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A science article in The Atlantic a few months ago — “How Animals Perceive the World,” by Ed Yong — introduced me to a term I’d never heard before: Umwelt. Umwelt refers to the particular sensory “bubble” in which all…

A hundred and fifty years ago, a group of edgy outsider artists organized a renegade exhibition. These painters all had been soundly rejected by the Paris Salon. They weren’t even runners-up; no one took them seriously. Undeterred, they found a…

I was reading about the origins of “Goldilocks.” I’d never thought much about it. The story seems pretty timeless, always having been in my awareness. A precocious little girl who, lost in the woods, happens upon a cozy house in…

“Are we ready for peace? When the world is ready for peace, it will have peace. When the individual is ready for peace, his thought will be so composed that he will find himself living in peace, even though to…

The summer after my freshman year in college, I performed the Beatles’ “Penny Lane,” solo and without accompaniment, in a banquet hall someplace in central China. I was there learning Mandarin. I really don’t know why. It was exceptionally difficult.…

It’s an interesting conundrum to recognize in ourselves both the fact that we’re constantly growing and the truth that we’re already complete. These two ideas seem pretty contradictory. Nevertheless, finding some sort of open balance in which we can include…

I encountered a quote last week that has continued to knock around in my head. Film director Federico Fellini said, “There is no end, there is no beginning. There is only the passion of life.” I like it. There is…

Travis has always liked beavers and identified with them. He thinks of Beaver as his animal guide. So for his birthday a few weeks ago, I got him a book that I’d seen on a “best new paperback nonfiction” list:…

A friend asked how I was doing, and I replied, “I’ve got a lot of balls in the air.” I was juggling okay, managing it mostly, but nevertheless feeling the stress of having my attention in six places at once.…

I remembered that once upon a time, I had done a talk inspired by this Stephen Sondheim song title — “Giants in the Sky,” from Into the Woods. Since I’m gearing up right now for opening weekend of Musical Theatre…