My ideal Saturday night includes one dinner guest who stirs a copper pot of fresh seafood on “the Beast.” That’s my ancient, restaurant-retrieved gas oven. It is so old no one will even repair it any longer. It is so battered I’ve developed a pioneer-woman knack for guessing temperatures and baking times. But everyone loves […]

“Turn left,” I said. “No, right. No, left. Oh, goodness, I’ve lost the GPS. ” That’s when my son said, “Try again, and search for Café Nuts. It’s a famous place there.” From my passenger seat, I looked at him with raised eyebrows. We were driving the heavily forested, snowy backroads on our way to […]

Normally, eye contact connects us to other people, but the couple in this famous portrait aren’t looking out at you or me. Oddly, they aren’t looking at each other or at any distant object. Instead, they are deep in their own individual thoughts, yet also connected to one another with palpable intimacy. The portrait prompts […]

Many high profile thinkers and best-selling books have encouraged us to be “in the present.” This is great advice under some, but not all, circumstances. To connect with others, you need to be present and listen with focus to others. For good communication, you also have to corral wandering thoughts or the tendency to think […]

Being gorgeous helps. That is, when you want to be Center Stage and hold audience attention. Most of us are not quite so gorgeous as Salvatore Ferragamo, CEO of the 5-star Tuscan hotel and winery Il Borro. Yes, he is a member of the famous Italian leather company. When he walked on stage where I […]