Bliss Point
There’s a concept in the food world, “bliss point,” that refers to the perfect balance of salt, sugar, and fat to make a food optimal (usually in the sense that people can’t stop eating it). The idea here isn’t to…
Fits and Starts
I’m about a third of the way through writing a new book, and I’m trying to figure out how to get my protagonists from where they are now to where I need them to be (for the plot to move…
Blurry
I’m near-sighted and I have astigmatism. So I wear contact lenses to help me see things far away, and my eyeballs have “rotational asymmetry,” which in this context means they’re kind of pointy in the front, like a football. There’s…
We Are Responsible
Many forces influence what we think and how we behave. These factors can be pernicious and potent, but we’re responsible for our actions. We might be turned in a particular direction and told to walk, but we decide whether to…
Acceptance
I know several people who are currently struggling to accept aspects of reality that don’t align with 1. who they believed they would be, 2. how they believed they would feel, or 3. what they believed the world would look…
Cognitive Overload
When there’s a lot happening all at once, it’s not uncommon to experience cognitive overload: a nonstop feeling of overwhelm, memory problems, difficulties with focus, and an inability to healthily (and thoughtfully) deal with any volume of complexity. “A lot”…
Another Year
Another year around the sun, another 365 days tallied, another torrent of experiences weathered and another boatload of lessons learned. Last December, my life was different from how it is today. I’ve had loved ones experience all sorts of traumas.…
Prodding and Reaffirming
I’ve been toying with the idea of continuously wearing some kind of “smart” gadget that tracks basic things like heart rate and steps taken, and which allows me to stay connected to the world without having to pull my phone…
Clearing the Way
It’s amazing how often a sense of stuckness or listlessness or internal confusion can be remedied (at least in part) by cleaning, reorganizing, and getting rid of stuff. Sometimes this stuff will be intangible: heaps of digitized media, open tabs…
Internal Logic
I read a lot of fiction, and one of the biggest determinants of whether a book grips me or not is the degree to which there’s an internal logic to the world they’re writing about and the characters who populate…