Giving Back and Volunteering

As a podcaster, I interview influential guests from all over the world. Many are super accomplished and work for the most prestigious media outlets and organizations. Some have massive followings. One is an Academy Award winner. Most are involved…

Photo credit: Luther Bailey/National Park Service The articles I have recently read about Betty Reid Soskin put me in mind of Mary Oliver’s poem The Summer Day with the closing lines: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? Soskin, throughout her life, seems to have understood […]

Community service is a great way to put to use our six decades of wisdom, and typically any locality will offer plenty of opportunities for volunteers of all ages. But if you want to really amp up your impact, consider rolling your volunteering energy…

I worked in non-profit organizations (NGO’s) for over three decades and, for the most part, enjoyed the time spent with the volunteers that came in to help. I believe that anyone who provides their time and intelligence to an NGO, without financial…

Before Great Gram got hitched at age 20, as they used to say, she was a teacher in a one-room rural Iowa schoolhouse. After marriage, she wasn’t allowed to teach. That was written in her contract. As a teacher, she called her readin’ and writin’…

Each July, we Americans dedicate time to celebrating our independence, and perhaps this year more so than others after we’ve endured various stages of isolation and lockdown amid the pandemic. The 4th is a time to revel in the notion…

“Social Connectivity” is science-language for a simple and obvious experience, that of connecting with others. We humans are, like it or not, fundamentally social creatures. Even introverts, such as myself, need to interact with others…

When I was growing up, we used to have a saying translated from Yiddish, “What am I, chopped liver?” We said it whenever any of us felt left out of the group in some way. In college, I studied social psychology and learned that humans crave a sense…

When you were younger but already adult, your parents most likely helped you in every way they could. Not everyone has such help, but a huge number of us do. And perhaps your grandparents did the same. Maybe it was financial help…

Eating is my passion and I take it seriously. I love cooking, but I’m passionate about being cooked for, so I’m supremely grateful my wife is an amazing home cook. Every time I devour one of her gastronomic gems, or even when we’re out restaurant…