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Years ago, I decided to make an album of original songs.
Because I wanted to be able to record at all hours of the day and night, for free, I chose to do virtually all of the performing, engineering, and mixing myself.
Hey, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney did it — why not me? Ha.
The album was my very best work, though still very amateurish.
Read MoreWhen I was single, I heard it and read it over and over. I saw it represented in movies and TV shows.
It was the idea that, if I worked on myself enough and learned to be "okay with being alone," I would be ready for a relationship, and the perfect mate (eww, mate - that word is the worst) would show up.
Read MoreWhen I was growing up, a friend’s house had slightly pink, soft lighting in the master bathroom.
Her mother said that she wanted the forgiving light so that she didn't have to feel bad every time she looked at herself in the mirror.
Another friend said, "I would want the lights to be bright so that I could fix things and look better."
Ah. To be sixteen again. Some things you can't fix, child. But this points to a divide:
Read MoreIt is hard for many high-achieving people to acknowledge growth, progress, and mastery.
"Oh, I'm just stumbling around in the dark," they'll scoff in response to a compliment. Or they'll say, "I've got to work harder," when the evidence suggests they're already working harder than anyone else.
It's laudable to want to better yourself — to want to raise the bar and not settle for less than you're capable of.
Read MoreIt’s taken me many years to see the pattern, but I finally do:
A teacher comes along wanting to be part of my school. On the surface, they are going along with things. In every training meeting, they agree with my points and agree to implement my feedback.
But in reality, they are going their own way. Their underlying motivation for joining the staff at an alternative school is to push against the status quo, and they keep doing it even once they’re on the team. In other words, they are wary of me because I’m an administrator. I must be the enemy, part of the system they are pushing against. Therefore, they seek to subvert my authority and ingratiate themselves with the students — often without even realizing that they’re doing it.
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