Further
Health - Wealth - Wisdom
From the June 25, 2020 issue of Further If you’re feeling vulnerable lately, you’re certainly not alone. A flip through the headlines is like walking through a minefield of information bombs, any one of which may derail you, your family, your community, and the planet as a whole. As the personal and collective stress, trauma, …
From the June 10, 2020 issue of Further Eighteen years ago, my family moved to a college town known for its progressive population. This illusion quickly fell apart when my kindergartener’s first school event was scheduled on a Jewish High Holiday. After trying the usual channels (teacher, the PTA) with no response, I contacted the …
From the June 2, 2020 issue of Further When I was a teen, I used to wear a jean jacket covered in buttons with a centerpiece pin that asked, “Why be normal?” At the time, it was a rallying cry for authority-questioning people like me. It reflected a time of life when possibilities seemed endless …
From the May 29, 2020 issue of Further If COVID-19 is the enemy, then I’d say it’s scored major points by manipulating our emotions around fear. Pretty much everyone is in some form of fight, flight, or freeze. From protesters filling state capitols to adrenalin-filled grocery shopping missions, regardless of what scares you most, the …
From the May 15, 2020 issue of Further If you want to know what stage you’re at in the pandemic, check the complaint meter. In my house, everyone has been copacetic until now, but this past week the grumbling kicked in. For example, after I said no to my teen daughter’s latest social distancing scheme …
From the May 6, 2020 issue of Further For most of us, the pandemic is a source of additional financial stress. I say “additional” because Gen X is used to being known as savings slackers, maybe due to our unique position of supporting both growing children and aging parents. That means worries about our family’s …
From the April 30, 2020 issue of Further Being at the middle stage of life has its benefits, both personally and professionally. For the most part, we’re confident in our abilities and are striving for mastery, if not perfection. And then, crisis hits. With everything upended, there is no clear context for decision making today, …
From the April 24, 2020 issue of Further If you want perspective on human behavior, take a trip to the grocery store for some quarantine shopping. Standing in, say, a quarter-mile, hour-long line, it’s easy to see who’s practicing discipline — and who isn’t. This isn’t an indictment on the bare-faced, gloveless meanderers who, once …
From the April 17, 2020 issue of Further There’s nothing quite like a pandemic to bring the human experience into sharp relief. The pain, grief, and suffering we’re both witnessing and experiencing give adversity a daily presence in our lives. This is at once both horrific and opportune. I love how writer/director Julio Vincent Gambuto …
From the April 10, 2020 issue of Further Much ado has been made about our diminishing powers of concentration for a while now. Back in 2015, Microsoft famously reported that goldfish can hold it together longer than humans (9 seconds vs. our measly 8 seconds). And newer research shows that our collective attention span is …
From the April 3, 2020 issue of Further Want to hear a story about hope? One of my best friends got diagnosed with breast cancer in early March. By the time she could schedule surgery, California hospitals were preparing for the coronavirus onslaught. The Friday before her Monday procedure, her doctors told her that she …
From the March 27, 2020 issue of Further If you’re freaking out about COVID-19, it’s not just you. Each day brings a crush of new information that reinforces the precariousness and unpredictability of our situation. As a result, we’re spending more and more time glued to our screens to find signs of hope and safety …