It’s been a while since a podcast smacked me hard enough to write about it, but this one had at least half a dozen moments that caught my attention. I hadn’t listened to Armchair Expert in a while and was scrolling through missed episodes to see if any jumped out at me. There’s a 10-episode … Read more
“The treasure is more fun when it’s lost.” That was the opening line from Gabe Anderson’s email. “Found treasure becomes normal treasure and eventually we forget that it’s treasure at all.” It was thought-provoking. His context was work (he’s a musician), but it applies to everything that we have on a sort of pedestal in … Read more
Sometimes, while doing the most mundane things, an entire series of events—starting at the mundane thing and ending somewhere else—pops into my head. Like this one. As a kid, I never learned how to floss. Probably my dentist Dr. Silver taught me, along with some dollops of shame about my general oral hygiene habits. He … Read more
Valentine’s Day is coming up (if January ever ends)… A gift that provokes anxiety or guilt (or both!) is not a good gift. If your partner is reducing or eliminating junk food, buying chocolate, cookies, candies, etc. is not a thoughtful thing to do. Likewise, if you’re reducing or eliminating junk food, don’t ask for … Read more
When a sentence has two parts—the first part positive and the second part negative—the conjunction makes a big difference in how the complete sentence is received. “You played that song really well, but this note should be two beats.” “You played that song really well, and this note should be two beats.” “You played that … Read more
Apologies. We tend not to be good at them. We tend to force children to mutter them insincerely. We get in the habit of muttering them insincerely, if we mutter them at all. The first place I heard an excellent, clear explanation of what an apology should be was in Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture at … Read more
A while back, I read a few articles about complaining and how it rewires your brain. Not in a good way. Also a while back, I used to run 30-day challenges on Facebook. Two of those challenges have been “life-changing” as per feedback from people in the group. One was no added sugars (which we … Read more
As I mentioned a bit ago, I have been bingeing on Where Should We Begin? by Esther Perel. The first episode of the second season (“You Need Help to Help Her”), she’s talking with a couple who has a young adult daughter with problems. Most of the details of the episode aren’t relevant to this … Read more
In talking about podcasts, I’ve mentioned Armchair Expert a couple of times. A week or so ago, I listened to Dax’s interview with Esther Perel, a psychotherapist who specializes in relationships and sexuality. It was captivating. In it, they mentioned that she has a podcast, Where Should We Begin? She’s beginning her third season, so … Read more
Every year, memes get passed around that say something to the effect of, “For Mother’s Day, I want to sleep in and wake up to a clean house.” Lots of “ha ha ha” reactions. But you know what? Based on conversations I’ve had with women in the past couple of year, that would actually be … Read more