It’s hard to do. I appreciate the idea and the activity. Spring Break, Winter Break, the Sabbath, taking a day off, etc. It’s hard to know when to take a breather, when to rest, and when to push through and persevere.

Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said that if you gave him six hours […]

He’s right. I do have strong feelings about flags. Faced with good and bad examples, opinions bubble up. The he in the first sentence is Roman Mars, the host of a radio show called 99% Invisible. I’ve watched his TED talk on flag design a dozen times, often with students trying to isolate some point […]

Two things, and I like them both.

“A Shot In The Dark” is when you add a shot of espresso to black coffee. It is strong and delicious and risky. It could ruin regular coffee for you by making it seem too weak. Consume with caution.

One way that Webster of the Merriam variety defines […]

This is a list of the first 50 APPRECIATIONS on this website. I consider these possible drafts of future essays and/or a way to explore a topic and see what insights or stories might be lurking in the shadows. Sometimes, like when I wrote about pine cones, it was just to try and figure out why I […]

My first title of this post was EXCEPTIONS TO THINGS YOU TYPICALLY RANT ABOUT. This could be an interesting series, and question to ask people. I’d love to hear people’s answers to that. I’ll share one example here.

I love monotasking. As a way of doing things, it doesn’t seem as popular or recognizable as […]

The following is a draft of a manifesto that serves as a good summary of the goal of this website right now.

APPRECIATE: A MANIFESTO

PROBLEM: Many live surrounded by abundance: more food, more entertainment, more access, more resources, more opportunity than in any time in history. And yet rates of depression, discontent, and general negativity […]

I’m reading Art as Therapy by Alain de Botton and John Armstrong, a resource from the folks at The School of Life. The premise of the book is that art is actually FOR certain things. And by certain, they mean these 7 things in particular: remembering, hope, sorrow, rebalancing, self-understanding, growth, appreciation. A quick video […]

One of the best gifts that my parents gave me was sisters. One of life’s great sadnesses is when you realize that your siblings are not part of your daily routine anymore. Sometimes you learn things about them that you probably should have known long before. These transitions sneak up on you. One family turns into […]

We are surrounded by separations. Our sources are secondary, and I keep hearing silliness like this from students at school:

I know what I’m talking about! My aunt said that somebody on Facebook read…”

– high school student

This about sums it up. I love primary sources and direct experience. History textbooks are usually lame […]

A common theme among writers that I admire is their descriptions of encounters with wild animals. Brian Doyle has a great book of essays that is focused on this theme Children and Other Wild Animals. I love his essays on fishers, sturgeon, and falcons. Annie Dillard, in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek describes waiting and watching […]