Capitalism has done a lot of weird things to human beings. One of the weirdest is telling us we should equate our self-worth with productivity. If I’m super productive, I’m super worthy. If I’m not, I’m … not. Yeah. That’s a bigfat lie. And yet… The whole productivity...
I have a confession: I used to think that my deadline style was the best one. Not only that, I thought it was the only one. Anyone who wasn’t doing it my way was doing it wrong. And then I met Melissa. Melissa and I have two very different deadline styles. In our...
Dear Meli, My best friend is a writer. She has had a really successful career. She doesn’t do anything to provoke this, but I often find myself comparing myself to her. I haven’t focused on my career at all in this lifetime. I have a steady job, but...
Dear Meli, A few years ago, I had an incident with a friend. The incident is so embarrassing to me, I can’t even tell you what happened. My friend and I are good now, but I can’t let go of my embarrassment. I’ve tried meditation. I’ve tried...
Dear Meli, What do you think about lies? Do you think we should never lie? I ask because I sometimes find myself telling white lies. Like, I have a coworker who wants to be good friends with me and I don’t feel the same way. When they ask me to get together, I...
What’s your relationship to the word “No”? Are you best buds, hanging out on the regular, painting the town with your ability to set firm, healthy boundaries? Or are you and “No” estranged, with little understanding of each other, suspicious and afraid to build a...
