An article in a recent issue of Psychology Today noted that although we know the benefits of receiving a compliment, people are often reluctant to give one. The reason is people tend to underestimate the positive impact of the person we’re paying the compliment to. And people tend to overestimate that the person will be […]
advice, kind, kindness, sincerity
Sometimes we can become anxious when we feel like somebody is expecting a response from us about something, and we don’t have anything to say, at least not in that moment. I’m reminded of the great line from Meg Ryan in “Joe Versus the Volcano” at times like that, where she says, “I have no […]
no response, nothing to say, silence
In Gabriel Garcia Marquez book “Love In the Time of Cholera”, the main character is frustrated in trying to give a box of chocolates to a love interest. He tries for months every day, and frustrated at his failure, he hands them to a complete stranger and says, “this is for a love going all […]
advice, book, love, no love wasted, quote
One of the most common questions people ask someone they are meeting for the first time is,” What do you do for work?” I suppose they ask because it’s sort of a safe question, isn’t considered intrusive, or too personal. If you think about the closest relationships you have in life though, it’s likely you […]
advice, connections, getting to know someone, questions
Many people are familiar with the story from Greek mythology about Pandora’s box. The gods give Pandora, who’s the first human person, this box, and they tell her not to open it; curiosity gets the best of her, and she opens the box, and all these evil things come out into the world because of […]
box, hope, pandora, pandoras box
I read an article about a concept in the Netherlands that translates roughly as “walking in the wind” and how much they enjoy that and get benefits from walking in the wind. The physical and emotional benefits of both de-stressing, but also the energy that one gets from the wind, especially after exercising in the […]
be the wind, sails, wind, wind in our sails
Back when I was deciding where to go to college, I wasn’t entirely certain about my choice, which was a school in Washington, DC. My father came down to help me move in, and right before he left, I think sensing that I wasn’t fully happy with this choice, he said,” you know the train […]
advice, Decisions, happy, train
If you’re like many people right now, you are working from home all or some of the time. If you previously had a commute, the good news is you are no longer spending that time on the road. The bad news is a lot of people are discovering that that commute actually was beneficial. Not […]
commute, fake commute, Productivity, work from home
There was an article in the New York Times about making bagels. (You can read it here) One of the comments they made in the article was that because there are only five ingredients in a bagel, people commonly have this misconception that they’re relatively easy to make, but there are a lot of factors […]
article, bagels, making bagels, NYT
One of my favorite pieces of writing is the Sonia Sanchez haiku… “Let me wear the day Well so when it reaches you You will enjoy it.” It’s always been powerful to me and I think there are two reasons why. The first is the idea that we have control over the day. We can […]
advice, haiku, wear the day, writing piece