Below is excerpt and three poems from the recent New Yorker piece on Amanda Gorman’s new book Call Us What We Carry:

When Amanda Gorman read her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the 2021 U.S. Presidential Inauguration, she became both the inheritor of a long tradition and a herald of something new. Her verse, as vibrant and elegant as her yellow coat against the cold, illuminated the imagination as well as the occasion, confirming her as a worthy successor to several other Black women inaugural poets writing to and for an American ideal—a lineage traceable all the way back to Phillis Wheatley, who, at the dawn of the Republic, addressed a poem to then General George Washington. As Gorman acknowledged this country’s contested history, and its contemporary tumult, her invocation of the plural pronoun “we” reminded us that, for good or literal ill, our lives are connected. Hers was an invitation to move forward together.

“Strive to make people happy that you are here…” Robin Williams

In this terrific video Robin reminds us to be aware of what we find precious. His words are basic, wise… and so precious. 

Below is an excerpt from a recent edition of Culture Study, a column written by Anna Petersen. The essay really hit home for me – how hard won it was to become a modern woman—sometimes to the point of needing help and forgetting we can ask for it. 

I might add that, however, that it helps to partner with someone who is willing to fill the volunteer fireman’s position, but in any case having quarantined for so long – all of us have gotten the idea that it is up to us to isolate and be singularly responsible for taking care of ourselves.

Amanda Stern – who has fought anxiety throughout her full and productive career – writes of Dr. Tamar Chansky’s suggestions for handing rumination. What follows is an excerpt: 

I could think of no better person to help me (…) than Dr. Tamar Chansky, psychologist, author, and founder of the Children’s and Adult Center for OCD and Anxiety in Plymouth Meeting, PA.

“Rumination is the process of having repetitive thoughts that your mind gets you stuck on,” Dr. Chansky explains. “They are usually about a negative situation—a past relationship or interaction, a mistake, or some unfinished or pending problem—an upcoming test or challenge at work.”

In other words, thinking, like dreaming, is a way to process and digest information and rumination is a way to stymie that process.