It is often difficult to describe the state of my world without getting too personal or too specific, because I don’t think either of us want that. So instead, I’ll say that I’ve been challenged, awestruck, humbled, surprised, pleased, grateful and so many other emotions this week. It’s a wonder we’re built to feel so much, especially all at once!

As a result, I’ve also had to be gentler to myself, because processing emotions is hard work but without perhaps the same gratification that comes from an afternoon weeding the garden.

I find great satisfaction in crossing things off a to-do list, a visual and tactile way for me to track progress. But, as always, most of the growing happens without notice; it’s only once something sprouts above the soil that we see the result of many days or weeks of effort.

Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, I hope you can admire how far you’ve come and give yourself some extra time to feel those feelings. It’s hard work, to be sure, but it is such a privilege to gain knowledge, understanding and compassion. As Stephen Colbert once eloquently said when talking about grief and loss, “If you’re grateful for your life, which I think is a positive thing to do…then you have to be grateful for all of it.”

Until next time, stay safe, be well and be kind!

The Robot Takeover

Much has been written about Amazon and their enormous warehouses over the years. One thing I haven’t seen before: the retail giant is planning to cut its workforce, thanks to automation and robots.

The company has more than 1 million robots in its fulfillment centers. Soon, the company will have more robots than humans, a far cry from the massive hiring sprees we’ve seen over the last several years. Amazon’s robot takeover is the topic of the latest episode of “The Journal” podcast for The Wall Street Journal.

Technology reporter Sebastian Herrera notes that in many towns in America, Amazon is one of, if not the largest, employers because it takes a lot of people to make same-day, or even two-day, delivery possible. The human equation is changing as a result of some strategic investments, such as its acquisition of the robotics manufacturer Kiva Systems in 2012.

“The Journal” host Jessica Mendoza says that the rise in technology comes at a pivotal time for the labor force, which has been vocal about safety and quotas, among other working conditions.  

“As Amazon's human workers called for better labor conditions, its droids, which didn't have overtime demands or health insurance needs, kept humming,” Mendoza says. “Robots don't hurt in the same way that humans do. But also, robots don't go on strike, they don't go on lunch breaks, they don't need to go to the bathroom. Robots can't sue the company.”

Herrera notes that Amazon is a bellwether for the U.S. labor market and that if the second-largest private employer in America is adding technology, changing its hiring practices or making “any sort of move inside its facilities, people are watching, companies are watching, and it could transform the way that companies and people think about the labor force writ large.”

Listen to the episode and see a full transcript here.

The Comeback

I don’t follow tennis, or most sports, really. That said, I was heartened, and maybe a little misty-eyed, after listening to Becky Sullivan’s reporting on Wimbledon for NPR's “All Things Considered” last Friday. Sullivan tracked the rise, fall and come of American tennis player Amanda Anisimova.

Anisimova has been called a prodigy after her impressive run at the 2019 French Open, when she was just 17 years old. She suddenly lost her father, too. The following years were full of tournaments, stress, stomachaches, homesickness, pressure and never as much success.  

Spurred on by other athletes who were talking about their mental health challenges, Anisimova decided to take a break from tennis in May 2023. She didn’t touch a tennis racket for months. She bravely prioritized her mental health and well-being.

Anisimova had another impressive run at Wimbledon. She lost the women’s final, but her emotional post-match remarks were an articulation of grace and self-compassion. She congratulated her opponent, thanked all the event organizers, her team and specifically her mother, who she said has always worked harder than she has. Anisimova closed by saying:

“I know I didn’t have enough today, but I’m going to keep putting in the work. I always believe in myself so I hope to be back here again one day.”

Writing for The Athletic, Rustin Dodd says the vulnerable interview was a display of what professor Amy Edmondson describes as intelligent failure, the kind of failure that leads to discovery, knowledge and growth.

The River House

The human brain is hardwired for stories, so it’s perhaps not surprising that amid all the reporting of devastation following the Texas Hill Country flooding, it’s the story of one family’s account that I keep reflecting on.

Aaron Parsley and his family were at their river house on the Guadalupe River for July 4. He describes what they were doing Thursday night, before everything changed: having pizza for dinner and playing games with his niece and nephew. Then he details hour-by-hour, sometimes minute-by-minute, how their beloved one-story cabin got swept up in the flooding.

Parsley writes: “In the kitchen, I had feared the unknown, what might happen if we were swept away. Now I experienced a moment when acceptance somehow repressed the fear of dying, of losing the people I love the most, of whatever else this catastrophe had in store,” he writes.

The piece is powerful, and gut-wrenching. It is some of the most beautiful prose I have read lately, yet I wish for Parsley’s sake, and for hundreds of others, that it never had to be written.

I encourage you to read the full account here.