Authentic, but like right now
I always armed the alarm system at night. If someone beat me to it, I’d find some need to go grab something from the garage or step outside so that I could re-arm it when I came back in. Arming it took a minute, because we had to bypass a few upstairs bedroom windows so … Continue reading “Authentic, but like right now”
In your closest relationships, is the real you even there?
Driving home the other day, something struck me while I was listening to Nora McInerny’s (amazing) podcast (that you should listen to) Terrible, Thanks For Asking. In an episode called Don’t You Want Somebody to Take Care of You?, a woman named Gina recalled growing up with a depressed mother. Each morning her mom would … Continue reading “In your closest relationships, is the real you even there?”
My 200th post!
NOW can I call myself a writer? What passion of yours do you discredit because you haven’t done it long enough, well enough, fast enough, professionally enough, famously enough? The thing that bubbles up from deep inside your soul is YOU, whether a thousand people know it or just you. If you ever, ever, ever … Continue reading “My 200th post!”
Re-Reexamining: Is That REALLY What You Want?
Like most kids, I had a plethora of career plans by the time I was about 7. I was going to be a zookeeper, I was going to pilot a spaceship, I was going to be a cowboy, and I was going to be a detective (I even had my briefcase picked out–a plastic hot … Continue reading “Re-Reexamining: Is That REALLY What You Want?”
The not good enough thing
I haven’t met a person that really, deep down, is always confident that they’re good enough. Nobody thinks they’re doing enough. And nobody thinks they’re doing it well enough. And nobody thinks all their efforts are good enough for them to be loved, let alone good enough for them to not be exposed as a … Continue reading “The not good enough thing”
Be the curly chip
Tortilla chips are made in a factory. Factories make things Just-Right. On a conveyor belt, the sheet of dough is cut by triangle-shaped molds, each mold identically sized and shaped, so that each chip will come out identical: Just-Right. Somewhere along the way, the chips fall in a fryer. A few of the chips get … Continue reading “Be the curly chip”
A safe and meaningless love
If you carefully edit your identity so that you’ll be loved and accepted, and then the love and acceptance come, is it really yours, or does it belong to the caricature, and where does that leave you? So what would it take for your actual self to find love? ~ Wishing you courage to be … Continue reading “A safe and meaningless love”
Why Feeling Fake is GOOD
Change is uncomfortable. And if you don’t feel uncomfortable with yourself, you probably aren’t changing and growing. Here’s what I mean: Last weekend I got to participate in a workshop for couples that included discussion of conflict resolution. Everyone got to practice a specific formula that can help to de-escalate a situation and arrive at … Continue reading “Why Feeling Fake is GOOD”
The lifelong freedom of not needing approval
I say lifelong for a reason. Approval feels really wonderful, so it’s hard not to fall back into living for approval after we’ve once found freedom. When you find independence, you chase the things you’re genuinely interested in, the stuff you really believe in. And then that new version of life brings you new approval from … Continue reading “The lifelong freedom of not needing approval”
Whose life are you living?
We humans do this weird thing. When my adorable dog Willoughby wants something, he wants it. He doesn’t check, first, whether we want him to want it. He doesn’t wait to see if we’re okay with him wanting it. He doesn’t try to align his deepest desires with what he supposes that we may want … Continue reading “Whose life are you living?”
Free yourself from “good at”
What if you free yourself from the need to get “good at” something? The world is full of adventure–singing, making a story, rock-climbing, poetry, cooking, improv, skiing, paddle-boarding, reading confusing scientific studies, decorating a home, building a thing, volunteering, yoga, drawing, meditating, learning a language, hiking, trying Ethiopian food, spending a weekend photographing nature . … Continue reading “Free yourself from “good at””
Be epic.
Sometimes I try to live really safe. To keep a lid on the version of me I’d really like to be. Afraid of what people will think. I worry a lot that if I let the world see my “awesome,” they won’t think it’s awesome, and somehow that will ruin my life. Connecting is dangerous. … Continue reading “Be epic.”
