From the Heart

  By Alan Cohen I was honored to meet Morten Lauridsen, a genius musician considered by many to be the world’s greatest living composer
of choral music. He is widely respected for his stirring opus,
“Lux Aeterna” (“Eternal Light”). Morten told me that one of
his dear friends, a conductor who often conducts …

By Alan Cohen When actress Meryl Streep was about to graduate from college, she planned to become a lawyer. She applied to law school and set up an appointment with an admissions officer. On the morning of her interview, she overslept and missed her appointment. At that point she decided …

  By Alan Cohen One of my favorite movies is The Truman Show¸ in which a man has unknowingly been born and raised on a massive TV set on which the entire world watches his life unfold. Eventually Truman begins to discover that the life he has been living is …

  By Alan Cohen An eccentric and likeable guy in my town has literally taken upon himself the admonition to bear the cross. Years ago John fashioned a small crucifix out of wood, and since then he walks regularly along the side of a highway carrying the cross. He used …

By Alan Cohen Meryl Streep is considered by many to be the world’s greatest living actress. To date she has garnered 322 Best or Supporting Actress nominations, and 164 wins, including three Academy Awards, and eight Golden Globes. Her first Oscar came in 1979 for her Best Supporting Actress role …

  By Alan Cohen Do you know anyone who is so firmly fixed on what he or she wants to talk about that you don’t stand a chance to talk about anything else with that person? I know a CEO who is interested only in sales statistics. If you want …

By Alan Cohen My coaching client Andrea has struggled with issues of lack and poor self–worth for a lot of her life. Although she is smart, spiritual and attractive, she has regularly feared that she would become impoverished and bereft. She told me, “Whenever I drive under a bridge, I …

  By Alan Cohen While I was in Japan I met an American woman, who had been living in that country for 20 years. I asked her how long it had taken her to learn the Japanese language. “A couple of years,” she answered. “But I still don’t understand everything. …

By Alan Cohen The world is not the same place it was just a few months ago. The pandemic and economic downturn have put humanity’s activities on pause and caused nearly everyone to make significant lifestyle changes. We are required to stay home, conduct business from our living rooms, homeschool, …

By Alan Cohen As I was walking into a local market, a homeless woman stopped me. I had seen her from afar, talking to herself, apparently mentally unbalanced. She asked if I would buy her some potato chips. “Sure,” I told her. “What kind would you like?” “Lay’s—spicy, please.” Tickled …