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
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 finally ran out of staples.
It took 25 years.
In my first job as a temp at the Writer’s Guild of America in Los Angeles, I went into the supply closet after hours and stole a crate of staples. Not a box, a whole crate.
The staples were for my manuscripts.
Writing was my thing… Read more...
We are quick to applaud those that rise to the top of their class, and, no doubt, they deserve our respect, for it takes hard work and discipline to perform at that level.
But there’s a danger.
When you attach your self-worth to comparative achievement, you’re destined … 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...
Being laid back can affect your vision.
I learned this in my doctor’s office.
I had been having trouble with my new progressives – the snazzy moswen name for bifocals. I was getting completely dizzy and it wasn’t wearing off. I had trouble seeing clearly.
She asked… 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...
Is it possible that the feuds between Red&Blue and Black&White and Black&Black and White&White and Rich&Poor and Rich&Richer and Tenant&Landlord and Boss&Employee and North&South and East&West and City&Country and This&That and That… Read more...
My friend found old news footage of a fire in our 7th-grade classroom. The teacher, one of my favorites, was trying to take chlorophyll out of a leaf. Alcohol got on the hot plate and, BOOM, big explosion.
In the newscast, after some panning shots of the charred classroom, the re… 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...
An ex-girlfriend once said to me that my voice makes her want to lie down.
(I guess that can be taken several ways.)
From what I can tell, she meant my voice relaxes her.
Total compliment.
But there are drawbacks to eliciting relaxation. I notice sometimes when I talk to people, they… Read more...