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Latest — Jan 9, 2026

Who Has the Power to Do What You Want

It’s a snowy January day up here in Maine. I recently learned that my state’s 100-Mile Wilderness stretch of the Appalachian Trail can be so brutal, hikers say, “No Maine, no gain.” Soon, I’ll go walk the dog on the beach (we’ll save the 100-Mile Wilderness

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Where to Find Power When It Feels Like You Don’t Have Any

Hello Dear Reader! I’m away from my desk today, but sharing a favorite from the archives. Wishing you a terrific start to this brand new year, Caitie A business mentor of mine always advised to go where there isn’t much traffic. If everyone’s online, be in person.

Some Goodness for You Today

Wonderful Reader, Wherever this finds you in the holiday season, I am wishing you gentleness and ease. This year has asked a lot of our hearts. Should your cup need refilling, here are a few sweet bits and pieces to get the job started. As my Mum used to say,

For When the News Could Crush Your Spirit

One snowy evening, I was cutting sweet potatoes and listening to a newsy podcast. The headlines were heavy with humanity at its worst. As the two hosts talked about a horrendous event, the first host said, I guess there was a guy who risked his life to tackle one of

How to Resist One of This Moment’s Greatest Temptations

Trappist monk Thomas Merton wraps up his book The Seven Storey Mountain with a useful phrase: “Here ends the book, but not the searching.” It rhymes a bit with Rainer Maria Rilke’s guidance to not just live the questions, but to love the questions. And it clashes with that

Nearly Everything I Know About How to Improve Democracy

Let’s say I give you a toolbox with a hammer, wrench, screwdriver, and I tell you to build a house. That’d be awfully tricky to do. And that’s a bit like what we’re given when it comes to shaping our democracy: an incomplete toolbox. Vote, protest,

Three Comforts to Take Us Into a Chillier, Darker Season

Every so often, the weekend linguist in me goes poking around in word etymologies. Which is how I learned that the verb to comfort arrives to us from the Old French meaning, among other things, “to strengthen.” It makes a good kind of sense, doesn’t it? It’s hard

For When You Think Policy Change Can’t Happen

There were ashtrays in our desks! a woman once told me of her 1960s college days. The professors usually taught in a cloud of smoke. Totally inconceivable now, I shook my head. Well, the woman said, now - she gestured to the smoke-free office we were in, which was next

Give the Gift of a Stronger Democracy

🎁 Gift Policy is for Lovers Do you have someone in your life who's looking to make good change? This friendly Friday newsletter could be just the ticket! Gift a Subscription How It Works 1. Click the button above to purchase a subscription 2. Complete the checkout process 3.

One Note We Can Send for a Healthier Democracy

The whole experience was so smooth, it’d be easy to forget. The mind has a way of remembering the bumpy and rough stuff. I went to the town clerk’s office to vote early. The woman behind the desk explained how it worked to me like I was the