Motivation - and Happiness - Come in Unexpected Ways

I’ve been flying high this week – full of boundless energy – despite the never-ending string of holiday parties. Maybe it’s because I’m drinking less alcohol (and more water), sleeping better, and feeling the holiday cheer. Or maybe it’s because I’m happy. But where does that happy sensation – that lack of restlessness and steady […]

From Badittude to Gratitude

One of my early blog posts in 2011, which asked, Can you be grateful for what you don’t have? focused on a difficult time in my life – when I was stuck in the aftermath of a divorce, and struggling to see the good in my life. I wanted to turn my frown upside down, zap it […]

What Does Your Costume Say About You?

Growing up in an observant Jewish home, I didn’t do Halloween. Instead, the holiday of Purim served as a festive stand in for costumes and revelry. But when I re-entered the New York single scene in my mid-30s and lived downtown, “What are you dressing up as?” (and it better be both sexy and smart […]

Is Your Work Who You Are?

If you’re anything like me, an ambitious and neurotic New Yorker, it’s likely that your job has pretty much taken over your life, or it’s constantly trying to. Pushing its heavy presence against your weary resolve daily, and you either push back, or give up and let it become not only an expression of your […]

Keeping Up With Kippur

Yom Kippur fell smack in the middle of the work week this year – on a Wednesday – which is always my busiest day and the apex of the week, so observing it posed a greater challenge than usual. Unplugging from life’s whirl was going to be difficult. I’m the east coast solo-ship of my […]

Instead of Labor on Labor Day, I Got Something Else

A week ago, Labor Day weekend beckoned happily. Four days off with no work intrusions, where I could focus on a new writing project; a TV show that I am developing ala Cougel. I needed to make a dent in the TV pilot script – a format that is different than book writing, as it’s […]

When Facebook Friendships Are Stronger Than 'Real' Ones

When I began writing my memoir, I realized that I was lacking a writing community. While writing my previous books, which were novels, I had unwittingly created a protective bubble around my self. My creative instincts at the time were undeveloped, my voice shaky. When I would hit writer’s block, friends would suggest I workshop […]

Why I Couldn’t Stop Crying Over Cecil The Lion.

I could definitely be considered “emotional”, “intense” (words often used as code for “kookoo”), and easily moved when I witness hardship big or small. But when I heard what had happened to Cecil the Lion, I didn’t just tear up as when worse tragedies happen – those that involve the loss of human life. For […]

Meditation or Physical Exercise...Which Type Are You?

I’ve never gravitated towards meditation or forced stillness (I know, I know, it would be really good for me). I’m not sure if my resistance to is a combination of stubbornness and fierce independence, or what I learned at home. My parents, Israeli immigrants, had a treadmill in our basement, and my mother still drives […]

California Dreaming: Being a Tourist Where I Once Lived.

In the last four weeks, I’ve gone from: Chelsea, NYC to Short Hills, NJ. Short Hills to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Williamsburg to Hamptons. Hamptons back to Williamsburg. Williamsburg to LA. LA to Laguna Beach. LA to San Francisco (with stops along the way). San Francisco back to Williamsburg. In New Jersey: I got to spend four […]