descriptions of people

In Greek, charisma translates as a “gift.” Rather than keep that gift to exploit for themselves, some charismatic people disperse it. They hand it out at social events, such as the holiday parties at this time of year, and use it to guide the energy of a shared occasion. I call these people vibe popes. Consider it a nondenominational title for thos... See more

she had the same bald enthusiasm for life

As defined by Photoplay, It was a “sort of invisible aura that surrounds your being and bathes you in its effulgence” — and anyone with It is “always utterly un-self-conscious and perfectly indifferent and unaware of anyone’s interest in her. The moment self-consciousness enters into the affair, ‘It’ departs.”

“It's almost like she expanded time and created a space where we could all contemplate and feel and think together in her music.”

At 97, Monti is animated and unstoppable. She runs Santa Maddalena as her personal passion project, accepting no applications and choosing writers according to her instincts, in consultation with her network of friends, publishers and other authors. Her taste, developed over a lifetime of nurturing and being nurtured by literature and art, is consi... See more

instinctual adventurer

Do you know someone who sees the world in a way that reveals new hues to you? Whose sense of self-awareness leads them to move with arresting originality, and invites you to do the same just by nature of being in their aura? It’s that quality I’m increasingly drawn to during these times when it’s all too tempting to see life in dark shades and dull... See more

brilliantly funny, always authentic, and full of essential and glorious and relatable humanity