We wait long for the weekend and sometimes we start from the mid of the week to dream about what we would do. But has it ever happened to you on Sunday afternoons, to feel discomfort, sadness, nostalgia, sometimes a very annoying sense of emptiness? And you don’t know how to explain it? This is called Sunday Blues. The idea of going back to … Continue reading Sunday Blues, How to Tackle the Sunday Sadness about Monday
I’m currently reading The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart, with “Willie” being the great Willie Nelson, musician and songwriter extraordinaire. As you might guess from the title, the book, coauthored by Nelson and Turk Pipkin, elucidates the singer’s philosophy of life, which was strongly influenced by Buddhist and Taoist tenets, and includes lots of autobiographical details. In one of … Continue reading Question of the Day (Inspired by the Red-headed Stranger)
In October of last year, Wise & Shine started a podcast. In the weeks ahead, we’ll be recording new episodes for your listening pleasure. Tuesday will be the day we publish new podcasts to the site. If you haven’t already done so, please have a listen to our recordings from 2022. We are interested in hearing from readers and experts who’d like to be a part … Continue reading Wise & Shine Podcasts in 2023
In the latest installment of the Wise & Shine podcast, I talk with Billy Osogo—one of our writers and a brilliant young man who lives in Nairobi, Kenya—about what the world can learn from Africa. In Billy’s very insightful response, he tells me about “Ubuntu” and a variety of other subjects. Have a listen and enjoy! Continue reading New Podcast: What Can the World Learn from Africa?
On Wise & Shine’s newest podcast, I have an entertaining conversation with David (known as “AP2” on this site) about flying airplanes, writing, art, fatherhood, regrets, and other topics. After listening to our talk, check out David’s writing, including “Why I Write,” a piece that got 514 likes when it was first published. Continue reading New Podcast: Soaring Over the Clouds with David!
Winter holidays are approaching and many of us will celebrate Christmas and the end of the year. During this period it is probable that you will buy a lot of things, like presents and food. The risk of producing more waste than usual is around the corner. Therefore, why don’t we try shopping with a zero-waste mindset? Bea Johnson is a Franco-American author, speaker and … Continue reading Zero Waste Winter Holidays
Hi! We’ve just posted a new episode of the Wise & Shine podcast. Have a listen as I talk with the uber-talented and insightful Art Russell. In this podcast, we attempt to answer the question “What’s Really Important?” Thanks for tuning in! Continue reading New Podcast Today!
I’m pretty upset with myself. I grew up in the Austin area (and yet!) I never once heard of El Arroyo restaurant, not until a few days ago. Since the 1980s, besides serving fine Tex-Mex cuisine to countless customers, the eatery has been posting imaginably funny and clever signs in its parking lot. In fact, if you search for the restaurant on the internet, you’ll … Continue reading That’s Punny!
I want to tell you about a fellow named David, a retired educator and part-time tutor of mathematics who works in the Math Learning Center, a place just down the hall from the Writing Assistance Center, the place I manage and often mention in blogs I write for Wise & Shine. David is one of the most relentlessly positive people a person is ever likely … Continue reading David’s “Walking Lunches”
Note: I’ve included some thinking exercises in this piece, toward the second half of the blog. Please participate in completing those and leaving your answers in the comment section. I hope you don’t feel that I’m beating a dead horse here, talking so much and with such passion about thinking. It’s just that I’m reminded that Marcus Aurelius once said: “The happiness of your life … Continue reading Building the Muscular Mind (Final Installment with Exercises)
Habits give you great power, perhaps the greatest in absolute. Sometimes we think that habits are good for ordinary people, and maybe we don’t consider ourselves ordinary people (at least I don’t consider myself like that, I have always tried to be a bit out of the status quo). We would like to get rid of some habits of ours, and it could be really … Continue reading The Power of Habits
Hi, everyone! Happy Friday! A new podcast, this one a conversation on aging between Troy Headrick and Todd Fulginiti, two Wise & Shine writers, is now available for your listening pleasure. In addition, two more episodes have been completed and will be posted soon. We have upcoming podcasts on the topic of “Heroes” and a really interesting interview I did with Victoria of Victoria Ponders. … Continue reading More on the Wise & Shine Podcast
When you think about your life and ways to improve it, usually your first reflex is that you are missing something. But you often forget that one of the best ways to improve your life, to feel better, is not by adding. On the contrary, it is by eliminating. Today I will share with you 5 things that I stopped to do in my life and … Continue reading How to Improve Your Life
We are born with brains, so we come into this life with the basic equipment needed to think, but that doesn’t mean we all have the innate ability to think well. I guess this is analogous to the fact that we have been given arms, but the average bicep looks and functions considerably differently from the bicep of a world-class bodybuilder. In other words, not … Continue reading Building the Muscular Mind (Installment One)
Looking to verbally best an adversary? Look no further. Here’s all you need to be best at being a bester. Continue reading Snappy Comebacks I’ve Written For You
“No fair,” cries my son when he thinks his sister got a bigger piece of candy. “No fair,” he cries when I tell him he can’t go outside and play until he cleans his room. I politely remind him that sometimes, life isn’t fair. We see this often with children, but we don’t recognize it in ourselves as adults. How many times have you ever … Continue reading “No Fair”: Fairness isn’t real
Like most people, I’ve led an unusual life. For me, part of its unorthodoxy is my insistence on trying to make a living as a writer. Let’s just say, it’s been an uphill climb. But occasionally I comfort myself with the knowledge that there are a million reasons why things either gain recognition or fail to. So, here are a few quick and hilarious examples. … Continue reading A Mercifully Brief Post About Knowing Nothing
Linkedin defines a person as agile when they have a positive attitude, resilience and are open to changes/transformations in processes, structures or relationships. One interpretation of an agile person is that it is a self-management concept consisting of three main attributes: adaptability, proactivity, and resilience. The profile of an agile person, then, is someone who is: 1. Adaptive – able to adjust to different conditions … Continue reading Becoming an Agile Person
Ranking our fun helps us to decide how best to spend our time.
Continue reading Good Times? Why You Should Rank Your Fun
