From Me to You

I was walking through an aquarium gift store when an adorable picture book caught my eye. It was called "With Your Paw in Mine" by Jane Chapman. What I didn't realize at the time was that this book would end up communicating a much-needed message of love during a tumultuous time in my life. You see, I've been pretty sick. I started off 2019 in the hospital, and I feel like I haven't had too many healthy days since then. And even if you haven't gone through a prolonged period of illness yourself, I'm sure you can imagine that this season has been an emotional trial as well as a physical one. It's hard to stay positive and interact well with others when all you really want to do is sleep. Or at least it is for me. :) And because of that, it has become really easy for me to get down on myself. Some of my former measurements of success aren't things I can currently do well. It was after a particularly stormy month recently that family members came...

If a piece of art changed my life, I would remember what it looked like forever. Right? I recall so many other details about that day. It was November 2016, and I was visiting the Skirball Center, a Jewish cultural institution in Los Angeles. There were several art exhibits to explore—a life-size Noah's Ark, for example, and an interactive living room created to look like a Liechtenstein. But the life-changing realization took place in a collection of paintings (I think they were paintings?) that taught about daily life in Jewish worship. "You think  they were paintings? You don't even remember that much?" I can hear you ask, and I agree! It's crazy! I mean, I remember feeling captivated  by what I saw, even though the scene in the artwork was an extremely ordinary one—a woman baking bread, perhaps? It was some sort of daily chore, accompanied by information about the exhibit titled "Daily Life: Deeds that lead to holiness." I did make note o...