Usdan Blog
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Musings: Thought pieces by Usdan's Executive Director and guest staff writers.
Inspiring U: Creative resources to keep our community creatively engaged.
News: Usdan in the news.
Summer Newsletter: Usdan's summer newsletter, sent to the community every Friday during the season.
Musings | Jan 8, 2021
Typically, I neither read my horoscope nor follow astrology, but the current planetary alignment has contextualized 2021 for me as an exciting year for a creative community like ours. As the lyrics in the musical “Hair” expresses: “This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” We are in the final phases of the transition from the Age of Pisces to that of Aquarius.
Inspiring U | Dec 24, 2020
Inspiring U is a growing collection of creative content to help our community stay creatively engaged.
Musings | Dec 18, 2020
When I read this week’s edition of Bill McKibben’s New Yorker newsletter “The Climate Crisis,” my heart hurt. McKibben explained that the weight of human-made stuff on the planet now weighs more than all the living things.
Musings | Dec 11, 2020
“We Are” reminds me of the 2019 NYC Climate March, where I saw many Usdan families and a spoken word performance by a youth climate activist who I admire called Xiuhtezcatl Martinez. Martinez’s message to the youth at the march was: they are the chosen ones. As I listened to “We Are” last night, I understood that something happened to us this year and now we are all the chosen ones.
Musings | Dec 4, 2020
Wednesday was my birthday, a day when I traditionally take off from work and treat myself to a museum. The Museum of Modern Art was this year’s destination, and as I entered the galleries with anticipation, a very nice guard said to me: Let me know if I can help you find anything. To which I replied: Thank you, but for me the best part is getting lost.
Musings | Nov 25, 2020
Spending Thanksgiving weekend with my large, extended family is always one of the best experiences of my year. The Brandts were raised to treasure Thanksgiving with family, and when my children first said that Thanksgiving was their favorite holiday, I felt like a parental success.