Every Monday, we're rounding up the things, small and big, that make us stop and think. Today, we're inspired by...“He had faith in us, and that is why he belongs on this Mall: Because he saw what we might become."
–President Obama, at the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr memorial.
“My grandmother gave me a bird book, and I got to like their colors. I said, ‘Jesus, a little blackbird with red wings’...In a way, that little bird seems to be responsible for all of my paintings.”
–Painter Ellsworth Kelly, in conversation with Gwyneth Paltrow.
“Then, just a few years ago, I realized that everyone feels secretly fraudulent. It’s the feeling of being an adult.”
–Miranda July, in the New Yorker.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
–Steve Jobs
–President Obama, at the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr memorial.
“My grandmother gave me a bird book, and I got to like their colors. I said, ‘Jesus, a little blackbird with red wings’...In a way, that little bird seems to be responsible for all of my paintings.”
–Painter Ellsworth Kelly, in conversation with Gwyneth Paltrow.
“Then, just a few years ago, I realized that everyone feels secretly fraudulent. It’s the feeling of being an adult.”
–Miranda July, in the New Yorker.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
–Steve Jobs
Every Monday, we're rounding up the things, small and big, that make us stop and think. Today, we're inspired by...
"I can only say that these computers coaxed out of me an expansiveness the typewriter never did."
-Novelist Gish Jen, on the impact Apple computers had on her writing life
"Because at the end of the day, your kids don’t care about the square footage of your home, the size of your stock portfolio, or the brand of your car. They just want unconditional love--and happy parents."
-New York City parenting coach Natalie Nevares
"I can only say that these computers coaxed out of me an expansiveness the typewriter never did."
-Novelist Gish Jen, on the impact Apple computers had on her writing life
"Because at the end of the day, your kids don’t care about the square footage of your home, the size of your stock portfolio, or the brand of your car. They just want unconditional love--and happy parents."
-New York City parenting coach Natalie Nevares
"I realized that I had carved up the entire day into five-minute units of efficiency, and I was appalled...and I'm wondering, How do you use time in your life?"-author Alan Lightman (thanks to Brainpicker's 7 Anthologies of Interviews)
And, in related news: "There are so many trails we leave through the world," says [Jonathan] Wegener. "I wanted to make them interesting to you again."-- in Clive Thompson's article on "memory engineering," on efforts to help us all recall more of the moments in our past
Every Monday, we're rounding up the things, small and big, that make us stop and think. Today, we're inspired by...
“I think I’m one of those people that makes a much better adult than I did a teenager or child.”
–Actress, former child star, and neurology PhD Mayim Bialik
“Early in our careers, we all have people who are kind and considerate to us, and I learned to treasure them for two reasons: They’re rare, and their actions inspire you to pay that grace forward.”
–Kent Matlock, chairman and chief executive of Matlock Advertising and Public Relations
"You know you're getting older when you throw out your back while buttering scones."
“People like to say that women are civilizing force on men. I think equality is a civilizing force on us all.”
–Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates on how his beliefs changed when he went to college
"The fear is this: That this is the one question, so large and so deep, which so overshadows everything else that I think and that I do and that I want and fear and love that unless I can put something around it – some kind of resolution – that I will never be free of it."
-Mary-Kim Arnold on her choice to search for her biological mother
Every
Monday, we're rounding up the things, small and big, that make us stop and think.
Today, we're inspired by...
"We all know about [balancing] diet and exercise, but I think the third piece is emotional stuff, and that's the piece I had never tackled before. I did a lot of emotional housecleaning, and then everything fell into place."
— Six-time triathlon competitor Jody Orfield, who got inspired to get in shape after her 25th high school reunion
"Then you finish writing the book, and it is both the chronicle and final proof of your escape."
— Novelist Colson Whitehead, via Twitter
"Releasing us is a good gesture, and no positive step should go unnoticed."
— Josh Fattal, one of the three hikers freed last week after two years in an Iranian prison
"I'd rather be in the writers' room complaining about how overworked I am than in the Bahamas, where I'm like, What am I doing here?"
— The Office writer and cast member Mindy Kaling
"And I also know that you don't have to make dinner every night to live a lovely life. "
-— Pink of Perfection blogger Sarah McColl
"We all know about [balancing] diet and exercise, but I think the third piece is emotional stuff, and that's the piece I had never tackled before. I did a lot of emotional housecleaning, and then everything fell into place."
— Six-time triathlon competitor Jody Orfield, who got inspired to get in shape after her 25th high school reunion
"Then you finish writing the book, and it is both the chronicle and final proof of your escape."
— Novelist Colson Whitehead, via Twitter
"Releasing us is a good gesture, and no positive step should go unnoticed."
