Taking A Digital Dump

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Taking a dump is one of the most satisfying activities one can aspire to in middle age. And yet, this is not a Beavis and Butthead post I refer to the ability to eliminate, for lack of a better term, the “life clutter” that obstructs productivity and happiness. Perhaps it derives from the sobering reality that there are likely more …

Art Fosters Empathy

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I was recently reminded that art is more than a shared cultural obsession. Like many families, we have developed a shared admiration of the brilliant songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical, Hamilton. We’ve not seen it, but the score is sufficiently catchy and the lyrics are so deft and clever that it has captivated us in a  delight that knows no …

From Gunner To Funner

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Like many docs, I took all the accelerated classes our high school offered. I remain in touch with several close friends from those days. Some stay with me for our shared values, others  for our shared history. At the wedding of one such friend, I had the opportunity a few years back to reconnect with the class gunner. For those …

Can Skills Used To Build Wealth Also Build A Life?

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Have I Lost The X Factor? A favorite WCI post describes the X factor, a perfect storm of innate qualities, experience and self-discipline that lead to wealth-building behavior. Those who possess it often have certain traits in common, which may include: Laser focus on goals. Ability to sacrifice and delay gratification translating to the ability to save aggressively. Reaction to …

Found In Translation

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My parents are immigrants. Both learned English as a second language. This naturally leads to moments where a specific heartfelt sentiment takes an unexpected turn as the mental prose is converted from one language to another with an incomplete grasp of the subtleties of the non-native vocabulary. Dad studied electrical engineering but pursued a career in business. Consequently his technical …

Is The Cure Worse Than The Disease? Reconsidering Meritocracy

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Burger Time The Atlantic prides itself on provocative writing that skewers and roasts the sacred cows of the elite progressive class. While some journalists overdo it to the point of inducing iconoclast fatigue, the most deft inflict psychic wounds that cause the reader to reconsider vulnerabilities in their thought processes. Daniel Markovits, a Yale Law Professor whose book is excerpted …

Moments In Geologic Time

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This morning I was getting my lazy butt back into the swing of cycling when I noticed a chunk of rock sliding down a hillside next to the road. It was a fist-sized chunk, and did not threaten to strike me, but it focused my attention on something I seldom consider, the geologic time scale. Rocks like this scatter alongside …

Missed Connections: Administrator Seeks Pit Doc

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Craigslist runs a Missed Connections column where would-be romantics (and unsubtle sex seekers) anonymously confess sightings of potential mates that got away in often mundane settings, a wonderful place to explore vulnerable admissions by folks who regret not having voiced their feelings in the lost moment. One of the finest adaptations I’ve seen of this column is the artist Sophie …

Whole Life Insurance And Craniotomies

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A friend recounted his recent experience interviewing a prospective financial advisor. He’d been favorably impressed. The would-be advisor informed him that he would not only help with investments, but provide tax strategy recommendations as an added value, to show how far he was willing to go above and beyond the less comprehensive services provided by his peers. The suitor’s first …

Does Being An Employee Confer Greater Flexibility For Female Physicians?

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Mass media is a fickle entity. One minute medicine is approaching peak burnout and physicians are in crisis. The next we’ve never had it so good. The New York Times recently published the provocatively entitled article, “How Medicine Became the Stealth Family-Friendly Profession.” My first thought was that a journalist had decided to go rogue by rebuffing the conventional wisdom, …