“When we came in, we were all a little compassionate. But this week enlarged our compassion pipes from the size of a vein to an artery.” This is what I said last week at the close of a 6-day training on Self-reflection for Conflict Professionals, run by the Center for Understanding in Conflict (CUC). About 24 of us mediators gathered at a rustic beachside retreat center in a tiny fishing village on the Pacific coast of Mexico. We came from … read more »

Last week, I sent out a video of Dr. Martin Luther King giving his famous speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” While I was doing the research for it, I came across this, a much less famous speech that Dr. King gave to a group of students at the Barratt Junior High School in South Philadelphia on October 27, 1967. I didn’t know about the speech – I was just a few years behind in the Philadelphia public schools at … read more »

As you know, this week, we celebrated the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. I spent time listening to several of his speeches, but the one that stood out for me most was his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, given on April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated. He had gone to Memphis to support the sanitation workers in their struggle for better working conditions and higher pay. It was a time, like ours, when … read more »

This week, I watched an online book talk by David Brooks about his book, How to Know A Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. He told stories from the book and talked a bit about the process of writing it and the people he interviewed along the way. I had listened to the book on Audible. I’ve been reading David Brooks’ opinion pieces in the New York Times for years and catch him occasionally on … read more »

Happy New Year. I hope 2026 is better for all of us, individually and collectively. I watched the inauguration of Mayor Mamdani on New Year’s Day, and Cornelius Eady’s poem really stood out to me. I read it as a poem about transformation, and as a love letter to those of us who feel like we don’t fit in anywhere, and a love letter to New York. I read it as the beginning of a roadmap for how we can … read more »

I’m going to keep it short today – I just wanted to share a very quick video that shows that even members of the same family can have very different views of reality. And our perceptions can lead to very different reactions!

I wanted to share another song the Rockland Pride Chorus sang a few weeks ago – Already Gone by Indie-folk singer songwriter, Jennifer O’Connor. It was a great joy and honor to sing with her. The New Yorker once said of Jennifer, “Her songs are plain and her presentation direct; she has a gift for brutally accurate songs about people whose lives always fall short.” (Feb 12, 2007) Here are the lyrics – and a link to the video (used … read more »

So many of us grew up believing in the American Dream — that this is the land of opportunity where, if we work hard, we can feed our families and create a better life for our children. The playing field has never been even, but we still depend on it to basically be true. That’s why we send our kids to college, that’s why immigrants come to the U.S. But that dream has been deeply challenged for some people for … read more »

Your flight to Utah is late, and mid-air, the flight attendant gets on the loudspeaker and says, “Who is ending their journey in Salt Lake City? Raise your hand.” Most of the hands go up. Then she says, “Now, everyone with your hands up, imagine how you’d feel if you had to catch another flight tonight and weren’t sure if you’d make it.” Then she asks the people who are making connecting flights to raise their hands. And she tells … read more »

I was thrilled to participate in the No Kings protest in Manhattan last weekend. There was an amazing sense of camaraderie with strangers, of optimism, humor, and joy. The march moved slowly because it was so massive – as far up and down Seventh Ave as the eye could see, yet New Yorkers were kind and patient that day. I grew up going to anti-war demonstrations in Washington, DC. They were also impressive because people traveled far and wide to … read more »