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Many of us learned a skill as a child whether playing piano or singing, as Barbara and Margaret did respectively, or how to sew, needlepoint, knit, paint, play chess, do puzzles, dance, put together model trains and so on. Maybe as we got older new interests surfaced (such as boys, rock music and swing dancing), so we dropped our interest in some of our childhood pursuits.  Today, we often think, why not pick up that skill again? It’s good for the brain, we’ve read.  Margaret’s mother always said that the brain is a muscle that needs to be exercised. She...

  As Valentine’s Day approaches, love is in the air. This year we thought we’d avoid celebrating only red. We admit it, there is so much we don’t love today, or dare we say hate (too strong a word at times). So, for us this Valentine’s Day, we’re compiling a list of our loves, ones that value the ends over the means.  Unfortunately, love in the English language is an amorphous term. There aren’t really any good synonyms: fondness, tenderness, intimacy are similar but miss the mark, kind of like Cupid and her arrow. We all don’t feel the sting of the...

Failure. It conjures memories of getting that shocking “F” or “D” on a math test, not making it to the finish line in a race, losing out on a bid for a home, having an editor critique a story and say rewrite it, never receiving an invite to a party we really wanted to attend or not finding a job after multiple interviews. The list of disappointments continues. We’ve all gone through failure. One can't get through life without experiencing it. It’s an integral part of the human experience, much like joy, love, pain and sorrow, says Jill Davis, a...

Secrets are just that. They’re supposed to be secret and kept between the sharer and the listener. Period. Nobody else gets to know…or should know. Maybe, that’s the reason when someone has a secret and they tell someone else, they often preface it with: “I want to tell you something, but can you promise not to tell anyone for any reason?”  “Of course,” is the typical response. The person who is confiding might add, “This is really private and between us. I don’t want anyone to know” to emphasize the importance of secrecy. It doesn’t hurt to reinforce this sentiment.  ...

  Everywhere you turn these days, service providers have their hands out waiting for a tip. It can be so off putting. It’s especially top of mind now as we are coming off the holiday season and our wallets are almost on empty. Yet, we care about those who help us throughout the year and want to show it with more than a “thank you” or big smile.    In New York City, holiday season is traditionally a big time for tipping, especially if you live in a doorman building whether renting or owning. “In A Guide to Tipping Building Staff:...