Monday Morning Mojo

When Martin Luther King, Jr, prepared his remarks for his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington he originally planned to make it short and low-key. He was thinking about the broad audience that he would be addressing. The original printed version of his speech does not even have one […]

My mother, Diana Weaver Kahan, was a poet. Not a published poet, but a lover of poetry who read to me regularly and occasionally wrote her own. Above is her picture on her honeymoon with my father. I was particularly fond of this poem she wrote in 2004: Because I have children I eat strawberries,

The key for me in all areas where I either want to improve my life or must admit I have fallen short: self-compassion. It doesn’t always come easy, but when I feel the most out of balance or wanting, self-compassion is my go-to intent. As a consequence, I have read a good deal on it

After I graduated with a BA in mathematics I started graduate school. At the same time, at the age of 20, I started an experimental theater company, Waggo Makes Connexxions. We performed in vacant lots, parks, and the county library. That’s me above, taking a bow with my troupe after our second performance. The picture

As the northern hemisphere enters the colder months and today is the Winter Solstice, when the longest night prevails, I thought it appropriate to express love, loyalty, and enthusiasm for that which draws us closer to the Mystery of Life. In that spirit, I am sharing this poem by Mary Oliver: Whistling Swans Do you

There are so many issues in our world today where large-scale social change could make a great impact. During my 13 years at the World Bank, I had the opportunity to work within a small team that led an internal social change. We discovered that bringing people together who care deeply about a particular topic

This is the third pizza I made from scratch over 3 days after it came out of the oven Saturday. The first was inedible. The second tasted like bowling alley pizza. However, this one was a keeper. Every once in a while I pick a food to master and I keep making it over and

During the pandemic, it’s important to take the necessary measures: masking up and social distancing the foremost. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get out. When we have to spend so much time indoors it becomes really important that we find special times to be outdoors. During a recent trip to South Carolina my daughter,

Sometimes it can be challenging to find something to do that everyone enjoys. My wonderful wife, Laura, came up with a plan on the first day of Diwali – together we would construct a rangoli. It brought together my mother-in-law, Phyllis, a wonderful artist, with my daughter, Ruchi, who also loves visual art, and the

My dog, Sita, is a rescue German shepherd. Her litter was abandoned in rural Virginia near the West Virginia border. I drove out to pick her up with my daughter, Ruchi, in February 2012. She was the only girl in the litter. I knew instantly she was the dog I wanted to take home. In