Everybody Around You Is Not Good for You I have learned to be careful about who I allow into my space. Some people can leave me feeling drained through constant complaining, conflict, jealousy, or drama. Folks sometimes call them energy vampires, and I understand the feeling behind that phrase even if I do not take
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The Meme Is Modern, but the Idea Is Old The saying that hard times create strong people, strong people create good times, and comfort creates weakness sounds ancient, but the familiar wording is modern. Novelist G. Michael Hopf says he developed the version that spread online while writing his 2016 novel Those Who Remain. The
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When Art Gives the Pieces Somewhere to Go Sometimes I create because life has left parts of me feeling broken. Memories, losses, disappointments, and wounds do not always fit neatly together, but art gives them somewhere to go. Acting allows me to give fear, grief, anger, tenderness, humor, and longing another voice. Painting and writing
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When a New Word Catches Fire My last post turned into a little celebration of Black joy and words nobody had heard until somebody decided they needed to exist. Anita gave us “sittage,” which somehow opened the door to “tittich,” “bosoming,” and “ninny meat.” A newly created word or expression is called a neologism, and
Black Folks Know How to Make Language Move Read More »
Freedom Came With a Price, but Not for the Enslaved One of the most revealing parts of Britain’s abolition story is who received money when slavery ended. Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833, with emancipation beginning in much of the British Empire in 1834. More than 800,000 enslaved people were affected, yet they
When Britain Ended Slavery and Paid the Slave Owners Read More »
Activity Is Not the Same as Value One of the biggest career mistakes I can make is assuming people automatically understand the value of my work. Saying, “I manage a team,” only describes an activity. It does not explain what my leadership produces. Do I improve performance, develop employees, solve problems, or reduce turnover? Those
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When Life Becomes a Spectacle In 1967, French writer and filmmaker Guy Debord published The Society of the Spectacle, a critique of consumer culture and the growing power of representation. Debord, a leading figure in the Situationist International, argued that modern life was moving away from direct experience and toward appearances. His famous line, “Everything
Am I Living My Life or Performing It? Read More »
When a Belief Feels Personal I once believed that enough facts would eventually change anyone’s mind. Life has taught me that belief is more complicated. Some beliefs are tied to identity, family, values, community, and a person’s understanding of who they are. Challenging them can therefore feel personal even when the disagreement is about facts.
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The Conversation I Keep Replaying I have walked away from conversations convinced that I talked too much, sounded awkward, or bored the other person. My mind quickly replays the pauses, the joke that missed, or the answer I wish I had phrased differently. Yet I cannot actually see how the other person experienced me. Psychologist
They May Have Liked Me More Than I Thought Read More »
The Part We Need to Understand First An American tariff is not normally a bill sent to a foreign government. When goods enter the United States, the importer of record is generally responsible for paying the duty to the U.S. government. What happens afterward is the harder question. The importer may absorb some of the
Who Really Pays a Tariff? Read More »