Writings originally featured on Exile Lifestyle
At some point amidst the hubbub of the next few weeks, muffled by the cacophony of marketing messages, social pressures, and self-imposed constrictions, limitations, pressures, and anxieties: reclaim a few minutes to stop, take a few long, slow, deep breaths,…
I keep a little file on my computer where I write notes to myself about things I’ll likely need to be reminded of at some point. I check these notes any time I’m feeling unmotivated, psychologically down, physically sluggish, or…
There are few more powerful phrases one can utter than “I don’t know.” Many societies disincentivize the admission of ignorance, equating it to stupidity or inability. And the more mastery we achieve, the more we’re pressured—overtly or covertly—to avoid appearing…
I remember the moment, many years ago, when I realized I didn’t have to be a badass. There’s a pervasive myth within the world of entrepreneurship—and within many adjacent sub-cultures—that in order to succeed, you have to be hard, have…
The word “empathy” is, in its modern incarnation, typically used when we feel bad for someone or to express a sort of sympathy. We use it to convey that we recognize and feel their pain or discomfort or sorrow. The…
What we do isn’t truly who we are, but it’s a suitable stand-in for many practical purposes. What we do is informed not just by our beliefs, biases, experiences, expectations, and other internal circuitry, it’s also informed by the structures…
Like so many things that have gone from artisanal to industrialized, self-care, as a concept, has become a bit diluted and at times misunderstood. A similar thing happened to cheese during WWII, when—in an attempt to fill the void left…
There are countless justifiable ways to respond to a less-than-ideal situation. We can get angry. We can get anxious. We can get sad or vengeful or solution-oriented. We can clam up or get loud. We can make a sharp, strident…
The term “partisan” can refer equally to someone who believes in a particular ideology or cause very strongly, or someone who arms themselves and hides out forests, caves, abandoned buildings, or other tactically significant locations to take pot shots at…
There’s a sinking feeling in my stomach, my thinking becomes cloudy, my mood slumps, my energy levels deplete. For some reason or no reason I’m sad, I’m forlorn, I’m unable to focus or lift my spirits. Everything seems to suck,…