What taught you to negotiate love?

#344 – What taught you to negotiate love?Tell me if you had this experience: when you got what people really mean with "unconditional love," you thought: hm, I never had that growing up.Whenever my mother gave me the shoulder because I'd broken...

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Jun 16, 2025
What do you expect will happen when people "hate" you?

#343 – What do you expect will happen when people "hate" you?If what other people thought of you impacted your life in real ways, you might be dead by now––or at least pushing a cart and sleeping under a bridge.But you know that's not how it wor...

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Jun 15, 2025
What makes you show up even when you don't feel like it?

#342 – What makes you show up even when you don't feel like it?There are times when you want to watch a movie instead of working out, eat an obscenely big, lemon-infused white-chocolate-chip cookie instead of an apple, or check Substack instead of wr...

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Jun 14, 2025
What's your *only* job as an artist?

#341 – What's your *only* job as an artist?When you're an artist––either as a professional art maker, or as someone who brings new things into the world with the purpose of creating change––you only have one job. No matter what your Ego and the...

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Jun 13, 2025
What's keeping you from your genius?

#340 – What's keeping you from your genius?You may be extremely competent at many things. Even excellent. But there's a difference between competence and genius. And unless you cross that line, you'll be stuck.My friend GV was stuck in that zone of c...

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Jun 12, 2025
Why won't you let the effing go?

#339 – Why won't you let the effing go?Why does feedback get stuck in my psyche like spinach between my teeth?When earlier today I got an email from a reader sharing their thoughts about yesterday's piece, I first tried to be "zen." I got into a ment...

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Jun 11, 2025
What makes you justify your "unloving" thoughts?

#338 – What makes you justify your "unloving" thoughts?Finding reasons to despise others may be rewarding, satisfactory. It gives us the podium we step on to declare our moral superiority. Yesterday I saw this scene in a movie my husband was half-wat...

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Jun 10, 2025
What are your reasons to smile?

#337 – What are your reasons to smile?When the world looks dark and nothing seems to be "right," smiling feels futile. Why smile, when everything's so... ugh?I was in that place yesterday:The after-dinner walk around South Pointe was uncomfortable: t...

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Jun 09, 2025
What do you magically think you can control?

#336 – What do you magically think you can control?Online marketing gurus, manifestation influencers and abundance-mindset coaches make us think that whatever you want, you can have––a fancy house, your dream business, thinner thighs, or freedom to t...

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Jun 08, 2025
What role does your guilt play?

#335 – What role does your guilt play?Sometimes we feel like "feeling guilty" is what's expected of us. But what's there to gain, if we give in?This morning, while eating a cashew-cream slathered pancake, my husband startled me with a question:...

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Jun 07, 2025