It’s a busy time for religions. It is holy week for Christians, Passover for Jews and Ramadan for Muslims. Each holiday has a special meaning for its followers, the resurrection of Christ for Christians, the exodus from Egypt and the journey to freedom for Jews, and the revelation of the first verses of the Quran to the Prophet Mohammed, to Muslims. Each of these holidays may be different in their historical underpinnings, but the overarching theme is something that brings...

My physical therapist lifted my arm and told me to “relax.” I started to chuckle, and when he asked what was so funny, I told him about the time I broke my wrist playing football. I was quarterbacking our sandlot team, and as I threw a pass across the field, I was tackled and fell awkwardly. When I looked down, my wrist was not in a normal position. I headed home, and when my parents saw my hand, they immediately...

“Bueller…Bueller…” When Ferris Bueller’s economics teacher, Ben Stein, asked whether he was in class, we already knew that Ferris was faking a sick day so that he and his buddies could have an epic day of exploring Chicago on Von Steuben Day. And epic it was. I loved when his friend, Cameron, sat staring at George Seurat’s unique pointillism painting at the Chicago Art Institute. Today is National Goof Off Day (NGOD), which sounds like a bad thing to do...

This past weekend, I was honored when one of my teachers and dear friends, Cynthia Winton-Henry, shared her latest newsletter from “The Hidden Monastery.” Cynthia reflected on the importance of International Women’s Day. She noted that the world does not need an International Men’s Day, but she would like to see a day that recognizes: “Men who follow women, men who understand the role of women, men who listen to women, and especially men who dignify the role of highly sensitive...

I had a full day on Monday and was giving serious thought to canceling going to my workout class that morning. I’m glad I didn’t. I’ve been taking this Essentrics class for about six months. It fits the “flexibility” category, which is one of the five areas of strength I like to do every week. Jill is a great teacher because she performs the class with complete awareness of how our bodies function and move. We explore ways to increase...

Rethinking the Traumatizing Workplace A number of letters to the New York Times Work Friend Advice Column understandably focus on how difficult the workplace can be for many people. Over the past year, however, people began reporting that their workplace is traumatizing.  Recently, one person reported being meaningfully bothered by her new boss’ desire that have some social get togethers after work.  Another person complained about not wanting to look at pictures of a colleague’s new baby because she thought...