It's not often I enjoy every piece of music created by a musician I admire. But Khalid snuck up on me. And in the most welcome of ways. I first heard Khalid in duet with Billie Eilish. Together they offer a set of beautifully wilting vocals calling upon isolation and longing in the song LOVELY. After hearing the song for the first time, I inevitably went on a rabbit hole deep dive in the hopes of finding more Khalid out there. And that deep dive did not disappoint. I discovered a duo of incredibly rich and diverse albums along with song after song of collaborations with some of my other favorite artists. Some songs with upbeat and pop sounds...
There has been a lot of talk this year about BURN OUT. And yes, let's have that conversation. Never before has there been such a large group of people leaving the workforce. We are tired. In all the ways. And yes, leaving a job that you hate or that takes you for every single thing you have to give is a good thing. Three years ago I would have been content with calling what we are seeing as burn out and leaving it at that. But we are not where we were pre-pandemic. We are here. Now. In the midsts of a tragedy that has us all begging for more stamina. It is impossible to really have a...
Aaron and I met 17 years ago. It was the first day of our Clinical Psych graduate degree program at San Francisco State. I was sure it would not be long before the other members of my cohort discovered admissions had made a mistake and let an artist into the program. I had only a few basic psych classes under my belt and felt very much like an outsider. As we filed into a large classroom with desks positioned in a half circle I panicked. It was the lunch room all over again. Where was the misfit artist table? As I quickly tried to read the room while my classmates found their seats, I saw a man with sun...
I am sure it seems strange to include misery in JOY, but that's kind of what we are tasked with as humans. A constant opportunity to feel all the things. To experience more than one singular truth, to entertain the extremes while acknowledging the significance of the middle. A desire to proceed and progress while allowing feeling stuck to be part of the process. It's a lot being human. A lot. I wasn't planning on starting a new project, but then one happened upon me and the more I played in the possibilities of all that it allowed, it was clear that it had a life of its own. And these moments of uncontrollable commencement are my favorite parts of...
Malcom Gladwell ranks high on my bucket list of dinner guests. You know when someone asks you what 5 people you would want to invite to dinner? Depending upon my mood, he usually ranks in my top 3. There are fewer things more pleasing to me than data, and I consider Gladwell to be a skilled weaver of data. Research plus a well crafted story and I just never want it to end. Gladwell books are my porn. His podcast Revisionist History just started its 6th season in June. As in all other seasons of the podcast, Gladwell tackles topics from new and illuminating perspectives, leaving the listener with just as many questions as answers. A highlight is the 3...