From 1 to 92
and so I’m offering this simple phrase to kids from one to ninety-two The Christmas Song One of my earliest vivid memories, marked by the musty smell of old books in the college library: Two fellow professors stopped my dad and struck up a conversation. They held their briefcases and said big sentences to each … Continue reading “From 1 to 92”
A different New Year’s suggestion
Hello again friends, happy new year to you! Have you made any resolutions this year? Maybe set some 2022 goals? I haven’t. And not because I think resolutions are bad. I don’t think they’re bad, I don’t think I’m better than you for not falling for them, and I bet I’ll make some again one … Continue reading “A different New Year’s suggestion”
Don’t wait for permission
Raise your hand if you often feel like you need permission to do something you’re inspired to do? I don’t know if it’s just certain types of people. Maybe it’s a part of anxiety. Maybe it’s from growing up in a family where most things weren’t considered a wise use of time. Maybe it goes hand … Continue reading “Don’t wait for permission”
You ARE you
A while ago I wrote a short and simple blog post called “It’s okay to be you.” I wonder if adding another way of thinking about it could help: You just ARE you. Period. Whether it’s okay or not (and it is), you are you. If you are an anxious you, a distracted you, a … Continue reading “You ARE you”
Deeper
Do you ever catch yourself looking into someone’s eyes just a little longer and thinking “holy **** there’s an actual person in there!” before quickly breaking eye contact and saying something like “ugh, winter” or “thank god it’s Friday” just to lighten the tension of the tangible spirituality you just experienced between two powerfully human … Continue reading “Deeper”
See?!? I shouldn’t have . . .
Hindsight is not always 20/20. It’s hard not to judge our decisions and actions on a situation’s ultimate outcome. We pick A instead of B, the situation goes terribly wrong, and we think “See? I shouldn’t have picked A. I should have picked B instead.” This hindsight feels simple. But it’s not. It’s fuzzy and … Continue reading “See?!? I shouldn’t have . . .”
Emotional on purpose
Non-rational corners of the brain get little respect. We are supposed to be “smart” creatures, do what “makes sense,” “think carefully.” And yes to all that. And also yes to purposefully manufacturing feelings and emotions that access the more primitive corners of the brain and have nothing to do with logic and sensibility. Here’s what … Continue reading “Emotional on purpose”
Sidewalk
Nobody actually says–or at least nobody actually gets to say–that just because you’re a “grown up” now, you have to stick to the sidewalk. Hop up on the wall, if it’s calling your name, and teeter your way along in the sky above the sidewalk for a while. Or abandon the sidewalk entirely and crunch through … Continue reading “Sidewalk”
As long as they know I’m trying my best
I dedicate this post to my fellow survivors (current or future) of “As-long-as-people-know-I’m-doing-my-best” syndrome. It’s okay if people don’t think you’re a good person. It really is. Some people will. For sure. In fact, the way this world is set up means that the only way to be the person some people like is to … Continue reading “As long as they know I’m trying my best”
The problem with growing up
I feel compelled to be grown up all the way. But the problem is I get really happy every time I look down and see my blue sneakers with their yellow-green laces.
Hoping that people like you
Hoping that people like you is, in a way, the opposite of liking yourself. ~ I think I have learned you really can only attend to one of those needs or the other, but not both–liking yourself and hoping others like you. When you’re living for the approval of others, you are your own constant … Continue reading “Hoping that people like you”
There Aren’t Normal People
A thought occurred to me today as I watched my adorable wife randomly dancing a carefree (and quite unpredictable) little dance. After a minute she laughed and said, “Do you ever think about if other couples do things like this, just be silly or weird around each other? Or if most people are more normal?” … Continue reading “There Aren’t Normal People”
I can’t believe I . . .
When you look back on 5-years-ago, 10-years-ago, 20-years-ago you, often you feel a huge disconnect. And often a bit of shame or embarrassment. “I can’t believe I did/said/thought that.” Somebody somewhere now is doing/saying/thinking the same things you did/said/thought 5, 10, 20 years ago. And that person is where they are for a reason. That … Continue reading “I can’t believe I . . .”
Happy New Year!
Hi friends! This New Year I want to share one of the most helpful things I’ve learned this year–a piece of advice given to me by a very special person in my life: Don’t solve all your anxious feelings. You can’t. Be okay with them. There have been some really rough times for me this … Continue reading “Happy New Year!”
Not Saying It
It feels like it will hurt LESS to NOT say what we want, than to SAY what we want and not get it. But that’s just not true. NOT saying it hurts WORST. To never express it, to smother yourself, to give up without a chance. That is the loneliest and the saddest, in the … Continue reading “Not Saying It”
Hiding
Sometimes the things you’re afraid to let people see because you think they’ll judge you end up being the very things they really love about you.
peterelbridge.com 