Month: May 2016

I was radically honest, and she ignored me

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rejection-ignore-no-ss-1920

(35 seconds to read)

“Those jeans fit you almost perfectly,” I told her.

She looked at me and said nothing, but turned back around to wait in line for the cashier. I stood behind her awkwardly, then asked brightly, “How are you doing?”

“Fine,” she murmured without turning around.

Well, ok then, I thought to myself, I can’t do anything else. So I stood in line behind her and waited for the cashier.

It can be embarrassing putting your heart out there. But it’s not about how you’re going to be perceived or accepted or respected. It’s about being true and doing good. And those two things together are never wrong. It’s about her, too, and her feelings.  And him as well, because everyone deserves to be complimented if you think they are deserving of one.

It’s a cascade that starts with your initiation and then moves to their feelings: Just be genuine and go from there, because whatever happens is ok if you’re putting positive vibes out there.

The Stove Top Manifesto

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stovetop

(50 seconds to read)

The expansive field of symmetrically twisted metal, clean, exposed and ever-waiting. Their apertures are silent, the lines that feed them static without flow. It’s an industrial beauty. It’s engineering that provides for humanity. But what does it provide?

It’s high time we faced this gross waste of space and the resources that go into building it….The four burner stove tops.

WHY DO WE HAVE ALL THESE BURNERS?
How many people use their stove even a couple times a week?… and that’s to warm up stuff in the oven.
I cook, almost every day, more than most people, I imagine. And even I don’t use all my burners. I use two at the most, and that’s on rare occasion.
We are losing valuable counter space by giving it to this stove top of industrial art.
And we’re wasting resources making the burners, and making stoves with ovens the size of airplane hangers. What do we do with these mammoth atriums of heat?  Bake Thanksgiving or Christmas meals a few times a year?
Let’s face the fact: We have a stove problem. It’s part of the technology surplus. It’s just a pretty thing to have. Just in case.
Like that third row in the SUV.

The way is not in the sky, the way is in the heart.

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Heart imposter

(35 seconds to read)

Whenever I start building stories in my head, anticipating, blaming, imagination unrestrained, or whenever I run from challenge, I check myself with the questions:

Why are you here?

What do you want out of all this?

These questions immediately redirect me from my wandering. They bring me back to my heart.

The heart is as powerful as the mind and all the mind’s worries and fears. The heart keeps me happy even when everything around me is anxious, dissatisfied, and sad. The heart gives me energy no matter what negativity is being broadcast upon me.

The heart is where gratitude comes from. And gratitude fuels action like nothing else, because although fear can motivate, it is exhausting. But the heart is where you can be satisfied.

The way is in your heart.