I’m currently reading The Comfort Book by Matt Haig and it’s definitely quite comforting. He writes, “Imagine yourself as a baby. You would look at that baby and think they lacked nothing. That baby came complete. Their value was innate from their first breath. Their value did not depend on external things like wealth or appearance or politics or popularity. It was the infinite value of a human life. And that value stays with us, even as it becomes easier to forget it. We stay precisely as alive and precisely as human as we were the day we were born. The only thing we need is to exist. And to hope.” Continue reading
Month: March 2022
I’ve enjoyed watching college basketball’s March Madness tournament for a few decades. There’s something about that ‘anything can happen’ factor that always drew me in. And the Cinderella stories… when a lower seeded team beats a top contender, well that’s the stardust that all the best tales are made of.
I had never heard of St. Peter’s, a small Jesuit university in Jersey City, before the game last Thursday night when they upset Kentucky in the first round. As the New York Times mentioned, “Kentucky has about 32,000 students, St. Peter’s approximately 2,300. Kentucky has won eight N.C.A.A. championships; St. Peter’s had never won an N.C.A.A. Tournament game before Thursday. St. Peter’s men’s basketball coach Shaheen Holloway made $266,344 in 2019; Kentucky head coach John Calipari’s base salary is $8.5 million. St. Peter’s basketball revenue was $1.6 million in 2019-20, while Kentucky’s was $29.3 million.” Continue reading
I just finished reading Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu and a certain section of the book really struck me, especially with my oldest turning nineteen this past weekend. Continue reading
I’ve always been drawn to David and Goliath stories. Over the years, I helped folks on their journey to get life-saving drugs covered, raise funds when the coverage was turned down, and share the stories of those who beat seemingly insurmountable odds to raise millions, make change and visit The White House. Every time, the person going up against the big system or power had to believe one thing, that they could make a difference.
When I look at Ukraine, my eyes well up at the thought of the mountain so many are trying to climb. President Zelenskyy surviving multiple assassination attempts, Ukrainian grandmothers making Molotov cocktails in their basements for the fight, millions streaming out of the country to safety and being greeted by those offering food and a place to stay, Ukrainians, whether residents of the country or from around the world, standing up to join the cause on the front lines. Continue reading