What a Life

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AI is exciting, isn't it? It can write emails for us, draft outlines, do research, create images from whole cloth. But what about this pesky background debate on AI ethics and the downsides to too-speedy, unregulated development? Are we really paying attention -- and factoring this information into our buying decisions? If not, we may run the risk of accelerating an unimaginable chaos...

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Many of us have absorbed a notion of success that has little to do with what we value or want. It's easy to bake traditional success measures into our daily life without thinking about it. But maybe it's time we rethink this "success" business — both how we define it and how we get there.

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In sixth grade, I was given the opportunity to lead my class through a mammoth science project. Instead, I fell on my face. That memory haunts me, particularly as I consider the opportunities to lead new ever-growing teams in my career. How do I avoid what sixth-grade Jeff did as my work responsibilities now grow? How do I lead confidently, thoughtfully? And how do I handle failure more gracefully when it happens again?

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There's an epidemic that's taking hold in urban areas: a failure to signal. As dangerous as that is for pedestrians, there's actually an analog happening in society at large that's much worse. People just can't seem to communicate — or process communication. You say "no" and they hear "yes." You say "thank you," they hear "f*** you." Where is this coming from? And how do we get our messages across so that we maintain healthy relationships (and stay safe in our concrete jungles)?

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As a kid, I spent hours building Lego castles grounded in many-layered stories. Around that time, I began to suffer from "creative" anxiety attacks. It was only recently that I discovered these two very different experiences had a lot in common...

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Around college, my writing imploded. A professor told me a computer could write better poetry; where was the self in it? So I started from scratch, revisiting what it means to write at all. In the process, I have turned myself upside-down. 

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It's easy to let your 40s creep up on you. It's even easier to let exhaustion and resignation take over. I've seen this all too frequently in my own life lately: Weekday nights spent gorging ice cream on the couch watching TV to escape. Clearly I need to turn something upside-down; why can't I? Am I doing this midlife crisis thing wrong? 

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Ash Wednesday and Valentine's (un)fortunately overlapped this year. It made me laugh: the juxtaposition of a day designed to acknowledge the fleeting nature of life and a day when we celebrate the impermanence of love. It also got be thinking. Maybe we're looking at both wrong. Maybe they're more similar than we think...

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I sometimes find myself conducting music in my living room. Eyes closed, arms flailing. I'm not conducting Mahler or Bach or Copland. It's usually some forgettable tune that strikes a chord.

This episode, I open up about my sometimes embarrassing musical tastes, and how they keep me grounded in the past — good and bad — while preparing me for what's to come (including exploits in the daunting dating game).