A Recovering Chemist Learns to Empathize with Chemotherapy…for Now
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” – Michelangelo As platinum drugs drip into my veins, one thing goes through my mind: It shouldn’t be this way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful to have this option since I was diagnosed with ovarian...
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
“The root of suffering is attachment.” Buddha. It’s cold being bald. Come summer, it might be fun to feel the cool breeze, dunk in the ocean whether it’s hair washing day or not, or take a ride in a convertible without hair whipping my face. For now, I’m cold. I never...
Empathy in the Time of Coronavirus…and Cancer
I have a front-row seat to empathy these days, and not only in the context of a global pandemic. On February 20, 2020, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. On March 2, I had extensive surgery. By the time I came home from the hospital, the country had begun going into...
Empathy is Powerful Healing Energy
As published in Energy Healing Magazine, May 2019 Healing is hard work. I know from experience. My daughter started getting hemiplegic migraines at age 11. Besides the aura and horrible pain, she would be paralyzed in half of her body for hours. Western doctors...
What Would You Tackle in an Empathy Circle?
Imagine a meeting in which you always feel heard and able to listen fully. No need to fight for airtime or defend yourself against attack. Maybe you already know (and like) the others. Maybe you don't. Maybe the topic is controversial (e.g., family conflict,...
“Dark Side of Empathy?” – Throw Out the Bathwater; Keep the Baby
Empathy sometimes gets a bad rap. A few years ago, Paul Bloom wrote a book Against Empathy. There's a new one coming out called The Dark Sides of Empathy by Fritz Breithaupt recently featured on NPR.org. In both cases, the authors argue that empathy can be harmful....
Bringing Home and Work Together Grows Empathy
I love this picture! That’s what it looks like to bring home and work together. A professor holding a baby so a dad/student can take notes at Morehouse College. If you’re a working/studying parent, you know the feeling when your childcare plan falls through. And it’s...
Empathy is the Thing Parents Want – and Need – Most
Andy Cohen is teaching us something in honestly sharing the pain he's endured coming out...as a parent. The online community has judged and shamed him for everything from putting a couple of small pillows in the crib, to posing for the cover of People (as a gay dad...
Gates Foundation Cuts Parental Leave in Half. Why? 6-Month-Olds Want to Know
You may be thinking a year of parental leave was crazy in the first place, and 6 months is incredibly generous. That would make you...American. Sadly, the struggle of leaving babies too soon is one thing most American adults have in common. Six-month old babies would...
Empathy in 5 Minutes
Thanks to WKYC's Live On Lakeside, Hollie Strano, and Alexa Lee for a terrific, succinct television interview summarizing the book. Check it out here! #KeepingItSimple
We Need a Post Lean-In Manifesto
When Sheryl Sandberg's book Lean In came out almost 5 years ago, it bothered me. I had been there and done that, and the book didn't ring true as a panacea for women in leadership (or men, for that matter...or children...or anyone). Oh, it was a fine, workable...
A kid asks, “Why do bad cops do what they do?” A Cleveland Police Commander Answers.
The MOOS kids interview Cleveland Police Commander Brandon Kutz of the 4th District. You can hear his answers to these and other questions here -What do you think needs to change in order for our community to be safer? -Why did you become an officer? -Why do you...