Dear friends,

I bet you’re reading the subject line of this email or the title of this blog and wondering whether I’ve been replaced this month by my evil twin! Why would I, a person who opposes overwork and believes in rest, be telling you to say yes to the stress?! I recently made a last-minute decision that has wrecked my careful planning, and I want to share why I think it is important to sometimes choose stress.

Dear friends,

I’m writing this on a rainy cold afternoon, and I can’t say I am looking forward to the gray days and long nights ahead. Just as I typed that last sentence, a hummingbird visited the feeder outside my window and reminded me that there is color and liveliness in every season. So, onward with optimism!

Dear friends,

We made it to November of 2025. It’s been a hard one, and I can only hope that better times are ahead. As I write this, I am thinking about the imminent threat to SNAP benefits just as the holiday season approaches. What gives me hope is your activism and generosity. I don’t think we can fill the gap, but positive actions still matter.

Dear friends,

Goodbye, summer! Usually I am excited for the back-to-school return to routine that fall brings. This year I just feel like I am holding my breath. With all the harm we’ve witnessed and experienced over the last few months, there is dread about what is coming next. I’m still wrestling with the question of how to move our work forward at such a challenging moment.

Dear friends,

Somehow, it’s May. It is hard to overstate how difficult these times are, and I’m glad you’re still with me! The only way we will get through this is together. Many of you know that I am having an exceptionally challenging grant-writing experience right now. Given that my non-work life is always eventful, I have been overworked and tired. My solution- schedule time for fun!

Dear friends,

I hope this message finds you rested and recharged! For me, the turning of a new year sparks a confusing and contradictory mix of feelings. The opportunity for a fresh start appeals to the optimist in me, and at the same time, my inner critic reminds me that I have inevitably fallen short of my ambitious goals for the year before. I feel the urge to make resolutions, even though I always aim to resist the relentless, burnout-inducing cultural push to do more and be better.

Dear friends,

Happy fall! How are you? My favorite season has brought a flurry of activity on all fronts, and I am feeling thankful and tired in equal measure.

Dear friends,

How are you? I hope fall is bringing you joy, as it is for me! I am looking forward to festooning my house with Halloween decorations and thinking about how to bring spooky spirit to work. This month I have some random musings rather than a singular topic, and I hope these words are still useful to you. I am on the airplane, flying back from an energizing workshop on Diagnostic Excellence and Health Equity at the National Academy of Medicine.

Dear friends,

How are you? We’re deep into Fog-ust here- I haven’t see the sun in days! I do have some vacation ahead, and I hope you too have a chance to savor the last days of summer. Lately I have been thinking about who holds the ultimate responsibility for our work, and why that matters.

Dear friends,

Happy summer! Even in San Francisco we are enjoying some lovely sunshine, and I hope you are too. How is your work pace? I was looking forward to a summer lull, but it hasn’t happened yet. My days seem more packed than ever, and my usual planning strategies are not keeping me from falling behind. So let’s talk about coping with, if not exactly embracing, work chaos. I’m talking about that feeling of having multiple demands come at you unexpectedly, going from meeting to meeting without surfacing long enough to think through a logical plan, and burning through the work time set aside on your calendar without getting the important stuff done.