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In 1999, I took a job at UBS in a high profile position Global Tech Strategist.
It was a sensational sensational job and I was very lucky to have that opportunity. Without that job, I wouldn't know about 95% of the people reading this very note.
I think I was excited about the job because I knew it would force me to grow. As just one example: I would be on TV routinely.
Read MoreOne of the exercises that I conduct when I am going to a funeral is asking myself the following question:
If there was one person that you would want forgiveness from before you died, who would that be?
Bear in mind that since I age and go to more funerals; this question now happens a couple of times a year as opposed to when I was younger.
Read MoreI have two eight year old boys in my practicum setting at an elementary school here in Gainesville. Cameron and Brayden each have a learning disability. They both struggle at times to complete their classwork. Cameron and Brayden also push each other, steal each other's pencils, make hurtful comments, name-call... I could go on. Though they do not sit near one another in the classroom, I have never seen them share a single positive interaction.
Read MoreSometimes I still stop, and I think about all the problems and mistakes of 2018, trying to see them, to learn from them, and to give them their proper magnitude – the size correction is needed in my case because I’m Brazilian, and hyperboles (large, exaggerated statements) are a way of living!
Read MoreIn an exercise of intentionally placing myself in uncomfortable situations, I am completing a “Faith and Leadership” certificate at my school here in London. There are many different faith systems and personal histories represented in our group of 20 students, including people who don’t prescribe to any faith system at all. I envisioned a group of people who would be mutually vulnerable in their beliefs and doubts – in theory, I thought, this is what it should look like if people are opting into an initiative like this.
Read MoreOne of the topics I journal about often is “bridges” that are between us humans… bridges that can eliminate "us/them" in its infinite human varieties…I aim to see what helps me create bridges between me and others, as well as ways in which I might get in the way.
Read MoreI was just gonna write a few, but once I started I didn't want to stop! What a good exercise.
Anti-pet peeves:
· my dog when he starts wagging his tail and sprinting around the kitchen table when he gets excited in the morning
· squirrels when they manage to safely dodge traffic
Read MoreWhile I’m not a big believer in New Year’s resolutions, I like the idea of resolving, this year, to change the story we tell ourselves about ourselves.
One of the most relaxing parts of my winter break were the hours I spent curled up with The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss, the most-recommended fantasy fiction book by all of you.
At the end of the book, I found a pearl of wisdom spoken by a minor character named Bast:
Everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.
Read MoreEating, a basic biological need and desire we share with animals has been a site for meaning making in every religious and cultural system. Only human beings cook their food, set their tables, eat out, consciously restrict their desires, and frame their pre and post act of eating with stories and value judgments. While sometimes a cigar is just a cigar eating is never just about eating. The experience surrounding food/eating has been fraught with rituals, taboos, rules, customs, norms, symbolization, messages, and stories, -- the what, how, where, with whom, why, and when we eat.
Read MoreI watched a Ted Talk this week titled, "The Power of Vulnerability." The speaker, Brene Brown, emphasized the importance of “letting ourselves be deeply and vulnerably seen… to love with our whole hearts even though there’s no guarantee.”
She said, “To feel vulnerable means I’m alive. And I must stop controlling and predicting because it is not possible to selectively numb difficult feelings.”
Her words gave me chills and made me think about so many different circumstances in my existence. But they especially made me think about one particular really difficult part of my life.
Read MoreI've been wanting to write a CFC blog post for weeks now, but I have struggled to know what to write about. I try to write a good amount outside of CFC too - and outside of my school papers - but have had a bad bout of writer's block recently. It's not that I don't have thoughts, I just don't have...ideas.
Read More“Life is what happens when we are busy making plans…”
This morning (December 22) I sketched out what I want to accomplish before 1 pm today when my son Eamon and I will drive from Georgetown to Pleasantville to join in on the Christmas joy back home.
I apportioned all my 6 and a half hours of time for the morning quite carefully. There is so much I want to accomplish. So I penciled out a very specific plan… and…
…It all fit!!!
Read MorePip asked me some time ago, if I was also willing to share some of my thoughts or insights in this community. I said “sure” and then realized that I had never written a blog before…
When I was around 12 years old, I used to write hilarious reviews of the hockey matches of my team in the weekly club magazine. I had great fun in writing then, but nowadays I do not find it fun anymore to write things down…actually, I find it a big pain in the ass! It costs me all my will-power to sit down and trust my thoughts to paper… It takes me ages to write work emails in which I advocate on or ask for something!
Read MoreHi all, and Happy New Year! We are resending the anti pet peeve list in case you missed it from a week ago. I wish you all joy, positivity, and meaningful change for 2019!
Read MoreBe mindful of filling gaps
Of seemingly nothingness
With mindless distractions -
A phone or an app,
The TV or even endless cleaning,
Or some thing you do just to do it.
Read MoreThe problem with most advice is that it’s delivered as “here’s what I think you should do.”
Yet it typically reflects, “here’s what I did in a similar situation.”
That old situation and this new one are never the same: different time, different place, different people.
Read MoreFor the last six months, I have been meeting with an amazing life coach in-training via zoom every other week. During our last call, I communicated to her that, lately, I have been so stressed and overwhelmed that I have actively noticed myself getting more easily frustrated or upset over minor things that occur in my life on a daily basis. I told her that I had been feeling hypersensitive to trivial negative incidences… like when I got to Dunkin’ Donuts and realized I had forgotten my reusable plastic straw.. or when a driver didn't let me cross in the crosswalk.. and safe to say, I did not like this realization I was having.
Read MoreMy yoga practice today
Happened next to a half-made bed
A few clothes strewn nearby
My daughter entered the room a few minutes in
Plopped herself onto the bed
To read her book
About 10-12 years ago, my friend Om Malik said that “media” was the business of attracting attention.
I suspect there may be more human talent being applied to getting the attention of other humans than any other professional activity.
And these are real real real pros involved. These folks are GREAT at “storytelling”! (in quotes “storytelling”)
They are GREAT at reducing the complexity of an amazing world into an eye-catching, fully fully fully fully engaging “story”.
Read MoreI love Christmas music.
Most years, I am pretty disciplined when it comes to waiting to listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. I don't want to spoil the specialness of holiday songs and listen to them out of the context of the holiday season.
But this year feels different and I have shamelessly listened to "O Holy Night," "Joy to the World," and (of course) "All I Want For Christmas Is You" a lot recently.
Read More