I've been clearing out my office files at a transition point in a long career. Some of the intractable issues we were so incredibly frothed up about ten years ago have become ...well, non-issues.

A psychological term for something that feels familiar to most of us, hypervigilance is technically what we experience when we're extremely wary of danger. All our senses are charged up, alert to detect a potential assault.

A group of us gathered yesterday in the office lounge. It felt important that we sit together to acknowledge the murders so prominently part of the news and the turmoil it stirred up in each of us. Our gathering was reminiscent of the Quaker-style Meetings I grew up with, complete with long stretches of silence, a certain solemnity, and an occasional sober speaking-up. We gathered because we were, among other things, outraged, sorrowful and perplexed about what else to do.