I’ve always believed in celebrating the accidental mispronunciation of a word rather than mocking or deriding it. Such accidents are usually an indication of the mispronouncer having learned a new word in a book, and after determining its meaning, having…
Time has passed differently for me since I arrived in Kansas. That’s not a statement about Kansas, but rather about how the way we live warps how we perceive the passing of time. For seven years, I’ve organized my memories…
It’s hard to know what to think sometimes. Perhaps the news seems unreliable, and you’re not sure what sources to trust. Perhaps your own ideologies are beginning to fray at the edges, and you’re not certain which of your own…
In many different dimensions of my life right now, I feel that I’m stepping back from a painting I’ve long studied, having spent years trying to understand the composition, the colors, the brush strokes, and the movement, only to accidentally catch…
I’m writing a new nonfiction book, entitled Becoming Who We Need to Be, and though I don’t typically have any trouble spinning up into writing mode, I’ve found that being here in Wichita has altered that propensity a bit. It’s…
I’ve said before that going through the editing process for a book is like being beaten across the face with a hammer, only to realize afterward that you look better with a black eye and fewer teeth. I still feel…
I came across the term ideal speech situation the other day, while doing research for a podcast episode. The core concept of this idea is that we’re most capable of benefitting from conversation when there are implied, mutually beneficial rules…
Possessions can make us happier, but only if we own the right things.
The metrics we use to define success are just as vital as the steps we take to become successful.
I have a policy about being aware. This doesn’t mean being expert, or even having an above-average education about any particular thing. But I find it takes incredibly little effort to achieve a base-level understanding of something, and that such…