Recently I went for a short trip to E”Y and it was more restorative and helpful than I could have hoped for. I once heard that when you are desperate for a vacation, that means you needed one long ago, and that is how I felt going into this trip. I had also not been to Eretz Yisroel in …
A reader sent me a question about reaching a milestone (in this case, turning 26 and getting kicked off her parents’ health insurance) and feeling saddened about having to figure out what to do next without a husband to do it with. Practicalities aside, these moments are hard because they highlight the contrast between where you thought you would …
I got a text this week from someone who wanted to discuss a shidduch, and they asked if I was busy. I couldn’t tell if they meant busy as in otherwise occupied at that moment, or busy as in dating someone. But busy, I am. I recently read a book on optimizing time management for happiness, and I learned …
Last week I had to make a difficult phone call for work to tell someone they could not participate in a program they wanted to join. I scripted out my spiel sentence by sentence, and it helped tremendously. I was able to sound clear and confident without being apologetic or defensive. One of my friends does this before every difficult …
For the past few weeks, Mishpacha Magazine has been publishing a lot of content about shidduchim, problems in the system, possible solutions, letters in response, etc…and I haven’t written about it here. The truth is that I am tired of digesting this type of content and figuring out, then articulating, my thoughts. I’m tired of being everyone’s problem. I’m …
Please respond to my text or email. Often I am just asking a yes or no question. It’s okay if you can’t help me, I know you are not a magician, but it feels a lot worse when you just ignore me. You can set up an automatic response system if you know you can’t get back to everyone so …
At one of our pizza gatherings, a friend asked if I could text her writing prompts to help her get into journaling. I’ve sent her dozens of prompts over the past few months and it’s been a lot of fun to read her feedback and hear how beneficial writing has been for her. Among other kinds of prompts, I have …
I once heard from Rabbi Moshe Weinberger that every tzara is harder at night – “al mishkavi baleilos” (from Shir Hashirim). I experience this so much. I find that some nights are beyond painful and I feel completely despairing. It’s physical, blinding pain. The morning usually does bring at least a glimmer of new hope. And I can continue for …
I loved this little lesson from Daniel Pink about how to think about a problem in a new way to generate more and better possible solutions. (I’m also thinking about the journaling possibilities herein). I need to play with this. Have a great week!
Late last night, I had a faintly familiar craving. I headed downstairs through the quiet house to the den on the first floor. I sat on the couch and read picture books out loud to an empty room. Then I went back upstairs and went to sleep.
