Tag: change


Micro change that's actually pretty darned big

Micro change that's actually pretty darned big

More magazine has an article in its April issue headlined “The power of micro change.” I just returned from a work trip and one of my guilt airplane pleasures is photo-heavy women’s magazines. Glamour is a go to, and I try to mix it up with some others I wouldn’t typically read at home: Vogue, O, Real Simple or anything…

Maybe unemployment is a good excuse to pursue a dream?

Maybe unemployment is a good excuse to pursue a dream?

The New York Times had a story this weekend about professionals who decided to make lemonade out of the lemons of their unemployment — they moved to Colorado to work hourly wage jobs on the slopes: AMONG the skiers hitting the fabled slopes of Aspen this winter, you will find an investment banker, an information technology specialist and an international…

What are you doing to be happier?

What are you doing to be happier?

If happiness is good for your health, what are you doing about it? Yesterday I blogged about new research that shows a connection between mental and physical health. Deborah Kotz at U.S. News and World Report blogged about the same topic — but took it much farther by interviewing Gretchen Rubin, a New Yorker who spent a year working on…

What should I be when I grow up? How do you know?

What should I be when I grow up? How do you know?

I’ve pretty much worked in the same field since high school — I got a job pasting up newspaper pages using X-Acto knives and hot wax when I was 17 and I’ve earned my paycheck from something related to writing or media ever since. This week I met a friend of a friend who is studying criminal justice after getting…

Stories of reinvention in today's NY Times business section

Stories of reinvention in today's NY Times business section

We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming … I’ve been blogging about gratitude for the last month and now it’s time to shift back to writing more broadly about reinvention and transformation. Apparently the New York Times knew I might need some help with blog topics, since the business editors packed three good stories of reinvention today: Wines,…

Day 23: Share your gratitude and win prizes!

Day 23: Share your gratitude and win prizes!

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 23: Join me in the Month of Thanksgiving and you have three chances to win prizes With just a little more than a week between now and…

Day 17: Pay it forward

Day 17: Pay it forward

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 17: Give someone a gift that reminds you of your gratitude Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. ~William…

Day 14: A quick recap of Month of Thanksgiving so far

Day 14: A quick recap of Month of Thanksgiving so far

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 14: We’re about halfway through the Month of Thanksgiving. How are you doing? Sunday is a day of rest so I’ll take it a little easy on…

How loving a place can change your life

How loving a place can change your life

The following explanation might confuse you, but that’s OK. Stick with me anyway. My friend Carmen recently wrote a guest post on her friend Kristin’s blog, Halfway to Normal. Kristin launched something she calls the Love List Project, which is a wonderful idea: make a list of the things you love, consider why you love them, then share what you…

Preservation Hall's Ben Jaffe balances tradition and innovation

Preservation Hall's Ben Jaffe balances tradition and innovation

Editor’s note: This is a fairly lengthy post. I suggest you fire up Preservation Hall’s live performance on World Cafe, maybe mix yourself a hurricane, and settle in. Ben Jaffe grew up with dreams of becoming a modern jazz musician, “really hell bent on moving to New York.” Family responsibility and appreciation of where he’d come from put him on…

Rick picks a new career with Rick's Picks

Rick picks a new career with Rick's Picks

Rick Field, founder of New York pickle concern Rick’s Picks, recently taught a dill pickle making class at farmers market in Prospect Park. As he waited for the brine to heat up in a kettle on a propane burner, Field talked about his unlikely transition from television producer to artisanal pickle maker. As the New York Press reported: Field wasn’t…

Jennifer Worick learns to become more flexible

Jennifer Worick learns to become more flexible

Jennifer Worick Jennifer Worick, a crafty Seattle gal with a slew of published books and a couple of blogs, recently wrote a blog post about letting go of rigid expectations and learning to roll with life’s unpredictable nature. It starts: Until a few years ago, I thought I was just a logical person with high standards for myself and others.…

Thank you! August is Newvine Growing's best month yet

Thank you! August is Newvine Growing's best month yet

While I am a long way from dethroning Oprah’s media empire, I am still excited — August was Newvine Growing’s best month yet for visits. Thank you so much for spending time reading, and thanks especially to those of you who have shared your thoughts and feedback in comments. I find my August numbers especially satisfying because I expected people…

I heart farmers' markets — or how a kid raised on canned veggies loaded with butter learned to love the real thing

I heart farmers' markets — or how a kid raised on canned veggies loaded with butter learned to love the real thing

I grew up in an agricultural state. Michigan grows cherries, apples and sugar beets, among other things, and to live in Michigan is to know the mantra “knee high by the Fourth of July” is a growth measure for the huge expanses of corn fields all over the state.
But I don’t think I’d even heard the phrase “farmers’ market” until I was out of college. Ironically, it’s in super urban New York City where farmers’ markets have transformed both how we shop and how we eat, in both cases for the better.

Three great sources of inspiration from the interweb

Three great sources of inspiration from the interweb

Believe it or not, the Internet is good for more than watching videos of skateboarding dogs — you can find loads of help on your journey to become a better person. One consistently great site is called Zen Habits. Articles on their Web site include: 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life Simple Living Manifesto:…