Recognizing that we want to be seen as our best selves My approach to diplomacy draws upon the concept of self-evaluation motives, the premise of…
Social Diplomacy, Part 2: Depersonalizing Problems
Talking about problems rather than people To be clear: when discussing political, group, or interpersonal problems, we are always talking about people. What helps is…
Social Diplomacy, Part 1: Conflict with Connection
A while back, I wrote a post about how much we need the art of civil discourse. Since then, I’ve heard more about the need…
Book Referral: Health at Every Size, Linda Bacon, PhD
Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight I was a fat kid for most of my childhood. When I look at old…
Some Thoughts on Civil Discourse
In my communities, and it seems in my country, I have watched increasing polarization and the lines of demarcation run sometimes very close to home.…
To Know My True Name: On Identity and Belonging
do you think just like that you can divide this you as yours me as mine to before we were us? if the rain has…
Observations for July
In the culture of the United States of America, we have internalized a belief that to work is a moral virtue, and those who do…
Be Excellent to Yourselves
In the past I’ve written that I am not a fan of positive thinking. (Though I am a fan of Zap Mama’s song “Vibrations” in…
There is No Right Type of Relationship
One topic that I see batted back and forth often, particularly in gay male communities, is around the value of monogamy in long-term relationships. I’ve…
A Practice with Love at the Center
What would life look like if efforts to grow and develop began from an attitude of love? For this conversation, I do not mean “love” as…