Talk, Unleashed

You can’t un-bake a cake. Seems a silly statement, because - of course you can’t. Once it’s done, it’s done. Same with those words that may fly outta your pie-hole without thinking - those words that leave a mark. Those words that can’t be taken back. That’s not what this episode is about. This episode is kind of about the opposite of that. That in order to avoid an error in baking, it takes patie...

Anticipation. It’s one of those words that cuts both ways. Anticipating something delightful and delicious, or waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sadly, there seems to be much more of the latter in the world lately.  Feels like everyone is running around either like Chicken Little (proclaiming the sky is falling) or a chicken with its head cut off (and if you’ve never seen such a thing, suffice t...

Ah the human condition. We’re just fucking lazy. Truly. Okay perhaps a bit nicer to call it complacency - that sense of resting on our laurels, settling back and assuming just because something has been a way, it’ll stay. Of course that’s a load of horseshit. It’s everywhere. Especially when I look in the mirror. It’s about how easy it is to assume things will just go along, that the work I’ve don...

As winter wends its way to a close, a few experiences remain that I’ll be carrying into the spring. Most of it is about perspective. And in this week’s episode it’s the awareness from seeing that where I am in relation to anything determines everything . It’s possible to be too close to something to see it clearly. It’s also possible being too far back skews the view incorrectly. It’s not either/o...

What happens when you’re SO attached to the path you’re on, SO committed to being right it is the only way, that anything else becomes impossible? What happens? Take a look around, friends. The dumpster fire sh*tshow in which we’re meandering is case in point. What if the path is erased? What if you cannot see where it lies? There’s only one choice. Well, technically there are two, one could just...

Unless you’re from the Northeast of the US chances are the name Wegman’s doesn’t ring a bell. So to get us all on the same page - it’s a grocery store. If a very young Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s had a baby with the feeling of a neighborhood grocery that's an idea of what it's like. Based out of Rochester, NY, it’s now a decent-sized chain with 111 locations in the northeastern part of th...

It’s funny. The more the world seems to be spinning into a quantifiable, category 5, dumpster fire of a mess, the more people seem to be pointing fingers looking for someone to blame. Meanwhile, it occurs to me that for every finger pointing in one direction, there’s really only one place where anyone can do anything about anything. The f*cking mirror. And yet, when standing in the sh*t storm and...

In 2024 I had a lot to say about the #SuperBowl. Mostly about #TravisKelce and his temperamental sideline meltdown (which included his stepping up on his head coach and screaming in his face - a pretty aggressive move given Kelce’s towering stature). Lots of folks wrote it off saying - oh, that’s just the adrenaline of the game and he’s just being a guy. Sorry, nope. He was being a dick. And guess...

In general I don’t watch a lot of TV. Lately, though, I’ve been snacking on reruns of Gray’s Anatomy - not exactly what I’d call mind expanding, erudite content. So imagine my surprise when a lesson about the delicate balance between innovation and not reinventing wheel came from the show. Mostly I have the show on as background noise - it’s on right now as I’m typing this - but the writing is ent...

Some topics that never get old. Probably because the lessons never stop coming. Always another layer. That’s the story this week as another perspective arose for me with the topic of boundaries. Overall they’re important. For individual agency, for partnerships, for groups. They’re the guardrails that enable a society to operate.  But who chooses which ones go where? Who decides? Especially since...

Accountability - there’s a fun word. Right up there with responsibility. But what does it MEAN, anyway? Being accountable … especially these days. It’s really all about my end of the leash. In a world where what passes for radical honesty usually means someone is just letting things fly outta their pie-hole without much care for others, it’s time for radically authentic conversation. Conscious com...

Wow. It’s been just over a year this urban-saturated gal has been living in the country. And by in the country, I mean like in the middle of fucking nowhere. Deep in the woods on the far corner of a massive property surrounded by trees and … silence. During this time I have come to utterly adore the quiet and peace, and also to appreciate the massive lessons that come from nature. This week on the...

