My experience is that most people feel reluctant about giving life advice because they’re still figuring life out themselves. My experience is that most people receiving life advice don’t quite know what to do with it… until they reach a point where lived experience makes it relevant. For my 42nd birthday, I revisited a compilation of life advice assembled for me on my 21st.
Now is the time for series finales. The last episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Lost share space in my May 23 memories, but my thoughts are on the recent Late Show Finale and the tumultuous changes we’re seeing in the world right now. There are lessons to be learned from each of these shows, whether or not we’re ready to accept them.
It can be frustrating and discouraging to think about voting when you have a small number of uncontested races on your ballot. Turnout during primary elections is historically very low, but there are reasons to vote, even when one vote is unlikely to change the outcome. Politicians serve at the pleasure of their constituents – and they need to know when their constituents are not pleased.
Everyone will be impacted by climate change, which means that everyone needs to be part of the solution. The problem is that some businesses and countries aren’t ready to have that conversation yet. Thanks to growing frustrations with the slow progress at COP, over 50 countries gathered in Colombia this April to begin planning a decisive and collaborative transition away from fossil fuels.
Physical exercise, play with others, and mental down time are all critical to build resilience to stress, but the majority of us abandon efforts to adopt healthy New Year’s behaviors before the end of January. With record levels of stress in my life and on the world stage, I for one am in desperate need of resilience, however I can manage to create it.
“Good vs. evil” stories may be fun and comforting to watch, but they aren’t representative of reality and therefore don’t prepare us to navigate reality effectively. Historical fiction, especially, is full of embellishments and details that have been changed for a reason. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy art, but it does mean we should consume it with our brains turned on.
Countries I have called home (and that my ancestors called home) have problematic aspects to their histories, and I worry that celebrating the good can seem like I’m ignoring the bad. After wrestling with history, optics, intention, and impact as a tourist in Germany, I think there’s an effective way to elevate what we’ve learned from darker days and celebrate efforts to do better.
We were a little late in getting our COVID vaccines this fall because we caught it over the summer. In all reality, I actually enjoy getting my shots to justify a day of guilt-free loafing around the house. But with vaccine skeptics in the highest levels of government, I worry about the rise of misinformation and ever-dropping rates of vaccinations in the US and abroad.
The hardest thing any pet parent will have to do is make the choice to end suffering. It’s not something we care to think about, but it is perhaps the most important way we can show up for the ones who love us the most. My vet supported me through the worst experience of my life, but I realized that these professionals need support too.
While there is still very much we don’t know about the impacts of cannabis on human health, there are some clear indications of health benefits in specific situations. However, the questions we ask of the world are inherently influenced by our biases. What if some of the impacts we see on brain activity are not “bad” but simply a “different” way of using our brains?