All my life, I’ve been surrounded by people trying to look cool. It was probably the worst when I was a teenager, as we all struggled to look cool, be popular, avoid shame, have dates, succeed etc. For many people, the struggle to look cool didn’t go away when they became adults – even for…
Nitwit Shirt
On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I saw something I never saw before – entire families were walking around outside in matching pajamas. It wasn’t just the little kids. The parents, the teens and the tots were all dressed head-to-toe in matching PJ sets. Mystified, I googled it later and learned this has been a…
Things I Don’t See
My Good Looking Neighbor was talking to me a few days ago and said she’d been eating paleo for so long that she doesn’t even see fast food restaurants that she drives past everyday. Except on occasion, when she sees a long line of cars at the drive-thru and thinks, “Don’t they realize that this…
The Best Christmas I’ve Had In a Long Time
So my date didn’t go as planned. Instead of romance, we had an intense, thought-provoking conversation. Even though I felt relaxed and comfortable during our 4 hours together, I still needed a few days to recover. That’s the introvert part of me. I always need time to recover and process after concentrated social activity. I’ve…
Deleted
I spent many hours writing two posts this week. The first told the story of how I stopped fearing criminals and mentally ill people. The second post drew a parallel between the concept of emotional capital in management and building up my own emotional capital to deal with certain people in my life. At least,…
A Piece Of Me
Since I began oil painting in 2019, I’ve completed well over 120 different paintings. I have them hanging on the walls throughout my home. Every few weeks, I’ll move them around so that I’m looking at different paintings as I workout, get dressed, brush my teeth, write my blog, open the front door, eat dinner…
Music And Silence
This week I stopped listening to nearly all of my podcasts. For the past three years, I’ve relied on podcasts to provide me with entertainment, thought provoking ideas, information and education. I would listen during workouts, when driving, when walking the dog in the evening, while doing chores and to pass the time. They filled…
Frisbee And Christmas
On a sunny fall day a few months ago, I was walking with Wiggles when I saw three siblings playing frisbee. The oldest boy was teaching his younger sister how to throw the frisbee to her brother. It reminded me of how much I love playing frisbee. When I was a little kid, I never…
Greetings Of Joy
After my “not-a-date” date last week, I drove home around 9PM. As I was driving, the thoughts swirled around in my head. How did this go? Did I enjoy it? Did she? Is it over before even beginning? Did we make a connection? Could we be friends? Do I want that? What does she want?…
An Epidemic Of Anxiety
I keep hearing reports about an “epidemic of anxiety” that is sweeping across America. This conveniently mirrors the “epidemic of drug overdoses”, “epidemic of violence”, “epidemic of partisanship” and other headlines from the past two years. In a podcast I was listening to, an author was discussing how social media (especially Instagram) has exacerbated this…