I’ve had so many conversations with people that follow this general path: “I was laying on the couch and reading but couldn’t help but think about all the other things I had to do and how I was wasting time.” We can’t “be productive” all the time. In muscle strength building, the time spent strength … Read more
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Who defines “broke”? So much of what has been going on socio-politically here for decades (centuries?) really boils down to this question, I think. People yearning for “the good old days” were, as far as they were concerned, part of a system that was working just fine. Ain’t … Read more
In my elementary band classes, I’ve spent a fair amount of energy this year on a few non-musical topics: grit (a focus of my whole team), self-awareness, and emotional safety. Grit is a topic for another day. Self-awareness is necessary for any of this to be useful. You can’t change a thought or behavior that … Read more
There seem to be three ways of looking at the plight of other people in relation to one’s self. 1: I don’t want anyone to suffer like I did. This person wants to mentor/coach people through it, or try to fix the problem entirely to decrease the number of people who go through the same … Read more
For my first marriage, we were married in a church by a priest—one of the most thoughtful people I’ve ever met. In our meeting with him, he asked us, “What do you want guests to get out of your wedding ceremony?” What? This was a question I had never thought of, had never heard anyone … Read more
When The Tall Daddy and I split up, I moved out in January and was in a really bad position financially until August, after I had gotten one or two paychecks. The following is something I wrote at the time. I have edited it slightly, just to take out or clarify references to things that … Read more
Treat others the way you want to be treated. We get stuck in the details. “Well, I like pedicures, but if the person I gift one to doesn’t like pedicures, then they’re not happy even though I treated them how I would like to be treated!” That’s not what it means. We want to be … Read more
There’s not a bite or a sound clip or a quote for me to pull from this podcast—there was just too much—so I’m just going to recommend listening to the whole thing. Dax Shepard (Armchair Expert) talks with Johann Hari about his research and books exploring addiction. Much of the information was not new to … Read more
In January, I wrote about a chart I’d made to track behaviors of health and self-care. I had thought—or, more accurately, hoped—that seeing holes in the list would spur me to do some of the things that simply haven’t been getting done, even if the increase was to once a week, or once every other … Read more
I wrote this three years ago: Last weekend, my high school band teacher passed away. Since then, a group formed where tons of people who knew him (mostly former students) have posted memories. A [high school] band reunion is in the planning stages. I can’t help but think how much impact it would have had … Read more