The Taliban recently seized Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, after President Biden announced the withdrawal of U.S forces. This withdrawal signaled the end of a twenty-year war President Bush initiated shortly after the 9/11 attacks. People are gravely concerned about the way this seizure will negatively affect Afghan citizens. They are especially concerned about women… Continue reading Afghanistan: Who is To Blame?
This post explores the question, "Should you get vaccinated?" And there are different ways I could approach this question. For example, I could pummel you with facts for and against getting the vaccine. Or I could try to use all sorts of compelling arguments to force you to believe a certain way. And perhaps that… Continue reading Should You Get Vaccinated?
Sometimes we feel stuck in our life and like we cannot change. This experience especially causes a great deal of suffering when the following are true: We feel like we are trapped in self-destructive patterns of behavior. Or we feel like we undermine ourselves and we don’t know why. We are not living the life… Continue reading Can People Change?
Back in December, I started walking 10,000 steps a day, and I'm still walking. (You can read more about how I started walking here.) I’m still walking 10,000 steps a day (and more some days), and it has really changed the way I look at exercise. While I have been a fairly active person all… Continue reading I’m Still Walking
Recently, it seems that everywhere I turn in the news, someone is talking about wokeness or woke people. Sometimes the term is used positively, i.e. “I got woke”, to describe a type of awareness someone gains in his or her life about issues pertaining to justice, fairness, and equality. Specifically, becoming woke often refers to… Continue reading About Wokeness: Should You Get Woke?
Internal and external validation are two kinds of approval we seek in our lives. They are both important, and to some degree we need both. Nevertheless, many people struggle to trust their own sense of internal validation. Because of this, they get stuck seeking external forms of validation their entire life. This can cause a… Continue reading Internal Vs. External Validation
I tricked myself with picture filters the other day and caused myself a lot of anxiety in the process. The story is partly funny and partly embarrassing. And it also reminded me of some important lessons pertaining to social media. So here is how I tricked myself. Several months ago, I was taking selfies to… Continue reading How I Accidentally Tricked Myself with Picture Filters
Dear Friend: I wanted to write you today to remind you of something wonderful. First, let me say that I know there are hard, unfair, and scary things in the world. But I also want to remind you that there is someting stronger than all that. Right now there are people full of love looking… Continue reading Love, Wisdom, and Creativity Seeking YOU
Lately I have been thinking a lot about playfulness and performance, which are two different modes of living. Playfulness and Performance When we are playful, we become joyfully caught up in the moment, focused on what we are doing for its own sake, [1] rather than focusing merely (or primarily) on what we gain from the… Continue reading Playfulness and Performance: Two Modes of Living
I have recently learned an important lesson about gratitude, and it has given me a great deal of joy. But before I tell you about that lesson, I should be honest about something. In the last few years, I have felt a bit skeptical about gratitude. It seems like recently, everywhere I turn, I have… Continue reading What I Have Learned about Gratitude Recently
