Go to any wedding, and in many ways, you will hear the same phrases: “They are so good together.” “They’re such a cute couple!” Or at a funeral, you’re likely to hear how much that person loved their family and was dedicated to their work.?So is every funeral or every wedding nearly identical??Of course not. Each person has their own story, their own journey. But why is it that we tend to hear the same stories over and over in different contexts? Recently, Wharton Professor Adam Grant wrote a piece in the......
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One day, I realized I’d never seen a semicolon as part of a tweet, those compact teasers of communication brought to us by Twitter. It made me think differently about the relationship between time and communication, the way time seems to somehow simultaneously shrink and accelerate. Maybe it all started with instant coffee, that powdery brown stuff that had a vague aroma of the real stuff, but no body or flavor. Or maybe it was Minute Rice, which had the same capacity to remind us of what the real stuff was, promising......
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News & Politics, Wisdom Warehouse |
May 18, 2015
Wisdom on Gossip, the Future and More: Must-Read Links
Where can wisdom be found? In many voices, both familiar and those that may be new to you. Here are five of our favorite inspiring, eye-opening reads from recent publications and blogs. And The Wisdom Daily co-founders, Brad Hirschfield and Irwin Kula, will periodically weigh in with additional thoughts and reactions.?Check out the links below – may they provide wise insights to get your week off to a thought-provoking start! 1. Aeon‘s Katherine May in?“Digital Storytelling Revives the Art of Gossip” “Even when we are quietly reading a novel, our brains......
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Passover 2015 begins Friday, April 3, at sundown. It’s the most widely celebrated Jewish holiday in America and is often called the Festival of Freedom, as it celebrates the biblical Israelites’ exodus (hence the English name of the second book of the Hebrew Bible) from slavery in Egypt.?But what does freedom mean, and what sort of freedom does Passover actually celebrate? Well, here’s one way to find out. Try answering this question: What’s a three-word phrase that celebrates freedom? How about this: At your service. The ability and willingness to serve lies......
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How excited are you about your job? Watch this recent clip of Boston weather reporter Jim Cantore experiencing repeated strikes of “thundersnow” and you’ll see an adult expressing childlike zeal about his job assignment in a way that can’t help but make you smile. How often does a Weather Channel segment go viral like this one has? I’d never even heard of “thundersnow,” and I know nothing about being a meteorologist, but I sure want to have whatever this man is having. While it’s possible that all the white powder falling around......
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Recently, a friend was relaying a story about something he’d done that he regretted. He rattled on nervously, slipping into a dark vortex of self-condemnation about how disappointed in himself he was and how stupid he was. The thought occurred to me: If I were in the same situation, what would he tell me in order to lift me up, to make me feel better? How would he characterize that person and that mistake, if he were speaking about someone he truly loved? Such is the challenge of dealing with our own......
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As I write these words, I am observing an ancient holiday which celebrates both the importance of walls and the sacredness of permeability. Then, like millions of others around the world, I celebrated the Jewish/Biblical holiday known in Hebrew as Sukkot – the Feast of Tabernacles. The temporary huts built outdoors recall the huts used by ancient Israelites on their journey from Egypt to the Holy Land.? They are also reminiscent of God’s presence, which the Hebrew Bible describes as surrounding them on that journey. Now here’s the really interesting part: Permeability......
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Relationships & Family, Wisdom Warehouse |
September 10, 2014
Facing Fear with Love on One Family’s Day of Tragic News
I walked into the living room of one of our close family friends. Sitting quietly were my friend’s 89-year-old father and mother. Just a couple of hours earlier, they had heard from a cardiologist – unfortunately, in a rather sudden and impersonal way, with no family around – the prognosis on how long he had to live, given his heart condition. There was a mix of sadness and fear. My friends, understandably, didn’t know exactly what to say. Who does? Over the years, as this family’s rabbi, I had shared many happy......
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Years ago, during the time that my father was struggling with Alzheimer’s, I happened to catch an interview with the son of Christopher Reeve on television. He was overjoyed that his dad had been able to move his pinkie, a feat he’d not accomplished before. I watched, in awe, as this son described in triumphant detail how amazing it was what his father had done. It put my own pain and struggle into immediate perspective. Thinking about this today reminded me that no matter what kind of burden we may be carrying,......
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Words like truth and falsehood, honesty and lie, get tossed around with great ease and certainty. But what if it isn’t as simple as that? What if something false is actually true? Think that’s not possible? Think about placebos that work even though they “shouldn’t”. A recent study shows that believing that you have slept well, even if you have not, will improve your performance as if you had. On our totally sleep deprived culture this may be a really useful piece of information, or it could encourage deception as a form......
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