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
Ironically, it’s the absence of words on a page that makes people read the words.
It’s the white space between these lines that makes you want to read the next one.
Designers call this “visual rest.”
We could stand to do this more in conversation:
add
a
little
wh… Read more...
I founded my company on optimism. It’s who I am.
But even the BrightSide gets dark now and then.
And when it does, I try my best to welcome the darkness. It’s coming whether you want it to or not. There’s much to discover in the darkness.
But it’s not a place to spend a … Read more...
I often say inappropriate things. I can baffle and offend. I confuse people.
My mind skips around. I connect strange dots. It’s a blessing and curse.
To be odd and unexpected.
Still, I speak freely. Less analysis upfront means less stress in conversations and more brain power … Read more...
Don’t judge me!
Sorry. Can’t help it.
We’re designed to judge each other; it’s for our safety and survival.
Our brains make rapid-fire decisions about what we see based on past experience, learned and lived. We tell ourselves (in a split second), we’re … Read more...
Entitlement elbows Kindness right out of the room.
When someone is entitled (e.g. “This is mine for the taking”), they eliminate the possibility of being assisted.
People around them get the message and put their hands down. They may cheer for the entitled person, but t… Read more...
I was hard at work prepping for a school fundraiser at my house.
I had just finished calibrating the stereo and microphones. I still needed to set up the auxiliary A/V system (just in case), make blackberry rosemary syrup for the cocktails, trim back the ivy on the stoop, vacuum t… Read more...
I never was one to care much about cuss words.
I use them in front of my kids.
My main concern is that they impede upon their vocabulary development.
Especially the eff-bomb. That word is a bit too versatile. You can use it 4 times in a single sentence.
But these so-called cuss words… Read more...
I was being hard on myself for not finishing a course I’m building.
Then, today after meditating, I remembered myself in high school, in art class, and how long it took me to finish a drawing.
Mr. Cook would usually be the one to say it.
“Cliff, I think you’re just… Read more...
Years ago, I was in court testifying for a friend, and the defense attorney was doing his thing: trying like hell to discredit me. (Good luck with that, bruh.)
“So you’re saying you drank some beer and smoked a few bowls.”
He said this in a lazy faux-SoCal sort of… Read more...
Another shooting, this time at a university.
The killer is still at large. My daughter, 16, usually the pragmatic one, surprised me with her response to the news coverage.
“How sad your life must be to kill a buncha people.”
This made me think about something I learned i… Read more...