Oh, can we talk about the Enneagram, can we please?! — A pop psychology typology system with a somewhat shrouded in mystery history, the Enneagram was imported to the US from South America in the 1970s. The general premise of the system is that there are nine different personality archetypes, with each one having a different core wound (or fixation) that…

What to say when you’re asked to speak at the funeral of a superfan In 2022, I was invited to speak at the memorial of an 86-year-old reader. …

The most basic form of self-care “I just feel all wrong,” my friend said. She has 90% custody of her three children, and her kids had just gone to their dad’s house. …

The New York Times wrote another article about me, except it’s about someone else. I got an email this weekend from an old-school blogging buddy in Germany, someone I cofounded a hula-hooping website with twenty years ago. She sent a link to this NYTimes article: Is There Life After Influencing? …

We’re all just bile ducts and astronauts I want to believe that deep transformation can happen without suffering, but everything I’ve experienced and witnessed suggests that it’s not how it works. Life is stimulated by shock. Growth isn’t comfortable. I think of the evolution of life on this planet, the waves crashing on tidal flats for millions…

This essay was originally published in 2017 on offbeathome.com, and then migrated to The Afterglow, my now-retired members-only publication. …

In the months leading up to the publication of my third book From Shitshow To Afterglow, I exchanged many emails with the Hachette publicist who was representing the book. “Frankly, traditional media can be a challenge for self-help,” she said. “While this book is half self-help,” I said. “It started…

A friend and I were out for a walk, and then we found a quiet spot to sit and meditate together, just for five minutes. Let the record show: this is not a thing I ever would have imagined myself enjoying. …

How the pandemic changed my mind about reusable toilet paper A decade ago, I wrote about the concept of “family cloth” aka wiping your butt with washable cloth: Ok, we’ve talked about all sorts of eco-friendly home hacks, but let’s try the final frontier of reusable toiletries: FAMILY CLOTH. The concept is pretty straight-forward: rather than wipe your butt with…