Notes:
Boston Globe
1. Henry Haller, obit, executive chef for the White House
Therapy during the pandemic
2. Tommy Heinsohn and Mike Gorman
3. Scott Watkins, obit
4. Karen Killilea, obit, advocate for rights for people with disabilities
New York Times
5. Therapy during the pandemic
6. Chartreuse made at a monastery in France
7. Twas' the Night Before Christmas for pets
8. Outnumbered
9. Color words
10. Daily Planner Essentials - free template
Have you ever let go of something you enjoyed because of outside interference?
I’m in the process of reclaiming some things in my life that fell by the wayside, as a result of, forces outside myself that very gradually beat the passion out of me. These instances were subtle now that I reflect back.
An example is my relationship with classical and jazz music. I’ve lost my connection with those genres. I used to be so passionate about jazz, especially - it was my major in college (well, double major: music education and jazz performance).
My #1 passion used to be playing drums - I thought for sure it was my purpose. From elementary through high school, I was the king of drums. It was my whole identity. I was a hotshot. And then I got to college and learned that I wasn’t such a hotshot after all. And over the next twenty years, my passion for drumming dwindled.
I’m happy to announce I’m rekindling my connection with playing the drums. Pre-pandemic, I was playing 6-8 musicals per year. I’d play drums in the pit band for live musicals for community theater companies. I hadn’t realized how important and rewarding it was until Covid. In the last few years, I performed such classic shows as: Annie, Little Shop of Horrors, Chicago, Legally Blond, and Newsies. Last March, I was scheduled to be in Little Mermaid, Spam-a-lot, and Jesus Christ Superstar!
On a more personal note, my father decided to disconnect from the family about 25 years ago and he was always a huge Jimi Hendrix fan. For the longest time, I avoided Hendrix’s music. Now, I’m at the point where I listen to Hendrix but now I’m not entirely sure I really like his music all that much - but at least I opened the gates to embrace him in the event that I did like him. I did the work and I’m content that at least I have the awareness.
What’s a passion or interest that has dimmed in your life? What would you gain if you gave it a go again? Please share your story in the comments!
Related post:
I share my story in Episode 5 of my podcast
Notes: (* Boston Globe, ** Wall Street Journal, *** New York Times)
1. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Inspiration ***
2. Gideon Gartner, obit, research guru **
3. Book: Intimations - Zadie Smith **
4. Fish Camouflage **
5. Book: Mozart: The reign of love - Jan Swafford **
6. Martinis and Civilization **
7. The Darker Side of Christmas **
8. Jacqueliine Novogratz, Founder & CEO, Acumen **
9. Nothing Taboo in this church **
10. Tony Slonim, responding to crisis as a doctor
11. Albert Berard, obit, being a Navy man was his identity *
12. Burning desire to say goodbye to 2020 **
13. Fractional-share trading **
14. Tech checklist before you die **
15. Book: She come by it naturally: Dolly Parton and the women who lived her songs - Sarah Smarsh ***
16. Listening to classical music with Garry Kasparov, chess grandmaster ***
17. Color words
18. What are your passions, hobbies, and interests?
Notes:
1. Ten Times More Organized Course
2. New occupation: Mediatrician
3. Walmart’s TikTok Deal
4. Creepy Stories for Christmas
5. Dr. Jerrold M. Post, psychological profiler
6. Nikki Giovanni, poet
7. Color Words
I’m creating a free video course called, “How to Be Ten Times More Organized” and will be filming in the next few days. The course will be delivered one video per day for five consecutive days. The main sections are: Roles, Goals, Projects, Creativity, and Purpose.
What should I cover in the course?
Notes:
Boston Globe:
1. Maybe we need sages and monks to make our tough decisions
2. Rev. Liz Walker persuades Black people to take the vaccine
3. John Le Carre, obit, author of spy books
Wall Street Journal
4. Painful changes we had to make at work during 2020
5. Book: Gray Matter: 71/2 lessons about the brain - Lisa Feldman Barrett
6. Dr. Jill Biden
7. C-Suite Strategies section
8. CEO Spotlight section
New York Times
9. Students kidnapped in Nigeria (gratitude for what we have when you think about how difficult things are for others)
10. Book: My Struggle - autobiography by Karl von Knausgaard, fashion icon
11. Taylor Swift’s new album, Evermore
12. Queen’s Gambit causing more females to play chess
13. Color words
Notes:
Boston Globe
1. Book: Red comet: The short life and blazing art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark Knopf
2. Little girl loves new vocabulary
3. New way to play chess
4. Intriguing opening lines
New York Times
5. Recipes:
* Rice cake soup with bok choy & edamame
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7f26d-AIrM
* Pasta with bacon, cheese, lemon, & pine nuts
* White borscht
6. Convey different tones with body language
7. Tattoo artist, Mira Mariah
8. Books:
Is this anything? - Jerry Seinfeld
Mindful thoughts at home - Kate Peers
10 lessons for a post-pandemic world - Fareed Zakaria
JFK: Coming of age in the American century - Fredrik Logevall
A certain hunger - Chelsea G. Summers
Group: How one therapist and a circle of strangers changed my life - Christie Tate
The sun collective - Charles Baxter
The Ickabog - JK Rowling
Dolly Parton, Songteller - DOlly Parton
Eleanor - David Michaelis
9. Creativity: A short & cheerful guide - John Cleese
10. Color words
Notes:
Boston Globe
1. Neil Krieger, obit, neuroscientist, bioluminescence
2. Godfather 2
3. Stella Sullivan, obit, 96, “that dirty bird virus”
4. Dad pays for son’s first legal beer
5. Joan Baez, painter
6. Massachusetts Conference for Woman
Wall Street Journal
7. New rule in England: can only serve alcohol with a “substantial meal”
8. Tony Hsieh’s unwieldy estate
9-10. Consumer psychology: sloppy vs neat present wrapping
11. The Lindler brothers and fishing business
12. Walter E. Williams, obit, good or bad? hold space
13. Microsoft engineer, Eric Engstrom, obit
14. Margaret Chase Smith, courageous senator
15. Autism/invention connection
16. Older people are happier than younger
17. Book: Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present - Ruth Ben-Ghiat
18. Atomic Habits - James Clear
19. Resilient systems in nature
20. Dan Ariely: make tasks manageable, peak-end rule
21. Monastery in Switzerland
22. Recipe: Delicata squash with cauliflower puree, brown butter, and hazelnuts
23. Solution for rock-hard brown sugar
24. Steven Soderbergh, director, interview
25. Jen Atkins, hair product CEO, Ouai
26. Goldie Hawn, non-profit, MindUP
Notes:
1. TV recs: Pennyworth & The Wilds (NYT)
2. Documentary: Gunda (follows a family of pigs) (NYT)
3. Deb Price, obit, ground-breaking gay columnist (NYT)
4. Building homes on the moon (WSJ)
5. Amphibious homes (WSJ)
6. High-tech fresh air (WSJ)
7. Digital nomad, Alan Frei (WSJ)
8. Book: Brazil that never was - A.J. Lees (WSJ)
9. Fire-inspired artwork, Dave Cole (B. GLOBE)
10. Smoky cocktails, https://www.tiktok.com/@johnrondi
11. Cigar reviews, https://www.tiktok.com/@cigarprop
Notes:
1. Los Angelis Rams coach, Sean McVay inspired by Patriots coach, Bill Belichick: “Consistency is the truest measure of performance.”
2. Shakespeare quote: “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions” - from Hamlet
3. Book: Breaking bread with the dead - Alan Jacobs
4. Pantone colors for 2021
5. Book: How science taught Leonardo Davinci to paint - Francesca Fiorani