Pain is so much more complicated than most of us realize. First, pain is so much more than just pain. There are countless terms, learnings, treatments, ideas, and practices to manage it with new ones seeming to be birthed nearly daily. A major distinction in classification is whether the pain is considered acute or chronic. […]
Pain is so complicated Read More »
Blog, How Stuff Works, It will be okay, Science, Tool Box
We seek familiarity, not happiness. Just sit with that for a while. Our brains, our bodies, our entire being is solely concerned with surviving this moment, then the next moment, and the moment after that. We fundamentally don’t understand how we work, or how our brains work. Our brains aren’t really for thinking—thinking about what
We seek familiarity, not happiness Read More »
Blog, How Stuff Works, It will be okay, Science
I learned recently that emotions are simply a fleeting cascade of chemical processes in the body that last for about a minute and a half. Ninety seconds to ripple ebb and flow through us. Yet, I can promise you that I seem to get stuck on a feeling quite often for what seems like an
Emotions only last for ninety seconds Read More »
Blog, How Stuff Works, It will be okay, Tool Box
Words are powerful. The human brain is powerful. Unconscious, semi-conscious, and conscious—all of these states house hidden omnipotence. We have learned that it is much more productive to phrase things in the affirmative rather than the negative, especially for self-work. It is better to strive to increase connection and calm than to try to minimize
What does perfect really mean? Read More »
Blog, How Stuff Works, It will be okay, Tool Box
Today, I’m writing about something that’s been bouncing around in my head for years: how to begin leveraging this multi-year project of blog posts to be even more useful for me and for others. Of course, contained in that is my assumption that it’s useful. I need to work out the technical challenges, but I
Relearning again and again Read More »
Blog, How Stuff Works, It will be okay, Tool Box
Over two hours to clean less than 150 ft2 of a wooden deck. But, boy did I learn a lot! I can always learn a lot if I just pay attention, if I am simply present and curious. It really doesn’t matter what the activity is and it really doesn’t even matter what the lessons
What I learned cleaning the deck Read More »
Blog, How Stuff Works, It will be okay
Control is an illusion. Actually, everything is an illusion, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’ve struggled with emotional regulation essentially for as long as I can remember. Somedays (like today) when I am really challenged I start down one of many unhealthy spirals. Sometimes I catch myself and sometimes not. Sometimes friends and
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Blog, How Stuff Works, It will be okay, Tool Box
Is everyone simple like me? I know that it can be a dangerous trap to fall into thinking that everyone is like us. The average of one million and a negative million is zero, just as is the average of one and minus one or a single ten and ten negative ones. Is everyone else
Is everyone simple like me? Read More »
Blog, How Stuff Works, Inspiring
If you look at most any problem in the world, poverty, war, genocide, environmental destruction, all the biggies, and the smaller ones playground fights, cheating on tests, the FBS bowl selection committee process (!), they all begin with fear. Fear of not getting our fair share, fear of not having enough to go around, fear
Fear is the root of all evil Read More »
Blog, Dark Clouds, How Stuff Works, It will be okay
Lately I am just feeling like a number, a statistic. Feeling like all decisions are being made for me to maximize someone else’s shareholder return (and executive bonuses). My fantastically complicated and sophisticated computer is just fine, it is just that the little screws and hinges and other dumb things are falling apart (when they
Do my shoes really need planned obsolescence? Read More »
Blog, How Stuff Works, Inspiring, It will be okay