How I’m Using My Distance Vision (through time, in life)
Walking along the Embarcadero every day, I have long unobstructed views. I can look east across the bay, north toward the Ferry Building, south toward the ballpark. Sometimes I try to identify people...
View ArticleEmpowering Action vs. Depression
Recently I read Steve Pavlina’s post “What It’s Like Being Me”. Steve really enjoys being himself, it seems, and part of my reaction was a slow clap — good for you, you smug vegan, your life is so...
View ArticleHow I Maintain Motivation (and dopamine levels)
I have the GG (val/val) variant in SNP rs4680, which corresponds with high COMT enzyme activity. COMT breaks down dopamine in the part of the brain related to higher cognitive and executive function....
View ArticleTake Your Wins
Often when something good happens to me, I just take it in stride. I don’t want to get too excited about any particular success because fortune rises and falls. Everything that goes up must come down....
View ArticleHow to More Easily Use Your Own Power
Sometime in my forties I realized that all major choices could be boiled down to two paths: Empowering action (research/planning/implementation) Passive paralysis (inaction, worry, pathological...
View Article10K Hours is B.S.
As I get a bit older, and the number of activities I have spent ten thousand or more hours practicing increases, I’ve come to the realization that just doing the thing is not enough to get really good....
View ArticleWhy Do We Try Hard Things?
A few weeks ago Kia dropped a huge self-knowledge bomb on my head. Well-meaning, of course. And totally off-the-cuff. But her comment made me understand something profound about myself. And that...
View ArticleArtistic Values for 2025
I’ve done some work on consciously prioritizing my values, and that work has served me well. I know what I stand for, and that makes decision making easier. But when I found myself in a...
View Article2025 Recap (Spreadsheet Breakthrough)
Looking back on 2025, the most significant thing I did was create a spreadsheet. Sounds underwhelming, for sure. But this spreadsheet was unlike any other spreadsheet I’d ever created, and I’m someone...
View ArticleI Am Psyduck (Anxiety is Ridiculous)
In the animated show Pokemon Concierge, Psyduck causes surrounding objects to levitate when experiencing anxiety. It’s a recurring gag in the show; Psyduck gets stressed about something, and various...
View ArticleObligation = Connection
The other day I was grinding through some family obligations, feeling resentful because I had a whole list of other things (mostly entertainment related) that I wasn’t getting to. This was my...
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