Stress testing is a thing, and we all do it sometimes. After all, how do you know what’s too much until things become too much? And generally, this process doesn’t do any lasting harm, or at least any major harm. So, we take on too much, find out that it is too much, and then […]
Changes of perspective are useful and important. They allow you to see very large things play out in a small and controlled way, which can create the distance needed to engage with those very large things with a clearer head and heart. Yet there’s a risk, too, that the representation of the thing may feel […]
It’s tempting to use all the words, all the time. To perfect the thought, hone the idea to its ideal form. To create a razor’s edge of cleverness, of clarity, of expertise. And you won’t, most of the time. Either you’ll have too many other things to do, or you’ll lack the combination of wit […]
There’s no such thing as a level playing field, or at least not one that comes without a great deal of effort. Someone has always had a steeper hill to climb, someone has always started a little bit (or a not-so-little bit) ahead. But the thing is, you can create a space where the ground […]
Even when I am in my fullness, shadows linger. No light is perfect, no fact all-encompassing. Even when I have disappeared into shade myself, there is still light to be found. And despite what it seems, no light is mine in any case. I simply reflect the Sun, in ever-changing degrees, and so night itself […]
In a little less than three weeks, I will leave my job at the bank for a couple of days so I can head to Kansas City to present at an event called “The Seduction of Spring: Persephone Ascends.” I will stop teaching clients about an updated corporate credit card management system (and stop teaching […]
The other day, I posted something to Facebook along the lines of, “Lately, I don’t give a damn about any virtue other than generosity.” I wouldn’t say that that’s literally true, but it’s pretty darn close. Certainly, calling someone generous is one of the highest forms of praise in my book, and it’s a characteristic that I […]
I start my new job in two days. At-freaking-last. It is by no means a perfect situation, but it really feels like it should be a good fit in a lot of ways. The short, mass-transit-only commute is a huge advantage to me, as are the generous hourly rate and (from the outside, at least) […]
I realized rather to my surprise today that it’s just 4 weeks until the Spring Equinox. In a winter that has felt very much like it’s just getting started for…well, pretty much the entire season, this seems almost impossible. Much like the weather, I’ve soft of felt like I’m just getting ready to start something […]
One of my favorite things is to find a piece of wisdom in the last place I would have expected. There’s a sense of delight there that just feels good to me. A great example comes from the movie Men in Black, when Tommy Lee Jones’ character shares this: “A person is smart. People are […]