Author: kirklandc008@gmail.com
Adolescence, the Netflix miniseries, presents a terrible possibility—that a seemingly “good” kid in a normal English town, with two well-meaning parents, could be drawn so far down the poisoned well of the internet that he stabs a classmate to death.Terrible, but not unfathomable: Just last year, a 17-year-old in England stabbed several children to death after viewing violent instruction manuals online. Social media is also rife with cruelty and harassment that has led to other tragedies: In 2023, a 14-year-old in the United States died by suicide after being bullied over a TikTok video, an incident that echoed several others.Phones…
“The real meditation is how you live your life.” ~Jon Kabat-Zinn I never saw myself as someone who would meditate. It wasn’t even on my radar until my wife suggested it while we were both working on our wellness. I chuckled. Like a lot of people, I assumed meditation meant sitting still, trying to clear my mind, whatever that even meant. It sounded impossible and, frankly, frustrating. I grew up in the rust belt, part of the baby boomer generation, and I’ve spent my life working hard, showing up, and taking care of my own. I love hard and play…
Photo by Roman Empire Times on UnsplashSome dudes would rather quote Marcus Aurelius than admit they messed up.They’ll say “I cannot control external events, only my response” instead of just owning the fact they were an asshole last night.Like bro, you weren’t practicing self-mastery when you ghosted her for two days — you were just being emotionally lazy.And now you’re calling it “detachment”? Miss me with that.It’s wild how some men hide behind philosophy like it’s a bulletproof vest.You ask them why they didn’t text back, and they hit you with “I was observing my emotions” or some cold, clinical…
Task #1: Notice and express one positive thing about your partner each day, no matter how small it is. Understanding Emotional Triggers (The 24 Hour Rule)Triggers. We all have them. Regardless of your history and upbringing, we have all had experiences in life that have been challenging, hurtful, difficult, etc. When current situations evoke similar emotions, we often react to the feelings in the here and now but also to the pain of the past. As a result, we may end up having a larger reaction to the incident than someone with a different history would have. Our reactions in these…