— Josh Fattal, one of the three hikers freed last week after two years in an Iranian prison
"I'd rather be in the writers' room complaining about how overworked I am than in the Bahamas, where I'm like, What am I doing here?"
— The Office writer and cast member Mindy Kaling
"And I also know that you don't have to make dinner every night to live a lovely life. "
-— Pink of Perfection blogger Sarah McColl
Every
Monday, we're rounding up the things, small and big, that us stop and think.
Today, we're inspired by...
•"I saw and began to realize that, if you have the right glasses on, there are a lot of absurd, funny things that happen in connection with being as old as we are."
-90-year-old nursing home resident Jan Slepian, whose self-published book on aging has been adapted into a play.
•"When women root for each other, we get so much further.
-Kate Hudson, in this month’s Elle.
•"I knew what I had to do: I had to become the Avenger of the women's section."
•"I saw and began to realize that, if you have the right glasses on, there are a lot of absurd, funny things that happen in connection with being as old as we are."
-90-year-old nursing home resident Jan Slepian, whose self-published book on aging has been adapted into a play.
•"When women root for each other, we get so much further.
-Kate Hudson, in this month’s Elle.
•"I knew what I had to do: I had to become the Avenger of the women's section."
-The Wall
Street Journal’s Lucette Lagnado, writing in her new memoir about attending a traditional divided synagogue
•"We really just got angry...[We learned that] you die anyway. You die sitting down. So let’s die trying. And when we stepped out, fortunately we didn’t die—we changed the course of history."
-Liberian revolutionary Leymah Gbowee on confronting then-dictator Charles Taylor in 2003, speaking at last week’s Women in the World Foundation Launch.
•"We really just got angry...[We learned that] you die anyway. You die sitting down. So let’s die trying. And when we stepped out, fortunately we didn’t die—we changed the course of history."
-Liberian revolutionary Leymah Gbowee on confronting then-dictator Charles Taylor in 2003, speaking at last week’s Women in the World Foundation Launch.
Every Monday, we're rounding up the things, small and big, that made us
stop and think. Today, we're inspired by words of wisdom from a Disney animator, a sympathetic mystery shopper and Rihanna...
Every Monday,
we're rounding up things—small and big—that made us stop and think.
Today's inspiration...
The quest for justice and equality continues. The Dream lives on, and the legacy of the man who was determined to speak to, and call forth, the moral voice within us now occupies a hallowed place among our heroes and our history.
-Janet Langhart Cohen, writing about the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Monument
When you get older you know what you can let go of, and you become lighter.
-Jane Fonda, in conversation with Charlie Rose, talking about how people over 50 are happier than younger people
At last check my four turkeys were still out in the rain, not looking up into the rain like idiots, but simply waiting out the storm with a Patton-like stoicism, their usual somber dignity a little soaked and muddy, but intact. I’m in awe.
Susan Orlean, on her fowls' reactions to Hurricane Irene
You can’t order creativity. You can only create the conditions for it to blossom--mainly by setting certain prescribed boundaries and then giving your creative people a great deal of autonomy to execute as they see fit.
-E.B. Boyd, on what we can learn from the music festival Burning Man, which starts today
I feel that a sense of compassion is the most precious thing there is.
-the Dalai Lama, via Twitter
The quest for justice and equality continues. The Dream lives on, and the legacy of the man who was determined to speak to, and call forth, the moral voice within us now occupies a hallowed place among our heroes and our history.
-Janet Langhart Cohen, writing about the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Monument
When you get older you know what you can let go of, and you become lighter.
-Jane Fonda, in conversation with Charlie Rose, talking about how people over 50 are happier than younger people
At last check my four turkeys were still out in the rain, not looking up into the rain like idiots, but simply waiting out the storm with a Patton-like stoicism, their usual somber dignity a little soaked and muddy, but intact. I’m in awe.
Susan Orlean, on her fowls' reactions to Hurricane Irene
You can’t order creativity. You can only create the conditions for it to blossom--mainly by setting certain prescribed boundaries and then giving your creative people a great deal of autonomy to execute as they see fit.
-E.B. Boyd, on what we can learn from the music festival Burning Man, which starts today
I feel that a sense of compassion is the most precious thing there is.
-the Dalai Lama, via Twitter
What would it take
to change your life for the better? It may be less than you think—we’ve
got mini-makeovers to help you upgrade everything from your workout to
your weekend. #14: Spend time with someone you don't agree with.
Looking past divisive politics and differing views to the person on the other side of the issue may be challenging, but it's not impossible. Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder of the Omega Institute and author of Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow, suggests starting with lunch.
"Otherising" is the dangerous act of turning someone into the enemy just because he or she looks different, prays different, speaks different, or thinks different. Some of history's most tragic events—wars, genocides, terrorist acts—began with ordinary people demonizing other ordinary people.
