Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Have you ever taken a work trip with your coworkers that left you all closer together? I find that traveling with anyone can result in closer bonds or decisions to never speak with them again. You see the fullness of your companions–the spectrum of their happiness and frustration–and it’s not always pretty. Ah, but when guards come down and everyone becomes at once vulnerable and sensitive to one another’s needs, you can guarantee that lives will be forever changed and those people will always hold a special place in your heart.

Last weekend, I found myself in a rousing group text conversation with a couple of friends about the favor economy. One friend shared that she and her partner were thinking about updating their will because the guardian they had in mind, should something happen to them, would not be willing to leave her community of friends to care for my friend’s son. The intended guardian noted that in her shrewd, parentless observation, the way to “reduced-stress parenting” was to have a community of friends and family nearby that could help with childcare in a pinch. Leaving her city for this city to care for a child who would have lost both parents without the support of her village was not exactly what she signed up for.

Earlier this month, our eldest child Ila turned 13, and it’s been bittersweet. For weeks, my sister has been asking about our plans to celebrate. Big celebrations and material gifts are not my strength. I do it, but it’s definitely a chore. Because I typically throw at least three birthday parties a year—one for each child and their classmates plus friends from outside of school—I told Ila a couple of years ago that her large party days had ended. Instead, we would pare down to celebrations with one to three friends.

Last Monday, I toured the National Black Theater (NBT), one of Harlem’s beacons of Black cultural preservation and creative thought when it comes to the arts and social enterprise. NBT’s founder, Dr. Barbara Ann Theer, opened the organization in 1968 as the first revenue-generating Black arts complex, and her vision laid the groundwork for the trailblazing institution that her daughter Sade Lythcott is leading today.

This evening my mother-in-law and I were talking about the fact that there’s only a month and a half left in the year. I was sharing with her that I couldn’t remember what I’d set out to accomplish this year. I was sure I’d written my intentions down but couldn’t remember where. Then I visited my archive of all the weekly emails I’ve ever written and found last year’s thoughts about what I hoped 2025 would be.

For the last three years, Nick and I have been attending our annual ice cream conference, which travels from city to city across the United States. This year, my creative but introverted husband presented on building a creative menu. He presented alongside Kristina Zontini, one of our ice cream friends who owns Super Secret Ice Cream in northern New Hampshire–one of two shops that has been recognized as a James Beard Foundation semi-finalist. 

This past weekend is one of my absolute favorites in Harlem. Halloween landed on a Friday, and today was Marathon Sunday. The streets have been festive all weekend.

Have you ever broken a promise to yourself? I’d bet the answer is yes. I sure have. We break promises to ourselves all the time: having just one more drink when we said we wouldn’t, not exercising when we said we would, watching just one more show when we wanted our bedtime to be earlier, going along with someone else’s opinion on something that defies our values so we can fit in a little better. All these micro-betrayals tell us that we can’t trust what we say. They are all forms of self-betrayal.