Good morning, it’s Monday.
We are living in the era of “me”.
Experts encourage us to prioritize “me” time and “self care”, to set boundaries preventing others from encroaching too much on our lives, focus on our mental health, and indulge in the idiosyncrasies that distinguish us from everyone else.
Don’t think the same or dress the same or like the same things as others? Great! Lean into it and be uniquely you!
Self-appointed “influencers” film every waking moment, dutifully cataloguing every calorie consumed and burned, outfit planned and donned, party attended, attraction visited, trip taken, film watched…You get the idea. I hazard to guess that never before have we as a society been so thoroughly caught up in the culture of ego.
According to the so-called “father” of psychoanalysis (AKA “talk therapy”), Sigmund Freud, the “ego” is the part of the personality that represents the conscious sense of self, acting as a mediator between basic instincts (id) and moral standards (superego).
A quick disclaimer: I am NOT a Freud fan. The man who coined the term “penis envy” arguably set women back years by linking legitimate mental health complaints to “hysteria.” But it’s pretty impossible to talk about the ego – derived from the Latin word for “I” – without also speaking of Freud, who popularized the use of the term to describe the conscious mind.
Too much ego, or egotism, is an inflated, unhealthy, obsession with the self. Egotists are not only difficult to be around, as they feel superior to others, but they’re also constantly seeking validation and recognition to puff themselves up. They lack empathy and can find it difficult to forge connections with others.
EgoTISM should not be confused with egoISM, which is defined as a philosophical or motivational focus on self-interest and personal welfare.
Buddhists believe that ego (AKA the self that forms attachments) is the root of all suffering. I have done a fair amount of reading about Buddhism, and I’m not sure I fully subscribe to all its teachings. But I do agree that we could probably all use a little less “I” focus these days.
Today is World Ego Awareness Day (WEAD), which was established in 2018 by a psychologist and author named Dr. Jyotika Chhibber to “promote self-reflection, mindfulness, and awareness of how the ego impacts relationships and society.” According to the interwebs, there is an Ego Awareness Movement that aims to educate people on the dangers and unchecked ego can create.
Do with this what you will…I’m just putting it out into the universe because I find it interesting, and perhaps useful to take a moment to reflect on how being a little more altruistic might make my corner of the world a little brighter.
A not-terrible day is on tap, weather-wise. Skies will be partly cloudy and temperatures will top out in the low 60s. Still jacket weather, but no umbrella necessary for a change.
In the headlines…
Hours after Iranian state media Tehran had formally responded to the latest U.S. proposal to end the war, President Trump called it “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!”, casting doubt on whether the stalemate between the two countries would be broken anytime soon.
Trump warned Iran against “playing games” after it refused to discuss its nuclear program in its peace deal offer. “Iran has been playing games with the United States, and the rest of the World, for 47 years (DELAY, DELAY, DELAY!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Chris Wright, the energy secretary, said yesterday that the Trump administration would be open to pausing the federal gas tax to give Americans some relief at the pump.
“All measures that can be taken to lower the price of at the pump and lower the prices for Americans, this administration is in support of,” Wright said on “Meet the Press” in response to a question about temporarily suspending the federal gas tax.
The cruise ship at the center of a deadly outbreak of hantavirus anchored yesterday off Spain’s Canary Islands after spending more than a month at sea, officials said.
The total number of confirmed and probable cases of hantavirus onboard the ship is eight, including two people confirmed to have died from the virus and one person who remains suspected to have died from the virus.
Spanish medical officials and military personal in full hazmat suits and FFP2 face masks helped passengers from the ship onto smaller boats, before leading them to shore.
The 17 Americans stranded aboard the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship evacuated the vessel and will soon be on their way to to the US for quarantine.
Seventeen American passengers from a cruise ship that faced a hantavirus outbreak in the Atlantic Ocean landed in Nebraska early this morning. They will be monitored at a quarantine center.
British Army medics parachuted onto the remote Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha to treat a UK national with a suspected hantavirus case – the first time the UK military has parachuted-in medical personnel to provide humanitarian support.
President Trump on Saturday shared an AI-generated composite image of sunken Iranian warships, as the administration awaits a response from Iranian officials over a proposed peace plan.
The composite image shared on Truth Social shows “159 Iranian ships.” The first image shows several ships waving Iranian flags as “Obama/Biden,” an apparent reference to the Obama and Biden administrations, can be read above it.
Trump and China’s leader, Xi Jinping, are scheduled to meet in Beijing this week for a high-stakes summit that could shape the next stage of rivalry between the world’s two major powers.
The Trump administration launched the website Moms.gov on Mother’s Day in an effort to help provide resources to expecting women and their families.
The site’s tagline says it’s “addressing the needs of mothers and fathers who face difficult or unexpected pregnancies and ensuring the well-being of mothers and the health of American families.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a rare boost last week to a bipartisan bill that key Republicans, including the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), have opposed over cost concerns.
Politico released a poll on Saturday showing that 72 percent of Americans say there’s too much money in politics, whereas 5 percent say they disagree.
Democrats are struggling to respond to a major redistricting setback in Virginia, with some leaders discussing an audacious and possibly far-fetched idea for trying to restore a congressional map voided by the court but showing little indication of a clear plan.
