Psychology
Can We Make Meaningful Converstion The Norm?
How was vacation? How was the movie? How is the new place? How was dinner? How was the date? How’s work? How’d it go? We don’t give real answers to these questions. We give dismissals: “It was fine. It was great. Oh, we had a blast!” “It was interesting, different, very unique.” The question I (…)
Why is This Fun? And Other Important Life Questions You Should Ask Yourself Regularly
There’s a cowboy culture in Texas that consists of games where you prove your worth through machismo. They call this a “rodeo,” but really it is men competing with men for who is dumber. They prove dominance over animals and battle for “strength” with games like “how long can you stay on top of a (…)
Clear is Kind: Why You Should Endure The Discomfort of Being Direct
There is no such thing as a friendly reminder. “Friendly reminders” are passive-aggressive roundabout ways of avoiding direct communication and clarifying your position. There are fascinating reasons why we do this, which Dr. Harriett Lerner, Patron Saint Of All Things Anger, talks about in detail here. The gist is that many of us avoid conflict (…)
Decent Human Beings
Out of nowhere, I heard a crash. Two books came tumbling down from the bookshelf. I have no idea how. Nothing moved, no one touched them, there wasn’t an earthquake. I was on the other side of the room. Everyone knows that if books are gonna fall from the sky (err— my bookshelf) you must open (…)
Take Care of Your Self
Self-help is a notoriously garbage category, so I wanted to share some of the books I have on my “approved” list as we enter into gifting season. These books are rooted in strong data and credible expertise, without being so heavy and academic that they are unintelligible. If you are looking for information on psychology (…)
Shutting Down The Food Company I Never Started
The Ginger Route was going to be a clean food company. Then it was going to be a blog. No, sorry, a platform! Ginger Route had many iterations all of which live in perpetuity in a notebook somewhere in my office. I worked on that “business” for longer than I care to admit here in public. It’s (…)
The Privilege of Dreaming
About 90 years ago, my great-grandfather brought my great-grandmother from a small farm town to The Big City. And then he promptly left. Started a new family with another woman. And was never heard from again. My grandmother was eight-years-old. I don’t know if my great-grandmother had dreams beyond getting herself out of a terrible (…)
But What If It Works?
Few things are more effective at eradicating a bad mood than a good movie involving unrealistically beautiful people. So when I found myself in a bad mood a few months ago, I chose on a title with Chris Hemsworth and Cillian Murphy and proceeded to get cozy with what I thought would be 122 minutes (…)