(written a few months ago) My five-year-old son had a meltdown today because I suggested he had to play outside before getting on the tablet. So I made a decision that we were going to take the week off of technology. The tablet is set up for educational purposes. The kid wanted to do math.… Continue reading Technology
A collection of thoughts
I think it's dangerous to make simple issues complicated or to make complicated issues simple. We like to do a lot of both, but we should try to remember the complexity as it really is. *** You don't discover who you are as much as choose who you are. I think it's dangerous to think… Continue reading A collection of thoughts
Stages of life
Baby. Incredibly fast learning and growing. Toddler and preschool. Discovery that there is a physical world. Elementary. Discovery of self in that world. Middle school. Loss of self as the world gets bigger and more metaphysical. High school. Rebuilding self in expanding circle. Young adult. Connecting with the world as it really is. Adult. Parent.… Continue reading Stages of life
Doing things and getting things done
I like to make lists. But then I have a problem: I am so caught up in getting the list done and checking it off that I don't spend any time actually enjoying what I'm doing. This creates a lot of stress in my life because I am rarely present and mindful. Instead, I just… Continue reading Doing things and getting things done
Recent life hacks
Rituals are really helpful in order to express love. We love our children and our spouse and our family, but often we just think expressions of love will happen naturally and spontaneously. They don't. We have to plan it a bit. Love means that we always kiss each other good night. Or that we tuck… Continue reading Recent life hacks
Put yourself out there
When I started learning more about economics, I ended up adding some economic blogs into my feed reader. One of them was The Enlightened Economics, by Diane Coyle. She mainly does book reviews, and a lot of her posts were very interesting to me. But I am new to the subject, and I wanted recommendations… Continue reading Put yourself out there
Gratitude, Fear, and Perspective
Having less often means that you are more grateful. Isn't that silly? I just heard Brene Brown talk about how when we are really happy and things are going really well, we usually are expecting something horrible to happen. We don't let ourselves feel joy. We don't let ourselves be truly grateful for the absolutely… Continue reading Gratitude, Fear, and Perspective
A look back
(This was written around January 2018, two month before I moved away from Wyoming.) When I first came to Wyoming, I was unimpressed. It was dull and windy. I came on a particularly lousy day, as I found out later. It felt isolated and confusing because it was different than anything I was used to.… Continue reading A look back
The Lie of Happily Ever After
Marriage isn't about true love. It's not about finding the perfect person. It's about finding someone who has potential and a person we can grow with and improve. It's okay to marry someone with different strengths and weaknesses, even if some other people might feel that they are marrying up or down. Sometimes we just… Continue reading The Lie of Happily Ever After
Praise
I have never been praised for my singing voice, except for some mild positive comments. I view this as an entirely good thing. You see, when we get praised for something, particularly when we are young, we may start to build up our self-imagine around that thing. It becomes part of who we are. But… Continue reading Praise