4-15-14 | Writing is like flinging yourself off a cliff every day, without knowing if there’s a net there or not. Living is like that, too.

4-8-14 | As a child, every time I went to knock on my father’s office door, whether it was because I needed something or just wanted to tell him the latest juicy bit of five-year-old’s news, he never once said, “I’m busy!” or “Can this wait?” or even “Just a minute.” He would drop whatever he was doing and give me his full attention. He always seemed to have time. But where did he find it?

4-1-14 | You know how a baby’s smile lights up a room? It’s as if there’s some vast light source hidden behind a screen, and that little round face is a tiny window letting a smidgeon of the billions of gigawatts out there spill into the room we’re occupying.

3-25-14 | It’s Tuesday evening. I’m at home. Ana is over at the nursing home, being with Sylvia, her mom, who is in her last days.

3-18-14 | Positive perspective is less an inborn trait than it is a skill. Like any skill, it can be learned, practiced, and mastered.

3-13-14 | A knock came on my front door at a few minutes after eleven o’clock at night. My son and I were watching television together in the living room, sitting not ten steps from the door. I got up, padded over, and opened it.

3-8-14 | My decision, at the age of 17, to leave the established school system and join with some friends to start our own high school was inspired in part by my sophomore-year high school English teacher, Mr. Gimbel.

3-4-14 | Did you know you have a seahorse in your head? You do. It’s a delicate little thing, and it’s important to feed it, because it helps you remember who you are and what you’re doing here.

3-1-14 | After I write this post, I’m going to join my wife in a three-mile walk around the neighborhood. This is not as simple an accomplishment as it sounds.