Combat
I’ve been in a number of fights in my life – to keep my job, to save the college’s core curriculum, to have legal access to my father’s papers, for instance – and haven’t lost ‘em all. Despite experts...
1 Jul 20228min
Brokenness
We know when a shattered vase is reparable and what sort of glue repairs it. We also pretty much know when the vase is beyond repair and must be discarded. In the human case, what’s broken seems alway...
29 Jun 202210min
Learning to Ride
If we are put here on earth to learn, what else in my life exhibits that process of putting the pieces together? Did I ever put together the pieces of the man/woman game? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Prof...
24 Jun 202211min
Imperfections
I always wanted to grow up to be a great lover, a famous saint or – if it could be arranged – both. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University o...
22 Jun 202210min
Healing
Life shakes us up frequently. If you wear a lot of armor, you won’t feel it as often as I do, but the seismic shake-ups have a way of breaking through any defenses we have.
17 Jun 20228min
Rest
Rest, as I’ve said before in these columns, is hard for me. I don’t know when it got to be so hard. It seems one of the downsides of growing up but, since I’m not in favor of growing up and have tried...
14 Jun 20228min
Dream Lessons
When I was a small child, I had a recurrent nightmare in which someone was attacking me. I needed to scream for help but couldn’t, because no sound came out. I would try and try to scream, but still n...
10 Jun 202210min
The Male Stare
The other day, a young woman walked for ten hours through the streets of New York while her associate, walking in front, managed somehow to film her pilgrimage. What did she find? About 100 instances ...
8 Jun 202211min
