I grew up in a house without Religion. My parents never went to church and my only experiences with church or religion was attending weddings and funerals. As I grew older I sought a spiritual connection, maybe because I didn’t have religion in my life – I don’t know. I…
KEW Preview Episode 24: Religion
This week I share my history and thoughts about Religion. I intended to make my way to Buddhism, but ran out of time so will save that for a future episode. In short, I grew up without religion and have been allowed to make my own decisions. This week I…
Flashback to KEW Episode 2: Individuals and Communities
Our unique identities are important – we are all unique and add to the worlds’ diversity. But we also must participate in various communities. We follow norms and laws so that we can peacefully and safely interact with the people around us. But how far should we go in either…
KEW Episode 23: Who’s Right?
Would you rather be right, or be happy? It’s a good question. It also subtly implies that if you’re right, you aren’t necessarily happy. I know when I push to ‘win’ an argument, or to ‘be right’, I usually feel a little guilty. Certainly not victorious or celebratory. Being right…
KEW Preview Episode 23: Who’s Right?
My therapist posed the question to me once, “Would you rather be right, or happy?” and I have thought about it ever since. At the end of the day, I’d rather be happy. Our desire to be right, to win arguments, or impose our beliefs and values on to others…
Flashback to Episode 4: Quiet vs Distraction
In KEW Episode 4 I discuss how hard it is for us to be quiet despite how important mindfulness and meditation are in our lives. We are so easily distracted. For example, I can hardly control my smartphone use and constantly use it as a distraction from being bored. At…
KEW Episode 22: Time
Time is our most valuable resource and is inherently limited by our lifespan. If we’re lucky, we get maybe 70 or 80 years worth of time. And the tragedy is . . . for most of that span we think time is infinite. Personally, I didn’t appreciate time until I…
KEW Preview Episode 22: Time
You know how there are things you KNOW to be true, but are SO HARD to actually do that you feel SHAME about NOT doing them? Like dieting, exercise, meditation. . . . TIME is one of those things for me because of the truism: “If something is a priority,…
Flashback to Episode 3: Gaming the System
How can we achieve a more equitable society if some people play by the rules and others ‘bend’ the rules to suit them? Loopholes and shortcuts have become the American Way of high achievement, but is it fair? Should we all exploit these shortcuts to get ahead? Or should the…
KEW Episode 21: We All Feel Different (But We’re All the Same)
I hear a lot, from my therapist, other researchers, and articles, that many of us complain that we feel ‘different’ or ‘other’ in the context of our immediate communities of friends and families. Here I argue that, doesn’t feeling different unite us somehow? Also, that being different is the secret…