Are you getting everything you can out of this life?
An insightful, feel-good blog about work, life, and the elusive balance between the two, by career counselor, award-winning resume writer, and existential adventurer, Cliff Flamer
Years ago, in my twenties, back when I hid my tears, I found myself lodged between the screams of my mother and my girlfriend. We’d driven up from San Francisco to my grandpa’s house where now only my mom lived.
We chose an Italian restaurant. At dinner, my girlfriend … Read more...
I meditated so deeply today that my body disappeared.
And I floated up out of my chair, up out of my office, leaving that small square of darkness behind. As I floated up I could see all the rooms, my daughters sleeping, my wife shifting in our bed, the dog by the window, the empt… Read more...
I watched an hour of the election certification hearing last night and came to this conclusion:
Politicians should not be on TV.
Maybe then, they’d stick to making a case, instead of presenting non-facts with practiced flamboyance and one-liners.
But, oh, they are very clear o… Read more...
I woke up yesterday, was wide awake. I had ideas that needed to get out, creative energy asking for daylight.
But my arm was under my wife. I gave a slow pull but she didn’t respond. She was out.
So I laid there.
For an hour.
I thought about things, worked some stuff out. She s… Read more...
I’ve always had trouble saying I love you.
It was a thing with girlfriends: me not being able to say it.
I don’t think I’m alone in this.
We can write it down well, we send shiny red hearts over the Internet, we drop it into the end of a p… Read more...
It was Christmas morning and a thought was forming
inside my little-boy brain,
as I lay in a heap of wrapping so deep
my heart felt a little pain.
“Mama, I’m sorry” my voice was quite jarring.
“With presents I’ve come up short.
“You gave me a ton and … Read more...
I’m done with stories of oppression — Twelve Years of a Slave, The Piano, The Handmaid’s Tale…
I need no more evidence of our ugliness. I know it’s there. It’s so there.
And I don’t need what comes after that either: vengeful violence of a … Read more...
When we challenge someone’s core beliefs — their religion, their politics (which are often one and the same) — we threaten their worldview.
Our comments cut the line to their anchor.
And, somehow, we expect them to thank us for this.
No one wants to drift into the … Read more...
I often wonder how I got with my wife.
We’re super compatible in so many ways.
And yet, I must admit, I originally noticed her at that barbecue
because she was hot.
Well, maybe there was more to it.
She wore blue jeans not a skirt.
Boots not heels.
She was working the room (or th… Read more...
Humans are strange. Our way of dealing with stress is to summon more of it.
When we’re caught in a tough situation or we get a cold or our luck is different than usual, we tend to say something like:
“This kind of stuff doesn’t happen to me…”
“I&#… Read more...