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Worry
Approximately twelve times a year, I get to sit on an airplane. Setting aside the felt absence of my loved ones and the general inconveniences of travel, I love flying. The magnificent feat of air travel never fails to inspire me with a sense of wonder. I love having my head in the clouds, literally. I shared this with a friend recently to which she immediately responded, but don’t you worry about the plane crashing?? Actually, I don’t. But her comment made me think about the idea of worry…and worry as distinguished from fear. Worry is “to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; to fret”. It comes from Middle English weryen “to strangle, bite…
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Choosers
Turkey and football on Thursday, early bird sales on Friday, supporting small businesses on Saturday. This is a weekend that is full of shared experiences. Or is it? Are the activities described universal? Or are they simply an easy way to categorize how some people choose to spend their time on Thanksgiving weekend? A tradition denotes an experience that is repeated. Oftentimes the implication is that the experience is also shared by many. However, in a world with billions of people and thousands of cultures, projecting a one-size-fits-most tradition is arguably absurd. Looking at the other 360 odd days of the year, traditions don’t exist only on holidays. Our daily lives are filled rituals. With their frequency, they become invisible–like the water in…
