Category Archives: Conversation

Great Relationships: Getting Your Message Across

In our relationships we often want to share things with others — we want them to know what we’re thinking and feeling, or convince them to think in a certain way.  To do this, we have to carry out a …   Continue reading →

Insults And Counter-Insults — Is There A Better Way?

Why is it that when we get insulted, it helps us feel better to insult the other person back?  On the face of it, our counter-insult does nothing to refute whatever negative thing they just said about us.  For example: …   Continue reading →

Our View Of The World, And Selling It To Others

We all have our own understanding about the way the world works.  I like to refer to this individual way of viewing things as our “view of the world”.  Our view of the world might include that, say, Obama is …   Continue reading →

On Being Yourself

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.  — Ralph Waldo Emerson “Be yourself!”  We hear this phrase in many contexts — as advice for children worried about how …   Continue reading →

Great Relationships: What Makes Them “Great”?

It’s all well and good to talk about trying to have a great relationship.  But what do we mean by “great relationship”?  Everyone probably has their own ideas about this, but since I think everything that matters is ultimately about …   Continue reading →

The Facts, And The Stories We Tell About Them

Facts happen.  But in order to know how to feel about the facts, we create “stories” — we decide which of the facts are important, and what the big picture is underlying the facts, and relate that to our own …   Continue reading →

Great Relationships: More Than Just Being Nice?

We would all like to have great relationships — relationships that are fun and deeply satisfying.  Relationships that make us feel great.  But what is it exactly about a relationship that makes us feel great?  One simple answer might be …   Continue reading →

A Funny Line From “Paul Blart”

I just watched “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”.  Overall the movie was about what I expected:  kind of dumb, but in a good, enjoyable way.  The movie wasn’t super funny in general, but there were a few great moments.  One of …   Continue reading →

Authentic Conversation – Does It Matter?

People often share things authentically – what they’re really thinking, feeling, and planning.  But we also can and do speak in ways that are not quite completely accurate representations of what’s going on inside our heads.  For example, we sometimes: …   Continue reading →