I’ve been doing a bit of traveling lately. Today I dropped in on the neighborhood where I grew up in Ohio, then headed off to an artist colony in New Mexico where I’d spent time in the late ’90s. Next came Traverse City, Michigan; Mojacar, Spain; and Ojai, California. No, I don’t have a private jet. I’ve been cyberstalking the…
Watching and being watched are no longer confined to how newborns bond with their mothers or apprentice chefs learn from sushi masters. Watching now changes how we identify ourselves and how others understand us. “Selfies” are not an anomaly; they are personal reflections of a wholesale adoption of the new culture of watching. We are watching so many—and so many…
Horror stories. Love stories. True crime. Fairy tale. Myth. Parable. The evening news. Stories help us form our beliefs and values. They shape our fears and dreams. They help us decide how we want to fall in love, what we think is fair, and how to negotiate the world. We are story-making, story-devouring creatures, and our personal stories often rule…
I’ve experienced many situations over the years requiring parental resourcefulness while raising my daughter. But I learned important lessons about teaching and motivating a child long before she was born. While working as a summer lifeguard and Big Brother volunteer, I discovered that distraction can help children overcome paralyzing fear, step outside their comfort zone…and even develop a passion for…
Janine was the biggest bully in my elementary school—and she was assigned to the desk next to mine in fifth grade. Short and obese with cropped black hair and bulging black eyes, she wore a constant sneer beneath her olive complexion. We were complete opposites: I loved school and excelled in it; Janine hated it and did poorly. I wore…
I will get to the lovesick goat, but not yet. First, let’s talk about cat videos. A few years ago, I attended a conference on using technology for good. At a session about promoting citizenship through the use of the Internet, someone asked the speaker about YouTube. The man said, despondently, that half of YouTube was videos of cats flushing…
There’s no denying that intoxicating, all-consuming high you feel when you first fall in love. You have a goofy smile on your face and your friends notice you glowing from the inside out. But it’s not all rainbows and butterflies for everyone: Some people find that love is all-consuming. For them, being in love is like being on cocaine—literally! Indeed, love…
By Anneli Rufus A total stranger about whose business establishment I had written an article emailed me the night after it was published, alleging that my article was “mostly erroneous.” For a horrified split-second I wondered how this could be, as (1) I’m a conscientious professional—not perfect, sure, but too careful after having written thousands of articles to get one…
Not getting invited to a party. Being picked last for a pickup basketball game. Not getting a joke that everyone around you is cracking up over. Almost everybody has experiences like these from time to time. And usually we get over it…unless it becomes a recurring pattern. Often, parents need to step in to help kids who feel left out.…
