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
My daughter twisted her ankle walking up our steps. She’s 13 which means the agony of it shone on her face but no tears were allowed to come out.
I know her well. I could see the tears start to come and then I watched as she swallowed them up and reverted to other things … Read more...
All the light in the world and it’s never enough.
The sun, as generous as it is, must also cast shadows as long as there are things to illuminate.
Here’s the problem: sometimes we feel the coolness of the shadows more often than the heat of the sun. Not by choice, of co… Read more...
No one wants to be in this place but we all sort of end up here – in the hole. All of the books, all of the rituals, all of the practice, they can’t protect us absolutely.
This rule of gravity, this inevitability of falling back down no matter how high you’ve bee… Read more...
I think we like having enemies.
It’s an unfortunate trait that’s carried over from the primitive days of survival, a tribal necessity: we band together to win.
Bonding is a biproduct of two people pushing against a third. It’s the cheap way to reach love, the pave… Read more...
I had some time so I decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants and get dinner and a drink while reading my book.
Approaching the restaurant, I could tell something was off. The door was open but the place was empty and the owner was yelling.
Walking through the door, I saw he… Read more...
Compassion is hard.
It’s not always right there on the surface. Often, we have to dig through layers of resentment, anger, indifference, rage, even humor to bring it into view. We have to forage past first instincts and first impressions.
Compassion is not always met with gra… Read more...
[NOTE to my beloved die-hard daily readers: I’m going to switch to a weekly post delivered every Monday, so I can work on some longer pieces that I will surely let you know about. Thanks for welcoming me into your in-box this past year and sharing your support and epiphanie… Read more...
I’m so absent-minded this morning, I put on my reading glasses and then started looking for them on my desk.
Hard news does that. It takes you out of life and puts you in a stupor, in a murky haze with no walls and no exit.
I’ve been lucky. Not much hardship for me but,… Read more...
Six people, including me, in a matter of minutes, disintegrate into selfish pettiness…
The woman in the “15 Items or Less” checkout lane with well over 20 items piles her tower of cans onto the tiny conveyor belt, careful not to look back at us.
The checkout clerk… Read more...
I was searching for a dining room table on Craig’s List and came across a beauty that fit all of our criteria. AND it was new. AND it was priced at 75% of the retail price, which was still a hefty chunk of change.
When I inquired, the seller came back with an enthusiastic em… Read more...