I started watching a new show while Justin was off in Dallas for the weekend, one of the earliest trips he made there, interviewing for a new position. It was a show that had popped up in his Netflix queue as “recommended.” Mostly, I think, because I sometimes watch shows under his user profile instead of remembering to flip it over to mine. » Read more
When Things Get Dark, How Do You Respond?
The past few weeks have been absolutely hectic, and there’s no end in sight.
Essentially, I’ve been tasked with packing, cleaning, and prepping a house for sale with only about a month to work with.
And it’s a house I’ve lived in for nearly a decade.
I’m not used to staying in one place for very long. » Read more
No Matter What Intense Feeling You’re Currently Having, Eventually You’ll Return to Your Norm
The good news is that no matter what difficult thing you’re going through, odds are that eventually things will swing back the other way for you emotionally. And even though it can take a lot longer than we want sometimes, it’s basically inevitable that you won’t feel quite that bad forever.
The bad news is that no matter what thrilling or fun things you’re currently experiencing, » Read more
A Resilient Relationship Is Strong Like Gold Instead of Strong Like Steel
A while back, a friend sent me a video in which a person attempts to feed a gold bar into an industrial shredder. After several tries, the gold bar is pretty ragged along one edge, yet more or less intact. It has survived the shredder.
Well, I’ll be.
It becomes extra wild when you consider one fact: This grade of industrial shredder can literally chew up a truck. » Read more
You Can’t Communicate Well Enough for Two (or More) People
When I was a little kid, I spent a lot of time alone. The most talkative person in a family of otherwise introverted people, I lived in a house in the woods that was 15 minutes by car from my elementary school in good weather. An hour or more in the snow and unmaintained roads of Maine winters. » Read more
Dating Resilience: In Defense of Getting Right Back Out There After a Breakup
When You Screw Up at the Piano Recital, You Don’t Take a Break from the Keys
“It’s funny if you think about it, that whole ‘you just got out of a relationship, you need to be single for a while’ thing,” Ro says.
We’re at our usual place. I’ve got a glass of red wine. » Read more
Ducks Don’t Roll Out of Bed Like That: Being Tough Isn’t Always Effortless
I’ve always envied people who are impervious to criticism, thick-skinned. Tough people. Insults seem to roll off them like water off a duck’s back, as the cliche goes.
The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized that having thick skin isn’t always as effortless as it seems. Sure, some people are more naturally inclined that way. » Read more
PQ 8.11 — Am I afraid that anyone my partner has sex with will try to persuade her to leave me?
PQ 8.11 — Am I afraid that anyone my partner has sex with will try to persuade her to leave me?
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“Tell no one this, but if I’d met you when I was dating her, I would have dumped her and gotten with you instead. You’re the kind of woman I wish I’d married,” he said. » Read more
Aunt Georgie’s Mittens: Keeping Warm in the Cold Unknown
“It is good people who make good places.”
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The first few weeks of December always make me think of my great aunt Georgie.
I have no real memories of Grammy, her sister. Everything I do know about Grammy comes from scraps Grampy would tell me. » Read more
How to Know If You’re a Scapegoat
We all mess up from time to time. We’re human. And it can be especially hard getting called out when we make a mistake, doubly so when it’s by someone we care about. But if we do hurt someone we’re close to, it’s good for them to tell us so we can do better.
Except sometimes the criticism isn’t valid. » Read more