Tag: identity politics

"Chess in the rain," by Kelvin Pulker

Imagination and Identification

One of my favorite writers is Philip Roth. I loved all of his books, but American Pastoral tops the list. The book seems eerily relevant now. In American Pastoral, Roth follows the life of a successful Jewish businessman and high school star athlete from Newark, New Jersey, whose upper middle class life is ruined by the domestic social and political turmoil of the 1960s when American went “berserk.”

Johannes Vermeer, "A Maid Asleep," ca. 1657-57, Oil on canvas; 34 1/2 x 30 1/8 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913 (14.40.611) http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/437878

Values, Valuing, and Feeling Valued

I often hear people say they don’t feel valued or appreciated at work. After I respond with something like, “It’s a pretty lousy feeling when you work hard but don’t get the sense that people recognize the importance of what you do.” And then I ask, “What do you value and how do you want to be valued?” The question is usually met with a blank stare that indicates it’s not a question they have Read More