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How can you help make the world a better place? One way is to show compassion, donating your time and a part of yourself, your energy and spirit to others. It’s defined as “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” (Merriam-Webster definition.)  You see someone crying on a park bench, ask if they are okay. “Is there something I can do?” Perhaps they just want to be alone, vent or need a hug.     It's encountering a homeless person with a hungry, haunted look. He or she holds out a hand for money. Yes, it can...

Friendships probably break up more than marital and business relationships do. But unlike those cases, you don’t need to hire a lawyer or divide up the assets when you split from a friend. Without any legal ties, you can reach go on your way and be done with one another.  Lydia Denworth, journalist and author who writes about friendship and has a newsletter you can sign up for, asks: "How do you know when a friendship has run its course? And how do you handle such a situation with grace rather than ghosting? You can start by considering the following...

Road trips are an American rite of summer and have been for decades, almost since cars became more widely available to a larger proportion of families by the end of the 1920s. But these trips need not be limited to summertime and school vacations. Spring and fall are also great times, and even winter can be, depending on where you’re headed and the type of car you’re driving. So, as summer winds down, make a list of where you’d like to travel but know the months ahead are a good time, too.  We both love car tips for the ease...

The news of late has pointed up the extremes in behavior from all corners—whether its humongous sums spent on a wedding celebration, total obliteration of nuclear facilities, promise of free buses for one megacity’s residents, the many, and sometimes drastic, choices in plastic surgery to keep us looking youthful, a description of citizens in one state as being “more unique” than others. (And yes, we two are from other states where we thought we were special; oh, well.) We love enthusiasm for what we and others believe in. As writers, we occasionally add an exclamation point to drive home our...

Summer is inimitable. It’s our time to be lazy when the most taxing activity might be deciding between reading or napping in a hammock while listening to the Beach Boys or Claude Debussy’s La Mer (the sea). It’s also the season for picnics in a park, sipping your morning coffee with the sun on your face (with sunscreen applied) and barbecues or al fresco dinners with a refreshing glass of a crisp sauvignon blanc or a pretty pink rose (good luck finding an imported one that’s affordable). But be aware! It’s mid-summer already and the days are starting to slip by...