a daily blog on well-being and how to feel better by Mark Barger Elliott…

Author David Allen helps people get things done. The key, notes Allen, is to ask, what is the next action? “People in my seminars,” writes Allen, “often have things on their lists like ‘Get a tune-up for the car.’ Is ‘Get a tune-up’ a next action? Not unless you’re walking out with the wrench in hand,…

We’re hiring for a position at work and on one resume I noticed the phrase, “multi-hyphenate.” I wasn’t sure what that meant and learned it refers to a person who links talents or professions with a hyphen. For example, “photographer-neuroscientist-writer” or “filmmaker-blogger-podcaster.” Which got me thinking about the hyphen.  In our grammar toolbox we have…

A sign I walked by a few days ago read, “turn soft and lovely any time you have the chance.” It made me think how it might be helpful to have two attitudes we seek to cultivate in our lives. They might be “soft and lovely,” or “compassionate and forgiving,” or “brave and focused,” or “creative…

I was talking to a friend yesterday who had to order a European refrigerator for her kitchen. She then explained she was surprised to discover it had a “Sabbath Mode.” One website describes how a refrigerator in such a mode, “would have no control panel display, no sounds, the ice and water dispenser will be disabled,…

I continue to enjoy Chinese philosophers from 3-400 B.C. and lately have been rereading Lao Tzu from a wonderful translation by Stephen Mitchell. Here is an example of an insight he offers on how to live our lives: “If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become straight, let…

Chief Justice John Roberts was trying to explain a recent gun law decision made by the court and used the phrase, “a law trapped in amber.”  Outside of the question whether this might be a bad or good thing in relation to court rulings, I thought it was an intriguing image and insight.  I wondered,…