The Blog
So many words, so little time.


2023 Un-Dead Your Life Calendar
The 2023 Un-Dead Your Life Calendar

Now that the seriousness of "The New Year" has settled (is it just me or does every new year come laden with pressure to radically change your currently crap life for the better?), we can get onto what really matters: National Fish Taco Day is just a couple of weeks away (1/25 to be exact)....

Goals vs. Dreams: Who Wins?
What to Do When Goal Setting Gives You Hives

Does New Year’s Day make you feel nauseous ... and not just because you were a tad bit overserved the night before? It’s the resolution time of year, which means the go-getting goalsters out there are buffing and polishing their 2023 SMART goals while chanting their rallying cry: We must identify and pursue lofty ambitions!...

Famous Philosophers on Death
Famous Philosophers on Death

Philosophy, as they say, “was conceived as wedded to death.” Legions of A-list existential thinkers have tried to “dress the wound of mortality” by making sense of the absurdity and fragility of life: Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Camus ... a veritable who’s who list of intellectuals have weighed in on the infinite conundrum, and annoyingly haven’t reached a...

Planning the Best Year of Your Life
Planning the Best Year of Your Life

Tired of hearing the “LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE” maxims ... yelling at you in all caps? Yeah, me too. (We spoke about it here when I seemingly-irresponsibly encouraged us to get in touch with our worst lives.) But today I’m going to contradict myself, as I’m wont to do. I’m going to get us all...

That Time I Gave Up Chocolate for 25 Years
That Time I Gave Up Chocolate for 25 Years: Notes on Self-Control

I have mixed emotions about self-control, and I know you do too. Mixed Emotion about Self-Control #1: Self-control is code for “the fun around here is definitely going to end,” and while I might not be blonde, I do like to have more fun. I bristle at the idea of fun being contained, of fun...

Giving Yourself Permission to Live Like You Really Want
Giving Yourself Permission to Live Like You Really Want

Any other rule-followers out there? Hi. I see you, deep into your obedient and compliant soul. This is an “it takes one to know one” situation, because I too am unwaveringly law-abiding (other than a serious desire to be recruited into an Oceans 8 sort of heist ... something we will never speak of again,...

Giving the Gift of Death (er, Life) this Holiday Season
Giving the Gift of Death (er, Life) this Holiday Season

‘Tis the season to give and receive meaningless gifts built for one purpose: trashing regifting. That chai-banana-balsam scented candle you received from Mindy at the office holiday mixer? That puppy has made the rounds. And if you plan on wrapping that monstrosity back up and putting it under the tree/ Festivus pole for your Great...

Gratitude: 17 Obscure Research Snippets Worth Knowing
Gratitude: 17 Obscure Research Snippets Worth Knowing

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, I’m feeling a wee bit petulant about All Things Gratitude. Is it because I’m a spoiled ingrate? No! (I mean, mostly no!) (Okay fine, I take mostly everything in my life for granted. But that’s not why I’m giving gratitude the side-eye.) I’m worried that amidst the ubiquity of said...

The Unbearable Anxiety of “Reaching Your Potential”
The Unbearable Anxiety of “Reaching Your Potential”

There is just so much we want to do in this “limited time only” life, and while most of us are aware we’ll barely reach the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg(s) we aim to conquer in the 4,000 Mondays we’ve got to work with, we do like to fantasize about...

How to Have a Personal Retreat that Doesn't Suck
Designing a Fabulous Personal Retreat (in 6 Easy Steps)

Here’s the fantasy: Book a private island for a week. Stock it full of your libation of choice (I’m thinking Kahlúa but you do you). Crack open a brand-new fabulous-looking journal to capture the stream of epiphanies, world-class ideas, and life-changing transformations that will surely flow out of you. Here’s the reality: You like the...

A Love Letter to the Grim Reaper
A Love Letter to the Grim Reaper on the Day of the Dead

Dearest Grim, This is your busy time of year, what with it being the Day of the Dead and all, so I’ll try to keep this short. I’m Jodi (yes—that’s me! Your #1 Fangirl!) and I’ve become rather obsessed with you and your work. What a role-reversal, right? You’re the one who usually stalks people...

Saying No in Life
Saying No for a Better Life

I’m such a hypocrite! I know, I know… Just last week I was all, “say yes to pretty much everything in life, including kidnappers with quality candy in the back of their vans.” But life is full of contradictions, so thanks for yin-yanging with me here while I extol the virtues of Big Fat No’s....

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