Acceptance and Surprise

four people sitting on shore forming hearts with their hands during golden hour

A good interlocutor should have the twin virtues of: Acceptance: not challenging you in ways you don’t need or want Surprise: challenging you in ways you need or want That is: they should accept you as you are and not…

You Can’t Make Old Friends

man and woman standing on seashore

I talk and text with my middle school friends to this day. Some of us are going to Iceland on a group trip soon. If I’m honest, I do more texting than they do. We slowly text less and less…

!000!

I missed new year’s and birthday posts the past few years. They’ve been great years by any objective metric, but the subjective experience has been mostly stress and ennui. I’ve been on a bit of a tour of old friends…

Some more types of problems

My friend Benjamin Jagear used to always say to me, “Pixel – look at all of the problems in your life and ask yourself: how many of those problems were caused by your enemies and how many can be traced…

How to stay friends with an ex

It’s a multi-step process, actually.  I’ll divide it into Before, During, After, and Throughout. Before Be friends.  Let simmer for at least three months, but ideally six. Treat your friends and their friends well. Sprinkle good experiences throughout. During Don’t…