I took my six-year-old niece miniature golfing during school break. My childhood memories of miniature golf are conflicted: It’s one of those activities that always looks like it will be fun (all those turrets and railroad cars and gnarled fake trees with moving trap doors in their trunks), but I’ve always been been bad at [...]

Often when I travel, it’s to give speeches and workshops. Last week, I was in the audience for a change, attending a conference by speakers for speakers. I like going to conferences—the stimulation, the connection. But it’s also exhausting and draining. All those ideas crammed into my head for days in a row. All that [...]

After years (seriously, years) of thinking I would somehow get to like gardening, I finally gave up my community garden plot. I made the decision on one of the most beautiful days I’ve ever experienced in the garden. It was foggy yet a little warm, with a misty beginning-of-the-world feeling, birdsong stirring the stillness. Ah, [...]

I attended my first improvisational theater workshop last week. Improv is all about staying present and quieting the inner doomsayer and playing with what shows up in each moment, even when it isn’t what you planned. Improv is the opposite of planning. That’s helpful for an uber-planner like me. Some useful life skills I got [...]

I spent a week away from the keyboard last month, and my neck and shoulders eased up a lot. But now I’m back to my bad old ways—I’m not taking enough breaks. My bodyworker, Roy—who got me to exhale to such good effect last summer—recommends roll-away breaks every half hour or so.  Roll chair back [...]