Zoom fatigue? It’s real and what to do
Many of us have been experiencing a chronic condition since early into the pandemic: Zoom fatigue. It’s growing worse. Last November, Psychiatric Times published an article, “A Neuropsychological Exploration of Zoom Fatigue.” Bottom line: it’s real. 18 months ago, I had barely Zoomed. Now I use Zoom as a verb. I nominate “Zoom fatigue” […]
Why not let life be complex?
This US Presidential Inauguration Day, a group of riders on white horses wearing white coats will ride into Washington, D.C. to assume power. At the same time, a group of black-coated riders on black horses will ride away. Peace will be restored and the world will be generous and safe. (I doubt you believe that.) […]
This revolution will require love
Is it OK to rage when we’re committed to practicing love? How do we love someone whose words and actions have lead to deaths and needless suffering for millions? And when their credo of selfishness taints and threatens to destroy this county? If love is a tender, uplifting feeling of appreciation and warmth for someone, […]
Is your head stuck in the sand? (Hint: neither is the ostrich’s)
How much news can one take? My working answer is simple: it depends. My friend Dan used to work as a crime reporter. Armed with his journalistic lens of objectivity, he saw horrible stuff, yet he was able to distill it into readable print. He likes keeping up with the national news and staying informed. Although […]
Saying “yes/and” to dementia.
Saying “joy” and “dementia” in one sentence could sound like an oxymoron. Like many, I have a fear that I might someday lose part of my mind. Dementia’s not a far fetched concern: the stats on its occurrence rise significantly for every year we pass eighty. Being with dementia can be tough for both patients […]
Do you know these (mostly) new words?
Words create worlds. Words in turn have lives of their own. I used to think that the words in the dictionary had been there forever. Like “binge-watch.” (Added by the Oxford Dictionary in 2018.) I also thought that words stayed forever, but it appears to be a case of “use or lose.” Some perfectly good […]
Zoomed out? Time to Zoom back in.
Zoom’s emerging as a technical hero of the pandemic. Millions of people are connecting in ways no one would have thought possible just three months ago. After bajillions of uses, however, a new expression is popping up: “Zoom fatigue.” “There is a special kind of tiredness that comes from a day of Zoom calls, despite […]
Time to think long haul
On the trail Some years ago, on a sunny day hike with a friend in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, I started running out of steam. The trail through the cedars was beautiful, but the switchbacks up the mountain seemed endless. As two youngish men in jogging shorts bounded down the trail ran towards me, I […]
Stop demonizing when there’s so much to learn
My go-to default for almost anything, miserable or exciting, is learning. I would have rephrased Descartes or Hamlet or whomever to say, “If I can learn, I am and that is never a question.” COVID-19 has opened the door to a slew of learning opportunities. Zoom is now a household word that’s fast becoming a verb […]
“All shall be well again” (I hope)
Trust. It’s not the easiest quality for me to find in these dystopian-feeling days. So I turned to a fourteenth-century mystic who somehow managed to find hers in the darkest of times. Julian of Norwich, an anonymous anchoress (recluse) lived during a time in which a third of the population died from the bubonic plague. […]
