The Things We Do For/To Our Kids!
Bailey and I loved singing together. We did it all the time around the house and outside in the yard. Here’s what happened when we tried to take it a step further.
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A Guide to Happiness for Anyone: Jennifer Taitz’s “How to Be Single and Happy” Isn’t Only for Single People
Actually, the book is a great guide to real happiness if you fall into any of the following categories:
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Stalling: Why Letting Go Is the Key to Regaining Lift
“The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed. Proficiency and results come only to those who have learned the paradoxical art of doing and not doing, or combining relaxation with activity.” –…
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Fear and Courage
Before I left for three-hours the other day, I told my three-year-old son that his favorite babysitter was going to come hang out with him. Because he adores her, I was surprised at his answer and the vehemence with which…
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THE LAW OF UNRELATED THINGS
I wonder. A lot. About a lot. To what extent are coincidences unplanned, uncoordinated and unrelated? To what extent are planned occurrences deliberate, independent and timed? Ramblings much? Perhaps. Onto something? Maybe. The enterprise of writing , after all, has…
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Want to Write for Wise & Shine?
Hi, all. Wise & Shine is looking for a few new writers. If you’d like to apply to join the team, send samples of your writing via our “Contact” form. Please familiarize yourself with the sort of things our blog…
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Mastering the Art of Attention in a World of Distractions
Constantly running from task to task takes away our attention. We make to-do lists in the shower, look at our phone regularly if not all the time, and post photos of our dishes while we have dinner. Learning to take…
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Diving into the Mythopoetic: A Personal Story
It is easy to be dismissive of mythology in our modern-day secular culture. With the tools of logic, science and reason at our disposal, we arrive at our ideas of truth through rigorously testing our hypothesis with hard evidence and…
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Whatever Happened to the Wise & Shine Podcast?
At the end of last year, this site started a podcast. We came up with a few topics and scheduled conversations, almost entirely among ourselves (those of us who publish our writings on the site). We then recorded those discussions…
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I Smashed My Computer And I’m Glad About It
Yep- I smashed it. But don’t look at me like that! C’mon, don’t tell me you’ve never thought about doing it.
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The Art and Science of Making Friends
This past Saturday night I was over having dinner at my friends’ Rachel and Karl’s house. As our kids happily played together, we talked about technology, philosophy, and their recent vacation to Mexico and I marveled at how much I…
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Why Learning to Recognize and Understand Your Emotions is Important for Your Wellbeing
From a specialist point of view, emotions can be defined as a response that originates following the activation of specific brain circuits and manifests at the organic, behavioral, and cognitive levels. They play a crucial role in regulating mood, motivation,…
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Rethinking Leisure in the Age of Total Work
If you are losing your leisure, look out! –It may be you are losing your soul Virginia Woolf In modern society, work has come to dominate almost all aspects of our lives. One’s identity becomes subsumed by their job title.…
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Self Doubt Can Take You Out
It started off great. I was relaxed and feeling the music. My ideas were fresh. My execution, sharp. My trumpet tone was warm, but with just enough fire to light things up when necessary. The other musicians in my trio…
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Leaving Earlier: Why It’s Better Than On Time
A new goal of mine is to leave earlier than on-time. It’s about doing just a little less, in order to have a lot less distress, and it’s the result of a quite specific quality-of-life insight. If you’re like me,…
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Asking Questions When a Groove Becomes a Rut
I’ve been in a rut lately. I imagine this is not something I have to describe but just in case there is someone reading who is new to this planet, I’ll elaborate so we are all on the same ratty-tatty…
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Self Care Practices in Order of Importance
Hello! Let’s order some self care practices in order of importance. The order will be based on what I currently think is the case (at least for me!). Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments. 1- Food we…
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10 Caring Traditions from Around the World
After the podcast of Billy Osogo on Ubuntu, I decided to search how people around the world show kindness, whether it comes from caring tradition or generosity. This may inspire you to show kindness to yourself or someone else today.…
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Encouraging Goodness: How Moral Actions are ‘Awe-Inspiring’
I’ve written before on the downstream effects of small any seemingly insignificant acts of goodness. Through our deeply interconnected world, we can never fully appreciate how our actions will impact others and our broader communities. Recent research being done on…
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Still Crying, Still Dying, Still Fragile
We recently passed the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine. The first images of the scene were horrible, especially the faces of the Ukrainians who were displaced, mourning loved ones, or just plain fearful of what was next.
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Writing From The Heart
The other day I read a beautiful post that was a tribute to a dearly departed pet. It was so touching and zinged me right where there’s a sore spot from missing my beloved dog, Biscuit, who died six years…
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How Learning a Foreign Language Has Positive Effects on Your Brain
Learning a new language is like learning to drive. It doesn’t matter in which order you learn to steer, use the brake, or change gear. It’s what you do as a whole that is important, not which component you learn…
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The Write Thing To Do
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” ― George Orwell I hate criticism. Yet, I open myself up to it all the time. Not just because I’m an…
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Grumpy 101: What To Do When You’re Angry For No Reason
Her anger was subdued but she was volatile. It wasn’t my fault this time though. She had just gotten home from school, where she teaches fourth grade. It wasn’t a particularly bad day, but for whatever reason she was in…
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The Ultimate Reader
When I started putting together the memoir I wrote about my father, I had the good fortune of connecting with a great writing coach, Sheila. As she explained it to me, her job was to be the “ultimate reader” –…
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Evening Routine
Hello! We talk about morning routines a lot, as I did here some weeks ago. But we often overlook evening routines, which are also very important. What do we do in the evenings? Let’s say you come from work and…
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Finding Your Tribe
How do you think of your teammates, coworkers, or those close to you? Do you see them as a few welcome acquaintances that you meet with a few times per week? Or are they something more, a necessary support group…
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Fashion Psychology, How What You Wear May Help You
The clothes you wear do not have the only primary function of protecting you from low or high temperatures. They don’t have either the only function to make you more attractive or trendy. Clothes are also one of the most…
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An Explanation
Dear Wise & Shine Readers: As some of you might have noticed, I’ve been mostly away from the site in recent weeks. I’m writing to let you know that I’ll be taking a leave of absence from the blog. I’m…
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