Tag: Emotions

Human Grace

In 2009, when I was a freshman in college, I went to France and Germany at the end of a year-long seminar exploring the emergence of European nationalism…

The Power of Performance

One night during my first semester of undergrad, I flipped on PBS on my tiny dorm room TV to watch Richard II. Or, half-watch, I should say –…

J.C. Bach and the Exhaustion of Feeling

I was around 16 years old at the time of my humanities moment. I had been playing the viola for 7 years. As usually occurred, I became bored…

“Il faut le savoir:” Reflecting on France’s Holocaust History and Memory

“Nothing distinguished the gas chamber from an ordinary blockhouse,” writes Jean Cayrol in the screenplay for Alain Resnais’ iconic filmic meditation on the Shoah, Night and Fog (1956)….

A Love That Follows You

One of my earliest childhood memories is of a sweet voice reading sweet words to me from a simple children’s book. The voice belonged to my grandmother and…

Making Magic Through Film

Seemingly small moments, unexpected and beautiful, make this world interesting. Noticing the beauty all around is a pastime that comes with many benefits, especially in the field of…

Cultivating Emotional Intelligence Through Classical Music

As a child, Ken Stringfellow had difficulty relating to others and understanding seemingly inscrutable social cues. Turning to his parents’ collection of LPs changed all that. By immersing…

Purple Heart, Purple Prose

Griswold recalls how a childhood encounter with a sentimental, “middlebrow” poem about a dog and a veteran (which makes her cry to this day) tapped into wells of…

Don’t Close Your Eyes

When I saw Beautiful Boy, I found myself closing my eyes every time a lighter and spoon appeared. I would sneak one eye open and look through blurred…

Finding Meaning in Art

My moment came at one of the least expected times for me over the past few weeks. To begin, I am not a lover of art. I generally…

On First Encountering Francis Bacon’s Paintings

The disturbing art of Irish-born British painter Francis Bacon often violates formal boundaries of the human. Consequently, a visit to a retrospective of Bacon’s work at the Hirschhorn…

Losing and Regaining the Metaphysical

Have we lost the metaphysical? And how do we regain it? – David Denby (Author, Journalist, Film Critic)

Unlocking the Code

In this clip, educator Kathryn Bentley discusses an early moment in her teaching career when she came to realize the role emotions play in learning to read and…

My Front Porch Looking In

I was around seven years old. My dad and I were in the car when the song came on. “My Front Porch Looking In” by the band Lonestar…

The Best Motivational Token

It was a late night on September 14th, and school was at an overwhelming high. My new organization had just kicked off so all of my time was…