You and I both know that V-day is just a bunch of hot air. Overpackaged, environment-be-damned, chocolate-scented air. Not an actual antidote to despair. When I read in ADBUSTERS that we buy more stuff when stressed-out, tired, and made to feel alone, it made sense of all the algorithms. Of commercials cutting in exactly at the climax. Of the user-surly interfaces exposing intelligent eyeballs to unnescessary, extra steps for no
Power to you if you can resist the New Year’s Disillusion. My hat’s off. Kudos. Purely hypothetically, if, say, you had no New Year’s resolution, but a strong wish to have someone to kiss as the ball drops next year, you’ve probably wondered what’s between you-now and you-then. Just Time? Ads tell you you should work/buy your way there. Your local gym doesn’t tempt you, but for the sake of
You’re too authentic to “just be grateful.” If you tell yourself “you should just be grateful” too much, how will you ever learn what actually makes you feel grateful, happy, curious, or alive? It’s hard to remember the last time you were happy – truly, deeply happy inside – if, even then, you didn’t feel lovable, didn’t really believe happiness was okay for you to feel. Not feeling safe to
In the aftermath of a great idea, you can experience a sudden faltering in your train of thought. Not just a derailing or a distraction, but actual not-knowing. As if you just ran past a sudden cliff-edge, beyond which your train-of-thought’s “tracks” trail off into space… The train? It’ll just have to fly. This article is about the momentary panic that can accompany good shifts. Thanks to first-hand experience, I
You’ve probably imagined stepping off of an urban street, through the open doorway of a blue phone booth …into a time-and-space-traveling control room with a pulsating Presence all its own. But have you ever imagined BEING that resourceful, mysterious, pulsating Presence, yourself? What if YOU are actually bigger on the inside? What if you are a gateway to unseen dimensions, to alternate endings, to places and times only you can
This is the last post in a series on how frustrating it can be for cheerleader types wanting to ‘help’ a smart guy who doesn’t actually want help/feel helpable/believe that respectful, fun help is available. Even if you’re convinced that I’m a good (non-help-y word that better describes my services anyways) conversation partner for him, I understand how risky it can feel to recommend he talk to me. So just
If you have a smart guy in your life who won’t disclose much about feelings, or thinks he has that under control, thank you very much, it’s possible you’re too worried for his taste. But it’s equally possible you’re a total mind-reader, you know him better than he knows himself, and you are doing your darndest to teach him feelings vocabulary, or manners… to no avail. I get it! I
X and Y are interchangeable in the following sentence, and could be substituted with get invited to parties, make friends, network my way into a job, feel confident in an interview/annual review, meet the One, get laid, be confident on a date, etc. “I can’t do X because I don’t have Y, and I don’t have Y because first I need X!” It’s never a straightforward statement like that, because
Before you tell someone to “go talk to Bree” please know: I strongly prefer they have been receiving this eZine for a while, first. So don’t refer them to my conversation services. First, just forward a post! If it’s one for you (like this one) maybe add a few lines about what you learned and how you’ll lay off or do something differently. I’m sure he’d appreciate you being disclosing,