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When we were stuck inside right after the pandemic hit and before it was deemed safe to head outdoors, many of us started to heed Marie Kondo’s advice to tidy up. But so many of us wearied of the task to declutter well and when we look around, we still probably see too much stuff, mostly excess stuff, still there in every room. Peer into closets and drawers, and the stuff overflows. Go up to an attic or down to a basement if you have them, and boxes usually are crammed with belongings and often doubles, triples and more of...

Disclaimer: This was written before the pandemic. Some mornings we wake up at 3 a.m. and are disturbed by dark thoughts. For starters: What’s going to happen to this world we are leaving behind for our children and grandchildren? To counteract these low points, we have decided when things are low to go lower. Sorry to Michelle Obama for changing up your good advice, but sometimes low moments call for even lower thoughts.  To shift from a depressing subject, focus on one that is so distasteful that it drives what’s bothering you from your mind, sometimes with humor. We call...

As temperatures soar along with cases of covid in U.S. hot spots, we craved something cold, something that would help us chill, so to speak. Our thoughts went straight to icy cold soups.  Cold comfort soups epitomize the yearnings of summer. They’re light, soothing, cool and easy to make. Preparing them keeps the heat out of the kitchen. In addition, they are a colorful savory or sweet bowlful of everything good that summer produce has to offer. We are both reluctant to go to the grocery store, so we asked ourselves, where is the safest, best place during this pandemic...

Like millions of others stuck at home for much longer periods than we expected, we’ve had more time to reflect about the trajectory of our lives, how we want to spend time when we once again get to move about more freely and how we’ve evolved gradually to become the people we are today. This involves more than just bettering our Pilates skills by doing more Pilates on our own or via Zoom classes or ramping up our tennis game by taking more lessons or playing more hours. It’s really all about examining our internal selves, how we’ve changed for...

When Margaret wakes up some mornings, as a strategy to get her through the day, she has started spending a half hour before she gets out of bed listening to classical music. It calms her and clears her head. When she does this, she feels better and is an optimistic person from then on throughout the day. This is one of many new endeavors she’s started since her move six months ago to New York City from St. Louis, another new start that has changed her life. Barbara has become relentless about fitting in daily exercise, preferably at a new...