“The pain is inevitable but the suffering is optional.”Haruki Murakami I made a pitch to a  national newspaper journalist a few weeks ago about what resilience will look like in 2021. She responded and we engaged in a series of spirited emails exploring the topic I proposed. My basic premise is that the greatest danger from stressful events is not when they are occurring, for that is when we are girded and invoke our “grit response,” but instead happens after...

“Do Re Me Fa So La Ti Do”Julie Andrews I heard Julie Andrews (and those delightful Von Trapp children) charming rendition of Do Re Me on the radio the other day and now I can’t get that song out of my head. Hearing music in our head is something we all experience and the awful term that is used to describe it is known as “earworms.”  Scientists who have studied the phenomenon report that the music usually lasts 15-30 seconds,...

2020 was definitely a year of learning. Perhaps most critical was that we saw how quickly we could modify and change everything from work from home to how we get our groceries. I suspect, however, that the changes will be much more profound and long-lasting and that the idea that we will return to some kind of “new normal” is a misnomer. When major crises or even technological advances happen, no one wonders whether we will go backwards. We can’t...

2020, a year that was so damaging, must hold some meaning and understanding for us. Can we find a way to mend the pains and difficulties of this year? Interestingly, the Japanese may have an idea for how we can think about this broken year and what we can do about it. It is referred to as kintsukuroi (金継ぎ, “golden joinery).  In practice thistranslates to the art form of repairing broken pottery with a special lacquer and powdered gold, that actually includes...