MM #39 – Recognizing Gratitude – Dr. Marvin Seppala

More Tales of Two Lists

As I wrote in my last blog post- it’s not so easy to be grateful. Especially, when some days,…

June 11, 2022 And They Don’t Stay Like Pancakes

We all go about our day, juggling personal and professional obligations; popping on and off Zoom calls, all the…

Practice Might Not Make Perfect, But…

I’ve been practicing gratitude for a long time. I mean a reallllllly long time.  As in before cell phones.…

My Father’s Gaze Forward

When I was growing up, I thought I’d go away to college. I dreamt about it, checked out and read tens of novels from the library about it, looked over innumerable catalogs—it never dawned on me that I wouldn’t go.  Not once.

But when the time rolled around for me to apply not only to colleges, but for scholarships and  financial aid as well, my parents refused to fill out the financial forms.  “I know what they’re going to say,”  my father said,

Grateful for Malted Milk Balls

I am grateful for malted milk balls. Whenever I talk to someone about gratitude, ( and as early as…

On Smidget

Mother’s Day 2025 will be remembered as the day we made the decision to put Smidget to sleep the…

Change is No Simple Matter

  Children don’t understand irony or sarcasm and they don’t understand change. When you’re a kid, it’s impossible to…

A Tale of Two Lists

I was trying to make a list of all the things I’m grateful for, but instead I became overwhelmed…

Grateful to Be Alive

(Snowball in Better Times) I try to live in a state of gratitude all the time. Well, at least…

MM #38 – The Best Spiritual Advice – Donny Stevenson

Last year I had the pleasure of meeting filmmakers Debra Gonsher Vinik and her husband David Vinik. During our…

World Gratitude Day

I live my life- as I imagine most of us do- working, loving, enjoying, commiserating, and rejoicing with my…

And Yet

AND YET (with acknowledgement to Alan Jay Lerner’s “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” Every person I speak to…

On Cars, Garages and this moment

A lifetime ago, when I was head of production for a short-lived joint venture called CBS/Fox Video, I used…

Grateful For Every Day He Was With Us

We have been very blessed to have had Bunky in our lives for the last 14 years. We got…

MM #37 – A Grateful Heart – Sister Judith Ann Duvall

MM #36 – Wrestlers & Thankers – Rabbi Elliott Tepperman

Do we “earn” all the good things that come our way? But we don’t deserve the bad things that befall us? Rabbi Elliott Tepperman weighs in.

Unpacking My Cats

The first day after the election, I couldn’t imagine that Biden won. When my mind went to the possibility,…

On Spike Heels, Bubble Dresses & Portugal

When I was a little girl, my mother had this dress, a bubble dress. I think it was in…

Grateful for My 26th Wedding Anniversary

Today August 14. 2020, is David and my 26th wedding anniversary. What better time to make a check list…

Little Things

It’s the little things.  It’s always the little things that make life so wonderful, so astonishing, so worth it…

Be Careful Who You Trust

Sometimes being grateful isn’t a matter of being thankful for what you have or what you’ve experienced, but rather…

My Mother’s Sauce

I was way more connected to my father than my mother and I take after him in a great…

Decade or Not, An Assessment

I was doing my yearly reflection and writing when I was caught off guard by the din of the…

MM #35 – Just Hold On – Jenni Jacobson

MM #34 – A Great Blessing – Rev. Chris Jimmerson

MM #33 – Through Their Eyes – Rev. Alison Harrington

MM #32-Welcoming The Stranger-Georgette Bennett, Ph.D.

