Laughing to prevent myself from crying

Death isn't a tragedy for the person who dies. What do they care? They’re already gone. It’s lights out. They’re not even around when people mourn them, so what's all the fuss about? Seinfeld summarized it best:Dying is going to be fantastic, think of all things you’re done with. Seems to me, that the cruelest punishment is not the end of our own lives, but the death of those we love while we’re still alive. Now that’s terrifying. When my...

Intimacy is the human catalyst for the experience of oneness. Multiple studies have shown that young people are having less sex than previous generations. The exact reasons for this trend are debatable, but one thing’s for sure. Sex isn’t the problem, it’s the symptom. What’s more concerning is our culture’s broader withdrawal from physical and emotional intimacy. And it’s hard not to appreciate the allure. Why waste our time and energy on the vulnerable, gradual and reciprocal exchange of authentic...

Doubt can be a nagging, frustrating emotion that's just big enough to matter, but just small enough not to kill you. Descartes once said that doubt pulls the rug out from under whatever certainty you think you just got hold of. It's the wrecking ball that swings into action and knocks the poorly founded belief aside. Couldn't agree more. For example, here's a career doubt that sometimes pops into my mind at work. Scott, either you are one of the...

When people complain about how they don't have time do things, it perplexes me. They act as if all these tasks and obligations cosmically forced themselves onto their to do lists, and now they are helplessly stuck with them. But the fact is, everything they committed to was a choice they made. Or didn't make. And so, time isn't their problem. Time is the artificial human construct they've decided to blame, but the real reason they can't get things done...

Moderation has never really worked for my personality. Despite my best efforts to adopt an everything in moderation maxim, turns out I'm an all or nothing kind of. Timing and monitoring and measuring my effort doesn't motivate me, it exhausts and frustrates me. Framing my level of activity and consumption as sensible, whatever the hell that means, only ruins the experience for me. Unlike some people, occasionally indulging doesn't heighten my pleasure and strengthen my resolve, it only makes me...