Try This at Home

Wear “clothes” every day. This is a big stretch for Elizabeth and me — many listeners, however, will find it easy!

Interview

Tanya Coke is an old friend of mine; we clerked together after law school. She’s also a former defense attorney and distinguished lecturer at John Jay College, and she’s currently the senior program officer for criminal justice at the Ford Foundation. She writes on issues of criminal justice, trauma, and resilience.

She recently wrote a beautiful, thought-provoking piece for the Washington Post: “Watching my daughter’s resilience lead her to the right path.”  She and her family went through a very traumatic time, and Elizabeth and I wanted to hear about how she got through it — both for herself and for her family.

Here’s the quotation that I sent to Tanya:

Zeus, who guided men to think,

who has laid it down that wisdom

comes alone through suffering.

Still there drips in sleep against the heart

grief of memory; against

our pleasure we are temperate.

From the gods who sit in grandeur

grace comes somehow violent.

– Aeschylus, “Agamemnon,” translated by Richard Lattimore

To get through this challenging period, Tanya made a rule for herself: each day, she had to spend time doing at least three of these five things: listening to music, exercising, writing, doing something creative with her hands, or hugging someone close to her.

Tanya offers a very practical Try This at Home tip: if you want to get something clean, the best product is Fantastik with Bleach.

Elizabeth’s Demerit: Elizabeth needs to go to the doctor to address her iron deficiency.

Gretchen’s Gold Star: In Episode 149, we talked about making our “18 for 2018” list, and I completed a major item on my list: I’m now up-to-date on making my family photo albums.

Resource

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