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
Squirming on the couch like a fish out of water, Hazel let out the refrain I knew was coming, the words all kids have howled out to their parents in a torturous tone:
“I’m sooooo BORED.”
Okay.
I, on the other hand, was not.
I’d just finished trimming the folia… Read more...
I ran into one of the girls I coach in soccer. We’ll call her Sachi. It was off season and we hadn’t had practice in months, so we were both sort of openly delighted to see each other.
She was with a friend.
Sachi introduced me as her soccer coach, which made me feel al… Read more...
As I take in the trash cans for the billionth time, a general malaise washes over me, and I wonder if it’s this moment in time we’re in.
Uncertainty, everyone says. What’s next? And the people in the control tower tell us, once again, to hold on while the ship go… Read more...
Southwest. Seat 22A.
That’s the one I pick. I wanted a window seat. I was feeling reflective and drowsy — it was late evening — and I was hoping for a window, so as to not be disturbed by bathroom requests and the rustling of snack bags at snack giveaway.
I pick a… Read more...
AI has made cheating almost irresistible for students: to be able to get a 10-page paper done in 30 seconds is certainly tempting. There are some subjects students just don’t care to learn; they just want to get that grade (B is fine), check the box, and move along. I had c… Read more...
Neighbors are great for impromptu chats, standing in the street with dogs, with trash bags, with full bottles of wine (I had a French neighbor once).
Dave noticed the pipes that had just shown up running along my fence, down the garden, and letting out onto the sidewalk.
“Ar … Read more...
Ours is a species driven toward accomplishment. We often hinge good-feeling on getting things done, we push relaxation to come after something else. The beer tastes better after mowing the lawn. (Makes me want to mow the lawn lol).
This is a good way to live: a productive way to l… Read more...
4th and 5th grade was my soccer heyday. We were good and mostly all friends. We’d won the state championships. And when we had each other over for playdates, all we wanted to do was play soccer.
Dave, one of my besties, invited me over and we almost immediately begged his da… Read more...
I made a pamphlet.
It’s a trifold brochure that sits on my monitor stand between the paintbrush my art teacher gave me and the ticket stub to a giant human maze me and my daughter conquered in Montana.
On the cover is a picture of Molly, carefree and on a boat.
Inside are list… Read more...
We were deep into it; I was talking with my hands, sitting there at our wobbly table on the sidewalk amongst the other wine drinkers at dusk.
Three young women, no more than 20, with hip, baggy clothing and patches of skin showing here and there, approached our table, one of them … Read more...