The Theatre Bug

I am grateful to Sirius which has a Broadway channel. And I am grateful to my mother who shared…

MM #31 – A Disposition of Gratitude – Carl A. Anderson

MM #30 – A Gift Within A Gift – Rabbi Shai Held

MM #29 – “I’m A Lucky Guy”

Gold Friends

When I was a little tyke in the Bluebirds/Campfire girls, one of the many earworms they infected us with…

High School, Assisted Living and All that Jazz

I was not happy in high school.  But I don’t know many people were.  People may not have talked…

Probably Not a Hallmark Card

If your mother is still alive, I envy you. If your mother is still alive and the two of…

You’ve Got to Have Friends

Years ago, I imagined what death was like. Not that I was looking for it—I just imagined that I…

MM #28 – We Will Rise Up Together

They Can’t Take That Away From Me

I had a premonition. The last time I blogged, I imagined that if Drumpf actually won, I would need…

Being Grateful in the Age of Drumpf

I’ve been trying to figure out why this election has literally moved me to tears.  Why I wake up…

The Human Connection

Whenever I speak about documentary filmmaking to audiences, whether students considering the field or adult aficionados of the genre,…

The Stuff that Dreams are Made of

There are a lot of things in life that don’t manage to live up to one’s dream of it.…

MM #27 – Perspective – Jessica Markowitz

What’s Obvious Still Needs Confirmation

Watching HBO’s Confirmation, I am drawn back in time. I remember sitting in front of my television literally glued…

Let’s Hear it for the Floor

I came home from filming in Uganda and Rwanda, stood in the middle of my kitchen, and was filled…

MM #26 – “Modeh Ani” – Craig Taubman

Thoughts on Gobble Day

Growing up, Thanksgiving in my house was a big affair. I remember my mother ז״ל waking up at 5:30 to…

MM #25 – Spiritual Warrior – Layli Miller-Muro

More than the Corners of My Mind

Mem’ries, Light the corners of my mind Misty water-colored memories Of the way we were. There is always a…

MM #24 – Take A Breath – Rabbi Felicia L. Sol

Rabbi Felicia L. Sol of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in New York shares the value of taking the time to…

Not a Recognized Cause of Death

At the risk of stating the obvious, no one likes admitting they were wrong. But no was has ever…

MM #23 A Gift of Time – Rabbi Charles Rudansky

Things Are Not As They Appear

The lovely Marsha Keene-Hutchason, Executive Director of the Susanna Wesley Family Center in Missouri said to me in an…

MM #22 – “Modeh Ani” – Rabbi Menachem Creditor

At Least Some People You Like

On a beautiful spring day 3 ½ years ago, I wrote the voiceover to the very first video we…

Tenacity

I’m grateful that I inherited the tenacious gene. Like one of those little Russell terriers who hold on tightly…

MM #21 – Every Laughing Moment

Here’s another tranquil and serene video that will make you think of the deeper meaning of life.

I’m Not Sure I Trust in Karma…

..but I do believe in fair. No matter what job you’re in, no matter how high up on the…

Chocolate is Thicker Than Water

With a nod to Peer Gynt, there are layers of people in our lives.  Perhaps the layer closest to…

MM #20 – Ms. Gratitude – Letty Cottin Pogrebin

In this 20th Mincha Moment, writer, lecturer, activist, advocate and co-creator of Ms. Magazine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin reveals why…

Rescued from the Skeevy

I don’t use the word skeevy very often.  In fact, I can’t remember the last time I used it.…

With Respect to Pandora

Most of the time I think about tangible things that I am grateful for—concrete things, like David, chocolate, a…

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

David and I met. December 23, 1993. It was a business Christmas party of some duplication facility. Held at…

MM #19 – It Just Takes Gratitude

This is our 19th Mincha Moment video!! And we are thrilled to do this with the incredible music and…

‘Cause You’ve Got to Have Friends

When I first began this website and the videos on it, the voiceover in the very first video included…

Almost Broken Cup

It’s impossible, literally impossible not to be grateful for SOMETHING. Here’s what I mean.  We all know that we’re…

MM #18 — The Bigger Picture – Rabbi Joseph Potasnik

At times it can seem like we’re deluged with trouble, overwhelmed with worry. It can seem like too much…

Let’s Hear it For the Girls

I don’t know about anyone else, but since I’m lucky enough not to have had anyone close to me…

Simply Golden

I was a Bluebird, when I was a little girl. The song we sang: “Make new friends, but keep…

MM #17 — Enough & Not Enough

If someone told you the world had plenty of natural resources, but the one thing it needed more of…

April 17, 2013 Entering the Fray

Many of my days I have no recourse but to take on the forces of darkness: self-absorbed people who…

MM #16 – On Gratitude and Giving – Rev. Dr. Charles G. Adams

Rev. Dr. Charles G. Adams of Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, talks about the link between gratitude…

Grateful for the Loss of Innocence?

