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It may be that your body tenses up as soon as the alarm goes off in the morning, or maybe it’s the morning commute, or it could be when you interact with specific people, or when you’re going to bed thinking about all the things that need to get done tomorrow. Mind bracing can be identified by a flurry of thoughts that are racing through your mind. Body bracing might feel like muscle contraction, like a tightening in the chest, shoulders, or jaw....

In the mind of jealousy, we are caught up in comparing, and in one sense we loom large and others fade into the background. Yet, in another sense, we see ourselves as small and what others have as big. We push and we pull. Feelings of jealousy can be mixed up with love (the clingy part), and anger, the feeling of wanting to push another away, to hurt them or lessen them....

There are times when fear can prevent us from following our dreams and goals. Fear or other such feelings are like monsters under our beds or in our closets and might lead to so many opportunities if we pay attention to and believe them. What would have happened without the Einsteins or Martin Luther Kings of the world if they were too scared to persevere and follow their passion and their hearts?...

The first person I think of is Menahem Pressler, whom I studied with for two years at Indiana University. He has amazing ears for color and sound – an extraordinary sensitivity to musical poetry and nuance. He got me to listen like I had never listened before, and he also taught me how to touch the piano keys; he transmitted that by his example. The piano is a living thing in his hands, and he transmitted his exceptional passion for piano sound....

Still, countless acts of goodness, kindness, and heroism are taking place all over as the world battles COVID-19. Of course, much of it is going on behind the closed doors of hospitals and homes, anonymous and unsung. But some of it is happening for all of the world to see. We’ve rounded up some of the good news as a reminder that, amid the darkness, people are still out there loving and caring for each other....