My most creatively generative hour+ (lately) of the week is the time I’m in church. My pew-mates can attest to this. Every few minutes (or more frequently) I might pick up a pen and scribble something into the vanishing margins of my […]
It’s a powerful thing to name your enemies. By naming them, you can keep always in front of you what you’re up against. So I figure I ought to take a page from Arya Stark’s playbook and start keeping tabs on […]
There is a phenomenon I’ve noticed over the nearly 5 years since I decided not to go to college. I’ll call it the college opt-out look. It happens like this: PERSON: Are you in school? / Where did you go to […]
“He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly. . .” There’s a great tradition in the […]
I hate being micromanaged. And yet I have a tendency (at least sometimes) to micromanage others. I hate it when people interrupt me. And yet I have a tendency to interrupt. I hate disorder in others. And yet I can […]
Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a world in which humans had faith in other humans? Wouldn’t it be nice if people had faith that good wins out over evil, that virtue leads to happiness, and that freedom creates the […]
People-pleasing is a poor life strategy for many reasons – ones covered elsewhere by many people wiser than me. But let’s just do a quick rehearsal: It projects weakness and invites domineering. It projects unoriginality/uncreativity and invites management. And it puts a […]
There’s this myth in our culture that youth is a blank check to be irresponsible. “Have fun and cut loose a little,” older folks tell us, not without a little envy. But being young is not the opposite of being responsible. And […]
I’m of the belief that any laugh quieter than a donkey’s or a drunken medieval tavern-keeper’s is not worth the breath. I like laughing loudly, not at “polite” volumes. While uproarious mirth may not help me with sophistication, it has many powers for good. […]
I’ve been taking a bit of a break from going out. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s expensive. Atlanta has some wonderful nightlife, though – and I miss the excitement of going out to the theatre, or heading out to a […]
Acting in the face of fear will never be easy. But that doesn’t mean you can’t help yourself out. In case those 10 Ways To Instantly Grow Your Self-Confidence weren’t enough, here are seven more tools for become more audacious in the moment […]
How should you use up the time of a 35-45 minute morning commute? This time spent on the road adds up. So it pays (I hope) to use it well. I’ve recently settled on a mix of things to listen […]
I must have sounded like a doofus. “Does this quantity material handling selector mean I need to select one for however many boxes I have?” “Do I have to put multiple shipping labels on each item?” And so on and so forth. […]
It’s my Mom’s birthday, so today I reflect on a few of the things I love about her personality. Enthusiasm My Mom knows how to have fun. Whenever we’d go to theme parks, she’d always be the fastest walker. She’s […]
“Someday I’m finally gonna let go ‘Cause I know there’s a better way I wanna know what’s over that rainbow I’m gonna get out of here someday” – Steve Earle, “Someday” Most of us think of “leaving home” as a rite […]
Solopreneur, noun. A person who sets up and runs a business on their own. … ‘With the exception of solopreneurs, small businesses are run by more than just the boss.’ – Oxford English Dictionary This morning I visited a windshield specialist (let’s […]
Think you’re too busy to learn? That problem has already been solved. If you don’t know about the glories of audiobooks and podcasts by now, you’ve missed out on years of learning you could have done while walking the dog […]
One day on Atlanta’s Beltline walking path I encountered a young chap typing away on a typewriter, offering free poems (or else very cheap ones) to passersby. On other days, I’ve seen folks selling popsicles and even coconuts. All of […]
Circle up chairs. Or sit on the floor. Pop popcorn. Pass around a bowl (of popcorn). These are things that make an ordinary night with friends into a convivial night with friends. That’s how we did things last night when […]
There are many people who feel the future of transportation is public transportation. I shudder at the thought. Sure, I’d like to reduce negative human impacts on the environment, too. But I’m also not a big fan of drab, boring, […]
Once upon a time, to see Everest, you had to climb it. Now you can easily save a picture of Mt. Everest onto your computer desktop, decorate your house with pictures and maps of Everest, or watch a Go-Pro video […]
I have a burning hatred for the idea of the “guilty pleasure.” Oh, I understand the concept. You take pleasure from something for which you also feel guilty for enjoying – from watching YouTube cat videos to eating chocolate ice cream. But […]
For millennia, philosophers and religious leaders (hereafter referred to as “wise guys”) – one after another – have reminded people like you to go after the things that last. Muscles? Bodily health? Beauty? Sex? Wealth? Ask many Christians, Stoics, Buddhists, or other practicing wise […]
“Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. . . Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.” […]
I decided a while back to make some form of daily exercise* a regular part of my life. The secret to consistency? I can literally roll out of bed and be in the gym. I’ve made a few fitness acquisitions over […]
If your family had a history of cancer or heart disease, wouldn’t you want to know? So if behavior and personality is in large part genetic*, wouldn’t you want to know the patterns of personality that dominate your family’s history? Most of […]
If you look closely, you’ll find that even in (especially in) your kind acts to others, you are probably doing an important kindness to yourself. When I think back to the (occasional) times I’ve helped a stranger jump-start a dead car battery, or the time […]
I’ve been visiting my hometown and staying on my family’s farm for these past few days, so I’ve had lots of time to think about family. We’re all getting older now, but the time spent making some visits and flipping through photo […]
I have the great blessing of having a father who has shared the things he loves with me. When I was a boy, we went fishing, hunting, and boating more times than I can remember. From a very early age I […]
Some words just have a magical quality. “To sell your soul is the easiest thing in the world. That’s what everybody does every hour of his life. If I asked you to keep your soul – would you understand why […]