I complained to my dad about something the other week, and he snapped at me: “to whom much is given, much is expected.” He was telling me, basically, to shove it. He reminded me, in so few words, that I can spend my life complaining that I haven’t been given more, or I can actually…
Years ago, I received some excellent advice. Like any can-do young person, I’d taken all the odd jobs that came my way. If I saw something at work that needed doing, I’d do it – no complaints. I worked long hours, I held down the fort. I made improvements, I took on extra tasks. I…
I get frustrated, a lot. And easily. Someone told me recently that maturity – real, true maturity – is a combination of three aspects. Truthfully, I think this is oversimplified, but for the purposes of this post, it will do. The aspects: 1. Ability to formulate and achieve goals (Delayed Satisfaction) 2. Impulse Control 3. Acceptance…
My husband and his mother were standing next to each other the other day, and something in their stances, their proportions: it hit me. “Oh, that’s where he gets that from.” I see this in my own family, in babies. That six-month-old has her father’s eyes, my sister has my mother’s mouth, another sister has…
Recently, I wrote about entitlement and self esteem. I didn’t write about the dark side of entitlement. Brock Turner. That’s the kind of entitlement where you use other people for your own kicks. Where you don’t even bother to consider the people around you, nor think of treating them with even basic respect. Except I…
How Barack Obama got through this without cracking a smile, I do not know. So cool! Ooh! Like ice. Could you have done it without cracking? Are you cool?
On a recent episode of The Mindy Project, Jody (one of the characters) tells Mindy that he doesn’t think of her as being Indian: “Honestly, I think of you as a white man, largely because of your entitlement.” I laughed, then gasped. Eureka!: “Oh God, I have that entitlement! That’s it!” You guys, this explains…
My husband watches the fights; I don’t. I went to join him once after he’d watched a set of UFC fights with friends, and caught the last one accidentally – I’d hoped to miss them all. It was awful. So bloody. Seeing these young men give each other brain injuries for our enjoyment? It reminds…
This is the post I wrote before an encounter at the Winners changeroom: The book I just finished (more on that tomorrow) has me thinking about science. I am not a scientist, but I see the appeal. I think of Neil deGrasse Tyson: “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not…
In the segment of Lemonade labelled: “Denial”, Beyonce recites part of Warsan Shire’s “For Women Who Are Difficult to Love”. We’ve just seen her jump off the side of a building, as though ending her life; she’s chanting while floating in water – almost as in utero: “I tried to change closed my mouth more…
