Two days before Christmas, my boyfriend, my brother, my mom, and I traveled two-and-a-half hours away to a cabin in the mountains. Prior to this trip, my boyfriend had only shared an occasional meal with us as a family. As much as I don’t want to admit this, I attached expectations to the trip and […]
A couple in our orbit was out to dinner, barely a week after they had officially started dating, though they already knew they were pretty serious. Dinner and drinks were followed by a long conversation and more drinks on an lovely outside beer garden on a beautiful summer night, during which he said “I love […]
Falling in love can be like skiing down an unfamiliar mountain- it happens quickly, things move really fast, and while you feel like you have some control, you don’t know what bumps you’ll hit or jumps you’ll have to make, or what really lies in wait for you at the bottom. That’s what is thrilling […]
Something that authors, philosophers, and other solipsists like to think about it how everyone is the protagonist of their own story. That isn’t a bad thing; it is a human default. Whatever lies behind the mystery of consciousness, we see the world through a first-person point of view. Not just in an ocular sense- everything […]
We live in a time of strange transitions, one of those sweeping and hazy times that history never really records properly. When we look back at history, eras are always defined by thick black lines, as if the Dark Ages ended and the Renaissance began on New Year’s Day. But living in one of those […]
Love songs are rarely about hard work or planning for tomorrow. The idea behind most of them is that you should always live in the moment- this moment of crystal, beautiful love. One of the great examples of that is the 60s anthem “Live for Today” by the Grass Roots. It’s a rousing tribute to […]
Recently, we talked about effective communication techniques with our partner during the holidays, including showing empathy and mutual respect. That article touched on honoring our individual selves, but I want to emphatically reiterate the invitation to slow down and take time for self during the holidays. Typically, we think of the holiday season as the time […]
Part of being in a relationship is seeing your partner all the time, even if you don’t live with one another. You get used to them being away, and when that routine breaks, it can create a feel of disconnect. Whether it is a week-long work trip or a year’s deployment, or even a day […]
In my last post, I talked about a relationship that began at my previous Ignite talk. It began with facing my fears, and taking a step. It began with courage, but as I soon learned, that wasn’t enough. Courage has to be augmented with more, and in the years between that talk and today, it […]
Image from Unsplash/Joshua Earle While preparing for my Ignite talk this week, which is about the last talk I gave 2 ½ years ago, I came upon this writing from two years ago that reflects on the original talk. It feels like a time capsule. My current talk is about the failure, and potential renewal […]