Are you getting everything you can out of this life?
A self-less, feel-good blog about love, life, and work by career coach and existential adventurer, Cliff Flamer
It feels good. For them, and for you.
You become more connected to others. Mom, tell me how you met dad.
You live longer.
You can do things you didn’t think you could before.
You are capable of surprising yourself, which, regardless of timing or magnitude, is always a gift.
Lov… Read more...
The most difficult form of parenting to deal with as a child is when the caregiver is inconsistent in their behavior.
Psychologists say this leads to a ‘disorganized attachment style’ for the child. In other words, the child is unable to predict the behavior that’… Read more...
“You’re an artist.”
He said it as a compliment, albeit a bit surprised to see me in this way. Me, the guy writing his resume.
I was busy brainstorming job titles with him. I came up with some ideas he hadn’t thought of. But the real artistry is the fact that… Read more...
I woke into a groggy half-sleep with a pain in my chest.
Seduced by the warmth of the covers and the elusive intoxication of drowsiness, I convinced myself that the best thing to do was to stay put and do some deep breathing.
I breathed in and out, and in my sleep-stupor, I imagine… Read more...
“I appreciate you.”
I hear it all the time now, a new closing statement, presumably evolved from the more impersonal “I appreciate it,” or “Much appreciated.”
Hooray! We’ve replaced the “it” and the understood “you” … Read more...
My daughter caught me gazing lovingly at my dry-erase board, which was covered with multi-colored to-do lists.
“I can erase the stuff that’s crossed out, if you want,” she offered in a way children often do when they’re trying to be involved in that stuff d… Read more...
Is a writer who doesn’t write still a writer?
Is a musician who doesn’t play still a musician?
What about a filmmaker? If they’re not making films, are they still a filmmaker?
In other words, does being an artist run deeper than the deliverables?
Are artists walking… Read more...
Christmas Day.
I pulled away from all the excitement — Hazy building little robotic things, Evaline, trying on pants, Molly donning new chicken earrings — to find a quiet part of the house and call my mom, who, likely, was having a very different Christmas. A lonely on… Read more...
I normally go right onto the freeway after I drop off Hazy, but I decided to go left today, which is the direction I used to go to drop Evs off at high school; the same road I took to drop Ziggy off at the groomers.
Maybe it was because I was digging the radio guy’s Irish ac… Read more...
It’s not an appointment anyone wants to make.
1 pm: Put Ziggy to sleep.
We’d been delaying it for weeks.
It’s so easy to want one more day, one more week.
But Ziggy was falling apart. Approaching 15 in dog years. His back legs stopped working. He used to be able t… Read more...