There are a lot of words that carry strange weight for me. Submission is one of them. The socialized experience for me used to be that to submit was to lose, to be weak. The truth, though, is that submission sometimes merely means acknowledging a boundary, recognizing a relationship to something or someone and letting it be what it is. Who knew I’d learn such a thing from an ice storm. Mother Natu...

I’ve never been an athletic super star. Decent, sure. Moderately skilled, absolutely. But as someone who spent the majority of her teen years hospitalized and sick, a time when so many of my friends with athletic prowess were engaging in sports at a more serious level, the whole team play thing never really landed for me.  So joining a work team, largely male, whose lens of perspective come heavil...

After taking a bit of time off during the holidays, I thought about how I wanted to kick off the New Year with the podcast. This was the episode that I opted to pull out of my files to post. It’s something I recorded on a holiday trip to South Carolina and the message - about the deeply impactful lessons from memories triggered by scent - seemed a good way to roll back into your ear-balls. With th...

Yes. I'm aware. This episode is posting WAY after the actual Black Friday, but the message is certainly one that carries pretty much any time of year. It’s just that somehow that time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to put a hyper sensitive filter on pretty much everyone, pretty much everywhere. Especially when it comes to shopping. Anyone who goes shopping during this time and is...

It’s funny how sometimes you don’t notice something until it’s gone. It’s like you don’t realize just how damn loud the city is, until you’re not there. And then you don’t realize how noisy the country is, until one of its constant sounds, goes away. This week - the realization of how the absence of something can be more important than its presence In a world where what passes for radical honesty...

If you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.  You’ve probably heard that along with any number of other animal-related metaphors that all mean the same thing. Size matters and if you’re the little guy, get the f*ck out of the way. SO much posturing bullshit these days. Doesn’t seem to matter whether win or lose. If win, there’s gloating, bullying and entitlement. If lose there’s pointing...

After taking off the month of October intention was to come back the first Wednesday in November. That day was the day after the 2024 Election. I recorded this before election day, and fully intended to post it for Nov 6. The day came and it was clear there was way too much noise and too much raw emotion for this to have any hope of landing. So ... I waited a week. As usual - I’m NOT TALKING ABOUT...

Some things merit talking about more than once. This week is an example of that and it carries on from last week. If you missed it, here’s the gist - the bullshit perspective that in order to enjoy success, one first must suffer. Load of horseshit. What’s not horseshit, though, is the other bit of today’s epsiode - a heads-up on some changes in our upcoming programming. So make sure you listen all...

Seems like there was a handbook or instruction manual that I missed. The one that says in order to achieve success, one must first suffer. Newsflash. Not true. And somehow the attachment to trauma persists. Don’t get me twisted here - bad things happen. People have experiences. All true. AND there is this insidious push - typically by larger forces whose foundation is based on perpetuating chaos a...

In the wild and wooly world of dog behavior, research and education there are lots of folks promoting themselves as experts. Blessed few of them actually are. And then there are those whose legitimate scientific research has grounding in evolutionary anthropology and canine cognition. One of those folks is Vanessa Woods - she’s an accomplished author and her most recent book Puppy Kindergarten: Th...

With all the talk in the world there seems to be less and less listening and even less understanding. Ridicule and mocking have become bloodsport, going far beyond the pale. Don’t get me twisted, I’m all for well-intentioned and harmless chirping and challenging. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about people who talk about how bad others are … and in so doing, are being precisel...

Ah the joys of watching people hurling mud at each other online. Commentary threads saturated with finger pointing, name calling and utterly awful commentary. I don’t know that I’ll ever understand it. People’s need to spout off with insults, name calling or otherwise engage in a fight in the comments of a social media post. It’s like spitting into the wind. For starters, if you’re seeing a person...

eing selfless. Generous. Of service to others. These are good things, right? Sure, unless the motivation behind them isn’t on the up and up. There is such a thing as fraudulent selflessness and it can take many forms. And that’s what I talk about this week. In a world where what passes for radical honesty usually means someone is just letting things fly outta their pie-hole without much care for o...