It used to be that a blizzard was something I actually enjoyed. I would hunker down with a good…

MM #15 – Miracle

“The miracle is not to walk on water, The miracle is to walk on the green earth, in the…

Getting to the Point Where It’s In Our DNA

Three days ago, the Financial Times announced that the number one “toy” for kids this Christmas will be a…

Is it Fear?

I think perhaps this thing I have about gratefulness is a result of fear. I am afraid that one…

MM #14 – Kick-Start Happiness – Dr. Harold Koenig

Harold G. Koenig, M.D., director of Duke University’s Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, examines the link between gratitude,…

Wondering about the Well

And then there are the days that the well seems to run dry. Bad people at work—I mean really…

MM #13 – Grateful For The Partial – Rabbi Irwin Kula

Rabbi Irwin Kula, author, journalist, radio host and co-President of the National Center for Jewish Learning and Leadership (CLAL), reminds…

Is there a FB Ironing Page to ‘Like’?

I may be the only one I know who actually likes to iron. Weird, huh?! And I actually have…

No Regrets

When I was in college, I didn’t want to be there. Rather than drop out, I decided to work…

MM #12 – Just One Day

Remember to spend each day to the fullest in gratitude and happiness.

With Respect to Joni Mitchell

I’ve been thinking that one of the reasons it’s so hard to be grateful, is that most of us…

MM #11 – Treasure Each Moment

Treasuring each moment is a wonderful way to express gratitude.

Gratitude Sleepers

What now seems like a lifetime ago, David and I were working on our first documentary together. It was…

Thanks, Adam Carolla

So I am going to go running, and I’m a little jazzed. After all, I have been running for…

MM #10 – I’m Grateful

Taking time to be grateful. “I’m grateful for… I’m thankful for..” This is set to the music of the…

On My Father’s Yahrzeit

Tonight is the Yahrzeit of my father’s passing. This is one of those times that, there’s no doubt, it…

MM #9 – For This Time

“Being thankful for this time,” for the simple things, for the joyful…

Gather Ye Rosebuds

So I am smart enough to figure out that for David to go down to Florida and see his…

Three Stocks

My Dad, may he rest in peace, was a stockbroker. Not just a stockbroker, but a great stockbroker. He…

MM #8 The Grateful Perspective

It’s easy to get bogged down — and start complaining about anything and everything. Complaining is, after all, one…

MM #7 Life is Meaningful

Finding the meaning in every moment provides a stronger meaning to life, a grateful life.

One More Time

A funny thing happened on my trip to Israel over the summer. I got in touch with my ex-husband,…

Angelina, ID Television and Me

It’s hard to imagine that I would ever put Angelina Jolie’s name in anything I ever wrote or talked…

MM #6 – A Wonderful Life

Taking a moment, one moment, to be thankful for the wonderful life.

The Hardest Arithmetic

Without warning, the great freak Fall snow of 2011 came.  On a lovely Saturday afternoon, we lost power around…

Apology Accepted

Be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit I can’t claim that for my own—it’s Albert Schweitzer’s,…

I’m Not Saying It’s Easy

Don’t ever think for a moment that I believe it’s easy every day to feel grateful.  Some days I…

MM #5 – Count Your Blessings

Take a moment to count your blessing everyday– it may even help you fall asleep.

Half the Things I Don’t Even Think Of

It’s that same old thing– you never think about something until…it’s not there, or it’s not working right, or…