I noticed a remarkable amount of otherising during the 2008 presidential race. And there was one woman doing it who bothered me the most—me!
Keep Reading to find out to open your mind
 |
| Illustration: Marcos Chin |
"Otherising" is the dangerous act of turning someone into the enemy just because he or she looks different, prays different, speaks different, or thinks different. Some of history's most tragic events—wars, genocides, terrorist acts—began with ordinary people demonizing other ordinary people.
I noticed a remarkable amount of otherising during the 2008 presidential race. And there was one woman doing it who bothered me the most—me!
Keep Reading to find out to open your mind
Every Monday,
we're rounding up things—small and big—that made us stop and think.
Today, we were inspired by a photographer who spoke out against teen
bullying, a trio of actresses vowing not to "give in" to plastic
surgery, and more...
"I will never give in. [Plastic surgery] goes against my morals, the way that my parents brought me up and what I consider to be natural beauty."
Kate Winslet, who with Emma Thompson and Rachel Weisz founded the British Anti-Cosmetic Surgery League, an informal alliance against the pressure to get plastic surgery (via Jezebel)
"50 percent of happiness comes from your genes. Only 10 percent comes from life conditions like income, race and physical attractiveness; and 40 percent from your activities and relationships."
Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister, who is making a movie about what makes people happy
"If you are ugly on the inside, I’m sorry but I won’t take your photos to make you look pretty on the outside!"
Pennsylvania photographer Jennifer McKendrick, who refused to take photos of teen bullies (via Huffington Post)
"I never admitted that the country [my husband] loved existed only in his imagination, or that I could not find a moment of peace in Qaddafi's shadow, or that his family's desperate generosity filled me with sadness. I never told Ismail that under Qaddafi his homeland had become a prison, and that as long as he was in power, I never wanted to return."
Krista Bremer writing in the July issue of O about visiting her Libyan in-laws in pre-revolutionary Tripoli
"Seven races in 11 weeks.....I wasn’t running for medals or gift certificates or free shoes. I ran because the courses were there, friends were there, the finish line was there."
Jen A. Miller, on learning to appreciate the run as much as the race
"I will never give in. [Plastic surgery] goes against my morals, the way that my parents brought me up and what I consider to be natural beauty."
Kate Winslet, who with Emma Thompson and Rachel Weisz founded the British Anti-Cosmetic Surgery League, an informal alliance against the pressure to get plastic surgery (via Jezebel)
"50 percent of happiness comes from your genes. Only 10 percent comes from life conditions like income, race and physical attractiveness; and 40 percent from your activities and relationships."
Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister, who is making a movie about what makes people happy
"If you are ugly on the inside, I’m sorry but I won’t take your photos to make you look pretty on the outside!"
Pennsylvania photographer Jennifer McKendrick, who refused to take photos of teen bullies (via Huffington Post)
"I never admitted that the country [my husband] loved existed only in his imagination, or that I could not find a moment of peace in Qaddafi's shadow, or that his family's desperate generosity filled me with sadness. I never told Ismail that under Qaddafi his homeland had become a prison, and that as long as he was in power, I never wanted to return."
Krista Bremer writing in the July issue of O about visiting her Libyan in-laws in pre-revolutionary Tripoli
"Seven races in 11 weeks.....I wasn’t running for medals or gift certificates or free shoes. I ran because the courses were there, friends were there, the finish line was there."
Jen A. Miller, on learning to appreciate the run as much as the race
Every Monday,
we're rounding up things—small and big—that made us stop and think.
Today, we were captivated by a writer learning to love her red hair, a
self esteem expert who explores a health hazard of self-acceptance, the lovely Bill
Murray, and more...
"Maybe sooner or later a black or gay — or both — hero will be considered something absolutely normal."
"...At my most recent DMV trip, the guy behind the counter asked me if I wanted my license to say 'red' or 'brown.' I'd wanted to be anything but a redhead my whole life, and there I was, suddenly insulted by the mere suggestion that I might not be one. I put 'red' because anything else felt like a lie."
"There has to be a lightness; you have to be as light as you can be
and not get weighed down and stuck in your emotion, stuck in your body,
stuck in your head. You just want to always be trying to elevate
somehow."
"...I was rescued through the novelty of reading on a Kindle. My hyper-attentive habits were alienating me further and further from the much older and (one would have thought) more firmly established habits of deep attention. I was rapidly becoming a victim of my own mind's plasticity, until a new technology helped me to remember how to do something that for years had been instinctive, unconscious, natural."
"My weight hadn’t stood in the way of my dating gorgeous men or
succeeding in my career. But I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been
to the doctor. And it had been 16 years since I weighed myself...So I
didn’t know: Was I really obese? My body wasn’t anyone else’s business,
but had I done everything I could to make it my business?"
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