STUFF WORTH THINKING ABOUT

(a five minute read)

Mar 31, 2025

My head is a bit all over the place nowadays, mostly in a good way. I am a generalist. I am a dabbler, a looker-upper, a fiddler with a smattering of ideas.

Here's some stuff worth thinking about:

Community is initially built in the accumulation of small moments.
- A couple of words at school pick up.
- Neighbors waving while taking out their garbage cans to the street.
- Acknowledging the cashier at Target.
- A random text to a friend on a Friday afternoon.

I’d like to introduce you to the Obi Robot. This is a robot that allows people with significant physical disabilities to eat independently. We are doing a trial this week.

I recently participated in a meeting (participate is a strong word here) where a controversial topic arose. Yes, I'm intentionally being vague here because the goal of this point is not to debate the topic. I left the meeting feeling distraught that I didn’t act in the moment. I didn’t speak up and say the right thing, I didn’t walk out of the room. I froze. I felt outnumbered and afraid to speak. After leaving the meeting, I contacted some of my wise friends for insight.

“Why didn’t I say anything? Why didn’t I speak up? What should I have done? Am I a wishy-washy piece of garbage with no stance on anything important?”
Here’s the advice I received, paraphrased:
First of all, you have to have some grace for yourself. The hot-button issue that came up was not on the agenda, so you were not prepared to talk about it. Next, its really hard to communicate when your mouth is dry and you feel frozen. So next time this happens, you have the option approach their viewpoint from a stance of curiosity. You don’t have to engage in a debate right then and there. Ask them to clarify their position and make sure you understand it.
Finally, this is the real gold of the entire conversation, not paraphrased,
“Unity comes from discourse, not from uniformity.”
(Thanks Leah and Eric). In this particular situation, unity is what everyone was seeking.
I know this doesn’t apply to every situation, but I think it will work for a lot of them. Listening doesn’t mean I have to agree with everything, its actually a learned skill to listen while calming the fear inside and staying curious. Rather than “let me fix you and your energy” it can be “let me be curious enough to stay with this conversation and see what we can create together.” We all want to feel understood.

A close up photo means I love you.

(a close up of my puppy, Lily)

I have so many questions about animal chiropractors. Somehow these videos pop up, pun intended, and I get sucked in. I never even liked a video and now the algorithm thinks I am into animal cracking core (which I slightly am?). Do the animals think they are going to die for a split second when a human twists their neck? Perhaps.

Here’s a chiropractor that adjusts giraffes, chickens, bats, lions, and humans:

Remember that adults are simply injured children walking around. (I forget where I heard that one, if you know then please let me know).

Doctors shouldn’t use doctor-y words.

I was at a new doctor's appointment with my son. Nothing says, “Welcome, we are happy you are here!” like sitting in a silent grey lifeless box of a waiting room. Oh wait, I take that back - nothing says “welcome” like having to ask the receptionist for the giant key to the bathroom like I'm in some raggedy gas station.
It was our first time meeting this provider and he was a new doctor. He casually threw out the words “pathognomonic” and “phalange.” Seriously? People who aren’t in some type of medicine (i.e. most of the human population) don’t know these words. He might as well start talking about “comorbidity” and “paraesthesia” and some other big doctor words I can’t think of right now. Yeah buddy, you just keep waving that scalpel around the room while you talk about basketball and feet. Just kidding, don’t do that. Maybe I’ll throw out some dentist jargon out during the next visit to see if I can confuse him.
Here’s a fancy vocab lesson for today:
Pathognomonic: adjective

(of a sign or symptom) specifically characteristic or indicative of a particular disease or condition.
As in “unnecessarily using big words is pathognomonic for a new doctor”

Phalange: Noun

the bones of the fingers and toes

As in “A chicken has a total of 18 phalanges (finger/toe bones) across its four toes on each foot.”

The movie Piece by Piece

This is a Lego animation film about the life of Pharrell Williams. This is not a kids movie, but a movie for someone who wants to understand Pharrell’s career and get a better understanding of the music industry, recent history, and artist collaborations.
The best quote of the movie at 6:20 on the clip below:
“You don’t just aspire up, you aspire left to right as well because that’s what creates a unified front. Without it then you're just like a broken community.”

8. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, a novel by Gabrielle Zevin. I Loved it so so much (thanks for the recommendation, Helen). It was the best vacation read.

This poem I wrote a few weeks ago. It’s one of my favorite ones I’ve ever written.