This isn't school. You're a grownup now. Give yourself an A if you really want one.

You get out of it what you put into it — and you get to decide what that is going to look like.

There is no "I didn't finish last time," or "I can't keep up with everyone else." It's not a race. It's not a contest. There is no scorekeeper, and there's no score.

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There’s a tension that I experience on a frequent basis. It’s between the necessity of slowing down and allowing space for reflection and growth, and the reality that the clock is ticking.

I don’t do my best work dangling by my fingertips off of a precipice. I need to be peaceful, grounded, and safe.

And yet these are the same conditions that can lead to complacency — to doing nothing and letting the time simply pass by.

It is easy enough to fill a day with meals, laundry, and a walk in the fresh air — maybe a bit of bill-paying, family time, or creative work. And the next, and the next.

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The Bahá’í period of fasting takes place in early March and ends with the Vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.

Adults abstain from food and drink during daylight hours. It is a time of reflection, renewal, and hungry afternoons. Some days are euphoric, and some are really tough — sometimes at the same time.

On those harder days, I find myself reflecting on how I took lunch for granted. I always think that when the Fast is over, life will be so easy. I’ll just be able to have a snack whenever I need one! I’ll be able to concentrate easily all day, and I won’t have to plan my mornings around eating before dawn.

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I was recently given two hand-me-down cast iron skillets. Apparently, when you have a glass cooktop, heavy cast iron might scratch it. So, lucky me!

The skillets were kinda rusty and yucky when I received them, but I dutifully followed the instructions for seasoning that I found somewhere on the Internet. Voilà! I couldn’t believe how beautiful they were when I took them out of the oven. They were like new.

The seemingly magical renewal of this cookware exceeded my expectations and got me thinking about the ways in which we humans take care of ourselves (or don’t).

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If you have watched the Hamilton movie on Disney Plus — or were lucky enough to see it in person before the world shut down — you might appreciate seeing Lin-Manuel Miranda’s performance of an early version of the musical’s opener, “Alexander Hamilton,” at the White House back in 2009.

Already a seasoned performer, the twenty-nine-year-old Miranda channels his nervous energy into his rapping and singing, creating that magical feedback loop between soloist, accompanist, and audience, elevating the moment and getting everyone on board with something entirely new. At the same time, you can see that the concept is not fully formed, and the piece is definitely not polished. It’s a high-wire act, with all the danger that implies, and Miranda, with the support of Alex Lacamoire, just barely managed to make it to the other side.

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There’s a reckoning going on in education and professional life. One might even call it a revolution.

What does it mean to “go to school” or “go to work” when you can’t physically be there? What do these entities really represent? What do they contribute? What choices do we have about how to engage with these institutions that we may have heretofore disregarded?

There have always been people who questioned the way things have to be. But now, new possibilities are visible to all. A new wave of adults is now seeking fully remote positions that allow for more freedom and control. And students, en masse, are opting out of the traditional system, realizing that they can be more efficient and effective learners when they’re not spending six or seven hours in the classroom only to encounter two or three more hours of homework later on.

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