Virginia Democratic Rep. Jennifer McClellan said “all options” are on the table for Democrats in the Old Dominion State as they respond to a ruling from the state Supreme Court striking their redistricting measure.
A stand-off between Gov. Kathy Hochul and powerful labor unions over public pensions is a major sticking point holding up the already delayed state budget, as she pushes back against demands that would cost taxpayers an eye-popping $1.5 billion.
Hochul granted pardons to 19 individuals who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, her office announced on Friday.
Hochul told Jewish leaders that she will opt into a new federal tax initiative prompted by community advocates to help fund Jewish day schools and yeshivas.
Hochul confirmed that she intends to opt her state in to the program, which allows taxpayers to claim dollar-for-dollar tax credits in exchange for donations to organizations that award private school scholarships. The policy takes effect next year.
The announcement represents a major win for supporters of private school choice who have been lobbying Democratic governors to participate in the program. However, Hochul’s office said she intends to review the details before making the decision official.
Law firms retained by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office to represent the state retirement system in various litigation matters have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his political campaign funds over the years.
There are about 3,000 pending requests for agency records made under the state’s Freedom of Information Law, as the state Health Department manages what is believed to be one of the largest records backlogs across state government.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman had harsh words for Mayor Zohran Mamdani as he headlined a rally yesterday against antisemitism in Queens that was attended by about 150 people.
Mamdani on Friday ordered an investigation into why Bellevue Hospital discharged a man who, about five hours later, allegedly shoved a 76-year-old he apparently did not know down a Chelsea subway staircase, killing him.
“I am horrified by the killing of Ross Falzone and the circumstances that led to it,” Mamdani said in a news release on Friday, in which he ordered “an immediate investigation on what steps should have been taken to prevent this tragedy.”
The stunning victory last fall of Mamdani, a pro-labor democratic socialist, is seen as both a reflection of expanding union sentiment in the city, and a buttress to labor’s cause.
Mamdani was pictured watching soccer at a Brooklyn bar yesterday alongside iconic film director Spike Lee.
Filming for “A Quiet Place 3” on the streets of Chinatown ruined Mother’s Day for locals, who were jolted awake with predawn sounds of explosions and had to navigate traffic and parking chaos all day.
An NYPD captain who was transferred to a less desirable role after being caught on video bashing Mamdani as “an embarrassment” has become a veritable folk hero with an army of supporters backing him for speaking his mind about the radical socialist.
Manhattan congressional candidate Jack Schlossberg says he supports the effort to block arms sales to Israel and claims that the US has already lost the war in Iran.
With over a million tourists expected to flood the region for the World Cup tournament, Airbnb has rekindled its fight to gain a foothold in the city. And central to its multipronged strategy are Black church leaders and property owners.
Renowned artist and designer Maya Lin drew on her lifelong love of the environment for inspiration for new work in New York and Chicago.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who became the face of Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters, could be deported before the Supreme Court hears his case after an unusually speedy decision from a court within the DOJ.
New York City’s public schools system struggles to track which technology its schools use, report breaches on time and notify families when student data is compromised, the state comptroller’s office found in a recent report.
A large piece of debris fell from the ceiling of a tunnel on the busy Trans-Manhattan Expressway last Thursday morning, narrowly missing passing drivers in a harrowing caught-on-camera episode.
For decades, the Hotel Carter in Times Square was the site of squalor and crime. Now rundown and empty, its future is tied up in litigation but some hope for a rebirth.
The city has more than doubled the number of cooling tower inspectors on its payroll since last summer’s deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Harlem, according to new staffing levels announced by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Following reforms to reading instruction, NYC teachers and parents said they’re worried kids are now being forced to slog through mind-numbing exercises in workbooks, rather than nurturing the joy that comes from reading whole books.
The tragic death of a seasoned backcountry officer last June has prompted the state Department of Environmental Conservation to change its policies governing the work of assistant forest rangers.
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Edward A. Leon Sr., a Montgomery County man accused of setting a 2013 fire in Schenectady that killed a 32-year-old father and three young children.
Trump’s nominee to become chairman of the Federal Reserve System, Capital Region native Kevin Warsh, could be confirmed by the Senate within days.
Six years after becoming the first community in the Adirondack Park to use the herbicide ProcellaCOR against invasive milfoil, Minerva Lake is looking to do it all over again.
As school districts put out their proposed budgets for the May 19 vote, it’s clear the declining birthrate is having an impact. Enrollment is dropping in the Capital Region and school districts are beginning to cut staff.
Hoffman Homes, a mobile home park company that operates 16 sites in Saratoga, Fulton and Albany counties, is at the center of a federal lawsuit alleging several companies engaged in a business arrangement that boosted revenues at the expense of tenants.
No wind and no rain could stop crowds from flocking to Washington Park for the annual Albany Tulip Festival
Syaira Liverpool, 22, was chosen to receive the royal title of Albany Tulip Queen at the coronation ceremony at Washington Park’s Lakehouse Stage on Saturday, a key part of the city’s annual Tulip Festival.
A power outage identified early Friday morning led SUNY Schenectady to close for the day and cancel all classes, on-campus events and meetings.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
