I’ve been away for the weekend, at a friend’s place. I’ve had the pleasure of waking up and drinking coffee outdoors, swimming in a pool, walking along a dock, and taking forays into the scenic town of Sag Harbor, NY. I’ve had a lot more space to move around in: a bigger kitchen, a backyard, a roomy bedroom for sleeping. The company is great. It has been lovely. This is my first trip outside of NYC since before lockdown started. Earlier this week,…

Last week, I was reflecting on the changes that happen in our ability to do things quickly. A reader pointed out that age is part of it, and I think she’s right. Energy is just different from year to year and decade to decade. The same reader noted that her ability to multitask has changed with time. I gave some thought to that observation. I don’t multitask less than I used to, but I multitask a lot less effectively than I used to….

Way back in the day, at my old job, I was frequently teased for being a supernaturally fast email responder. I was a fast worker in general, back then. Aside from being quick to respond over email, I was a quick writer, quick to complete tasks—even the painstaking process of transmitting a book manuscript to production—and probably fast enough reader to have qualified as a speed reader, or close to it. This is sort of funny for me to remember now, because in…

This semi-quarantined, semi-open summer has so far been full of fluctuations in perspective. In the course of a single week, it’s easy to go from hopeful and excited to fearful and shut down. I’ve had weeks of peacefulness and interspersed with real anxiety. At times I’ve felt more able than ever to look on the bright side, and sometimes it feels impossible to think positively. There’s nothing unusual about fluctuation, of course, but I think that the Covid crisis has shown me an…

As New York City reopens, I’m thinking a lot about the things that have sustained me most through the quarantine. I figure it can’t hurt to ask myself what buoyed me through all of this, and to consider the meaning of my answer. One of the things that I’ve been most grateful for is community. I’m accustomed to spending time on my own, but the Covid experience tested the limits of my comfort with solitude. At times, I felt acutely aware of being…