Iris Ruth Pastor

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Want a few surprises? Ask your buddies to recommend a great book.

November 15, 2019December 2, 2019 Iris Ruth Pastor

What’s your reading routine? I tend to be an episodic reader. I either don’t read at all or whiz from the title page to the last page with as few distractions as possible in between – losing or missing nuances and subtleties along the way. One of my “besties” approaches reading in an entirely different Continue reading

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I had a bad day…

November 8, 2019November 12, 2019 Iris Ruth Pastor

Recently I “hit the wall.” Not physically. But emotionally and mentally. I was exhausted from traveling, speaking, and incessant blogging. Unmotivated due to constantly being “ON,” total veg-out time was sorely needed. I plopped down on my comfy couch in my loft and for the entire afternoon read Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand – Continue reading

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Snickers or Reece’s Cup? Or maybe Baby Ruth?

November 1, 2019November 12, 2019 Iris Ruth Pastor

Last night: Halloween. Doorbells chiming. Ghosts and goblins hanging out on front porches. Lots of candy ready for dropping into orange plastic bags. I cheerfully instructed each visiting clown, ballerina, scary critter and princess to pick two pieces of candy. Most popular choices: Reese’s Cups and Snickers. No matter what candy they chose, one thing Continue reading

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The Expected and the Unexpected

October 25, 2019November 12, 2019 Iris Ruth Pastor

Ten days ago I gave a keynote speech in Indianapolis in front of a large group of women who had no idea who I was. The organizer of the all-day event booked me on the basis of a hunch after reading one of my blogs. I spoke. As I hoped – and expected – the audience engaged with me Continue reading

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You know what I simply love?

October 18, 2019November 12, 2019 Iris Ruth Pastor

You know what I simply love? Collecting odd bits of wisdom and meeting creative people who do things either better or more passionately than the rest of us. Add connecting. Always connecting. And what better place to exercise the love of meeting exceptionally talented and focused people than in the New York City area? Recently Continue reading

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Upbeat in Spite of It All

October 11, 2019November 12, 2019 Iris Ruth Pastor

I’m Jewish so I’ve just spent the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur mired in existential exploration reckoning with my faults and foibles and misdeeds. It’s always quite enlightening to actually make a written record of character flaws to work on during the coming Jewish new year. Much more effective than just fleetingly berating Continue reading

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Unearth Your Hidden Powers!

October 4, 2019November 12, 2019 Iris Ruth Pastor

Today I want to talk about what it takes to live life at full throttle – to be empowered to live your life differently if there is something holding you back from living the life you crave. I’m a story teller. But there was one story I never told: my forty-six year-long saga of battling Continue reading

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Where’s Julie Andrews when you need her?

September 27, 2019November 12, 2019 Iris Ruth Pastor

I was looking through my “Joke Folder” in my computer. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like years ago, when e mail was more of a novelty than an everyday nuisance, people utilized this tech tool to send jokes. Nowadays I receive tons of E-mails bearing “enticing” subject lines: The Moment You’ve Been Waiting Continue reading

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Sophie’s Choice

September 20, 2019November 12, 2019 Iris Ruth Pastor

In 2004, years before the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, I wrote a column on the subject of Affluenza. Affluenza is simply defined as the sickness of having too much – of acquiring possessions as an end in itself without the ability and time to enjoy, experience and appreciate each and every one. Affluenza causes an Continue reading

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Funking it Up!

September 13, 2019November 12, 2019 Iris Ruth Pastor

Many, many years ago I wrote a column on moving into a new house. Here’s a portion: When Did This House Become Home? Did it happen the day before we moved in, when I carefully hung the boys’ dress shirts in their new closets?  Or the first night we all slept here – camped out Continue reading

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Incidentally, Iris

For the past ten years, Iris’s “Incidentally Iris” column has appeared in The American Israelite, a weekly newspaper for Cincinnati’s Jewish community and the American Jewish community. Founded as The Israelite on July 15,1854, by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, the paper today is the oldest English-Jewish weekly in America and the second oldest in the world. (The London Jewish Chronicle was founded in 1841.) Read Incidentally, Iris columns on The American Israelite