lara simmons

 Aside from (a photo of) Tony Danza at the top of the Empire State Building, I thought we would be leaving New York without a true celebrity citing, but while sitting at Gate 9 in Terminal 5 at JFK waiting for our flight to be called, we saw a young man surrounded by paparazzi and soon learned that he was none other than Phillip Phillips (in red plaid). What struck me about him was how young and how average he looked. He was no one you would expect to be followed by a crowd of people all documenting his every move. And it occurred to me just how random celebrity is. Not that he isn't talented. He is . Probably very talented. But he's also just a person. Like all of us. And, like him, we are all talented, each in our own way. Some of us in ways that are quiet and go mostly unnoticed, others of us in ways that are loud and can't help but be seen and heard by all of the world. Whatever your talents, may they be noticed and appreciated. And as you move about the worl...

"The less there was of me, the happier I got." -- Leonard Cohen , speaking about his music career, as quoted in Unconditional Confidence by Pema Chodron

"It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game." --Old sports adage attributed to sportswriter Grantland Rice I have always believed this old adage. Or wanted to believe that I believed it at least... I am one of those people who tries not to appear competitive, but secretly really likes to win. I put this down to being a first born - we can nearly always beat our younger siblings at almost everything we play for a number of years so we get used to it - but I'm guessing it's also part of being a Capricorn, part of being designated "gifted" in elementary school, part of my familial conditioning, etc., etc. In other words, it's a part of who I am. Competition gets very interesting once you have kids. I noticed right away that at a certain age (around 5 or 6) my older son got really upset whenever he would lose a game, but he was especially upset when he would lose to me. I struggled with this - should I let him win to give hi...