There’s a scene in the movie “Elf,” where Buddy (Will Ferrell) first gets to New York City, and goes into a dingy diner that has a sign outside that reads, “World Best Cup of Coffee,” and exclaims, “Congratulations! You did it! The world’s best cup of coffee!!” I always think of that scene when I...
“Do you WANT to get better?” a family member asked me a few weeks after I graduated from the psych ward in 2005. I was furious and hurt. Because it was just one of many insensitive comments that seem to imply that I was causing my illness. So when a woman in the online depression...
“Beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.” That was the password to the file share (motherboard) at the technology company where I used to work. I was expecting, “Cloud123,” or something boring and bland like that. Not the quintessential Japanese aesthetic known as “wabi-sabi.” I shed a tear or two when the engineer setting up...
Every year, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation holds a Fail Fest, where they celebrate a valuable lesson they learned while investing moneys into a loser organization that has absolutely bombed . According to this brilliant team, failure is chock full of wisdom—one of the most effective way to absorb key insights—so it’s best to...
When I was 11, I auditioned for a ballet school. Miss Jo, the founder of the program, and of The Dayton Ballet Company, came to the auditions and sat next to my mom. “Your daughter has beautifully arched feet,” she told my mom. “Although we wish all dancers had high arches, it will make it...
