every year, the first Christmas song that enters my mind is, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Maybe it’s because I’ve spent over 30 years writing about and studying World War II, and my imagination travels back in time to the lonely soldiers on the frontlines for whom that song was...
Memory is a funny thing. This time of year, a particular memory always returns to me, and I have no idea why. It’s from December of 1988. I was 21 years old and studying for a semester at West Chester University outside of Philadelphia. My roommate, Nancy, invited me to her house for the weekend....
This week I’ve been sick for the first time in two and a half years. I forgot how awful it is to be so achy you can’t get off the couch, and how achy you then become because you can’t get off the couch. For someone who usually has lots of energy and drive, it’s...
The musical, Wicked, is celebrating its 20th year on Broadway. It takes place in The Land of Oz, before the arrival of Dorothy, and tells the story of two unlikely friends, Elphaba and Galinda, who later become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch. So, I pulled up my favorite songs...
On a recent trip to New York, my husband and I visited the Morgan Library. The library’s permanent collection includes pages from a Mozart symphony dated 1782, a Rubens’ drawing circa 1613, and a Gutenberg bible dated 1454. As we and many other visitors wandered through J. P. Morgan’s study and library it occurred to...