Ben Michaelis, PhD

Things are happening.  There is motion, process and (hopefully) progress…  As a friend of mine in Brooklyn described…..”you know it’s different when, whether you are intending to go to a protest that day or not and you are walking the streets, you are very likely to be swept up in a swell of people heading […]

Look what we did together!  Thanks to you, a total of at least $2000.00 will be going to Catholic Charities of Brooklyn & Queens, which is doing the hard, frontline work of making thousands of meals every day for people who are in need of help during this epidemic.  Thank you to Diego, Alyssa, Fariba, Allyson, Patty, Greg, Todd, Cindy, […]

“The heartbeat of anti-racism is confession, is admission, is acknowledgement, is the willingness to be vulnerable, is the willingness to identify the times in which we are being racist.” – Ibram X. Kendi  Learning through engagement. My goal in writing the last email was to increase our collective empathy. I received several responses pointing out factual errors […]

Twenty dollars. It all started over twenty dollars. George Floyd wanted to buy something at a local deli and didn’t have the money for it.  So he used a counterfeit $20 bill. George Floyd was ultimately killed because of this.  He was a man who had travelled from Houston to Minneapolis to find work and […]

There’s no place like home.  But where exactly is home? Very early this morning, while taking my daily walk, a car slowed down, then pulled up along side of me.  The window rolled down and the man inside asked me for directions.  What surprised me more than anything was that I was actually able to help him. […]

We’re all just figuring it out. As the guidance has gone from simple (i.e., stay home) to complex (i.e., proceed with caution), there is more confusion and division about social distancing and how to do it.  While many people are being responsible citizens, and others are being brazenly foolish (this clip is worth watching. Listen to the audio), most of […]

When life hands you lemons… go get drunk on Slurpees. But seriously, while you are stuck at home, you have an unparalleled opportunity to experiment.  When you have little variety or variability you can use that to your advantage to learn about yourself. If you want to test to see how certain foods or beverages […]

Ready to hear it?  Whatever your views on advice, we all experience it coming at us from time to time. I don’t know about you, but I find myself reaching out even more for advice and counsel with friends, not only to check-in, but to share takes on this week’s version of our constantly changing situation. Kevin […]

It’s growing!  And from the look of things, I can see you are in good company and finding inspiring ways to cope. Thank you for sharing these glimpses into your lives. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!  Sincerely,Ben P.S. If you know anyone who might be interested in receiving these daily emails, feel free to add them to the mailing list.

Good News is out there.  We just need to know where to look. If you have not seen any of John Krasinski’s response to our current crisis, Some Good News, I encourage you to do so. His YouTube brainchild is chock full of heartwarming reminders of how our fellow humans step up, connect up and do good […]