I was at my daughter's recital when a close acquaintance arrived. We hugged, exchanged pleasantries. The week before, we'd both attended a party celebrating a mutual friend's promotion. I wanted to say something simple — wasn't it wonderful? Aren't you proud of her? But I knew my acquaintance worked in the same field. So I … Continue reading The Isolation of Hypervigilance
One night, I was feeling a bit tense and uneasy…okay, I’ll be real. I was having a “what’s the meaning of life?!” moment…so I asked Alexa to play a relaxing song. She chose “Gangsta’s Paradise.” The opening line: “As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” I stood there in my kitchen, … Continue reading The Day Alexa Misunderstood the Assignment
One day, I was late picking up my daughter from ballet class. When I arrived, the ballet teacher is standing outside with my daughter and I start explaining why I was late -- I left the house a little later than usual, I had to pick up dinner, there was a line for pick up … Continue reading The Dictionary Nobody Gives You
A couple of years ago, someone said in passing: “Why is Target so expensive?” I remember pausing, caught off guard. “Yeah,” I said. To me, Target was where I’d run the night before pajama day to grab something cheap for my daughter. It wasn’t where I went when things were expensive—it was where I went … Continue reading The Language I Almost Lost
I was in the middle of negotiating an offer at Amazon when someone from my future team called me before HR did. Someone who had been watching the process and decided, on their own, to pick up the phone. Not to prep me on the role, not to talk through the team. To tell me … Continue reading The Day I Almost Turned Down a Down Payment
The other night I rewatched A Quiet Place - 8 years after its release, and I had one of those strange moments where a movie feels completely different than the first time you saw it. I actually had to double-check the release date to make sure it wasn’t more recent than I remembered because it … Continue reading A Quiet Place – The Prophetic Film
