The last few days, I’ve been talking to my (elementary school band) classes about some social mindset things. In context, I told them that something I’ve been working on for the last couple of years is to express admiration out loud. So, for example, if I see a woman at the grocery store in a … Read more
My school district does something at the beginning of each year for staff, to try to give us a common inspirational thing that in theory would carry through the year but rarely lives for more than a week or two. This year, we were each to engrave a word on a “my intention” bracelet. It … Read more
I am a classically-trained musician. I hate the custom of not clapping between movements of classical works (regardless of the ensemble performing them) and I think we should go back to the old way (which, from what I understand, was changed by Mahler). But people, when you’re in the audience at a formal performance, be … Read more
There’s a strongly held cultural belief that people who engage in creative work are poor, deserve to be poor, and, in many cases, need to be poor in order to continue to do creative work. This is all bullshit. Well, except that many are poor. We scoff at degrees in the arts. We tell people … Read more
I was the recipient of a random act of kindness yesterday. Even though it was “useless,” it made my day. Here’s what happened. There was A Thing I saw at Costco and debated buying for a friend. Debated a bit, decided with The Climbing Daddy that yes, we should get it. Went back, and it … Read more
TED has started a new podcast series called TED Interviews, where Chris Anderson interviews people who have give TED talks about their talks, and they get more in depth. I haven’t quite listened to all of them, but all that I’ve listened to have been captivating. (As of this writing, there are only six of … Read more
This holiday is such a big part of American culture … I think that gathering with people who are important to you is important, and we’ve created such a culture of busy-ness that we need a holiday to make us stop and do it. I think preparing a large, formal meal is something lost (see: … Read more
People change over time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, probably most often a combination. Ideally, we’d have more “for the better.” This is the thing: if you don’t own your past, it owns you. If you did something shitty and/or stupid 20 years ago and it resurfaces (reason irrelevant), there are a … Read more
It’s not about you.
…do better I’ve had so many conversations in so many realms in recent weeks that play into this notion. In a training, we were talking about why people are resistant to change. This was my contribution to the conversation. My parents are loud-and-proud racist. (I’ll refrain from listing examples.) In order for them to change, … Read more