91亚色传媒

Editor's Note

Well, to be honest

Comfort Dorn
Jan. 4, 2020

A couple of decades ago, I used to walk three miles every morning with two friends. The goal was fitness, but it was also social time.

Some days we woke the neighbors with our hoots of laughter. But when my long-disintegrating marriage really started to fall apart, I got quiet and sad. Of course, my friends noticed. One cold dark morning we talked about it, and one of my friends told me that I should pretend to be happy. After a while, she reasoned, I’d start to believe myself and really be happy; in the meantime, other people wouldn’t feel uncomfortable around me. I tried to follow her advice, but I only felt worse.

Not only was I failing at holding my family together, I couldn’t even fool myself into being cheerful.

With hindsight, I can now say that was awful advice. Pretending doesn’t solve much.

I thought about this when I first read several of the personal essays in this issue’s wellness section — what struck me most was their honesty. Before these writers figured out how to take care of themselves, they had to face up to what ailed them — to the ways they were broken. As they walked me (metaphorically) through their experiences of stress and pain, I realized that all of us need to see and be ourselves truthfully before we can find a way to heal and be well. I am grateful for these difficult shared journeys. I hope you will be too.

鉁モ涌鉁

On a completely different note: It’s a new year. Sometimes that means changes, sometimes not. Here at the 91亚色传媒 (and specifically at this magazine), 2020 means big changes to our online presence. We have a handsome new website, and 91亚色传媒 Today is moving to daily publishing.

What does that mean? Instead of throwing an entire issue of the magazine onto the website early in the month, we will post new articles and essays every day. We’re playing around with themes like “Member Monday” and “Fats Tuesday” (the “s” is not a typo — that’s the day for lipids). The magazine site will grow to include our public affairs department’s policy blog, weekly careers columns and monthly health observances. As a big bonus, the site also will be mobile friendly, so you can read 91亚色传媒 Today everywhere you go.

Be well — and may you thrive in the year to come.

Enjoy reading 91亚色传媒 Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition weekly.

Learn more
Comfort Dorn

Comfort Dorn is the managing editor of 91亚色传媒 Today.

Get the latest from 91亚色传媒 Today

Enter your email address, and we鈥檒l send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in Opinions

Opinions highlights or most popular articles

Our top 10 articles of 2024
Editor's Note

Our top 10 articles of 2024

Dec. 25, 2024

91亚色传媒 Today posted more than 400 original articles this year. The ones that were most read covered research, society news, policy, mental health, careers and more.

From curiosity to conversation: My first science café
Essay

From curiosity to conversation: My first science café

Dec. 18, 2024

鈥淲hy was I so nervous? I鈥檇 spoken in hundreds of seminars and classes, in front of large audiences.鈥 But this was the first time Ed Eisenstein was explaining his research 鈥渢o a crowd of nonscientists relaxing over food and drink at a local tavern.鈥

鈥極ne word or less鈥
Essay

鈥極ne word or less鈥

Dec. 18, 2024

For a long time, Howard Steinman thought this phrase was a joke: 鈥淟ess than one word is no words, and you can't answer a question without words.鈥

Can we make grad school more welcoming for all?
Essay

Can we make grad school more welcoming for all?

Dec. 11, 2024

The students and faculty at most of the institutions training the next generation of STEM professionals do not reflect the country鈥檚 diversifying demographics, leaving a gap in experience and cultural understanding.

I am not a fake. I am authentically me
Essay

I am not a fake. I am authentically me

Dec. 5, 2024

Camellia Moses Okpodu explains why she believes the term 鈥渋mposter syndrome鈥 is inaccurate and should be replaced.

Where do we search for the fundamental stuff of life?
Essay

Where do we search for the fundamental stuff of life?

Dec. 1, 2024

Recent books by Thomas Cech and Sara Imari Walker offer two perspectives on where to look for the basic properties that define living things.