Take a break from the internet once in a while. It's good for you.

"Worrying is prayer for things you don't want."

A paragraph a day keeps the whatever at bay.

Writing on the internet used to be a big deal. Now it's just a thing we do.

Stay hydrated, babies.

Your day can only ever be as good as you let it be.

It's a good thing browser tabs came after high speed internet connections. Waiting for one website to load in dialup speed was sufficient.

I don't subscribe to the notion of "givers and takers" in the sense that I think every person goes through phases of each throughout their lives. I don't think a person is just one or the other all the time, or in all situations. I've been thinking about this because I've noticed two different ways people can choose to respond to people's bids for attention when they're not very interested in the topic that's been brought up. The first way is to respond "I've never heard of that, tell me more about it." The second way is "I've never heard of it." One opens the door to connection and conversation and learning and growth, and the other gives more of a "buzz off, I'm not interested in this or you" vibe. Not everybody is in the mood to engage with every bid for attention that gets directed their way, and that's normal and not a problem. But if you find yourself responding consistently in that way, know that a message is being received that you may or may not intend.

The world is full of incredible things. You'll encounter them and be enchanted by them. You will forget some of them. That's the beauty and the tragedy of existence.

There's a non-uncommon phenomenon in which people stay up very late at night in order to reclaim some of the free time they don't have during the day because they have to work. I don't do this because I've reached a point in my life where physical fatigue overtakes me relatively early in the evening and when I'm done, I'm just done. But I do find myself waking up really early and doing more or less the same thing. Lying in the bed at 3:00 AM telling myself to go back to sleep has never worked, so instead I get up and start my day. Sometimes I wind back down and manage to get another hour of sleep before my alarm goes off, and sometimes I'm just up for the day. But the reclamation of personal time- I get it.

I like quiet places on the Internet. Places where you can look at one thing at a time, with no advertising. Everything is so full, and it doesn't have to be.

Consider: When you feel as though you're "walking on eggshells" around a person, do you mean you're worried they're going to yell at you if you upset them, or do you mean you don't know how not to insist on being the center of their attention at all times?

Once, I was outside with my older brother (he was an adult by that time, I was not) while he played with his remote control car. It was one of those nice ones enthusiasts race at tracks on the weekends, rather than your garden variety toy car. At one point he aimed it right at me and sent it forward at full speed. It crashed into my leg, leaving a small, bleeding wound. He was equal parts apologetic and astounded that I'd held my ground. He told me later that he'd been expecting me to move at the last second, and I told him that I'd expected him to swerve before hitting me. Our understanding of each other never improved beyond the point of identifying our mismatched expectations. He died a few years later, as much a stranger to me as he'd ever been.

"AI" is a marketing term, and I'm not buying. However, I will endorse "AA," or "Algorithm Automation" because that's what "AI" actually is. An algorithm is a series of steps that is used to accomplish a standardized, repeatable task. Automating algorithms is an objective many industries have been working on for many years. It's not new, and renaming it may make it sound a little sexier, but that's just artificial hype.

Typically we are encouraged to talk through our thought processes. This is often helpful in the context of friendships, personal relationships, and therapy sessions. A public forum where discussion about an important or sensitive topic is taking place is not the place to talk through the evolution of your understanding. It's okay not to know everything, and it's okay not to bring a fully formed opinion to every discussion. It's okay to listen and gather information and viewpoints, and then take the time to consider them, gather additional information, and then begin to form an opinion. Our society is so hell-bent on the "set it and forget it" mindset that we want to land on a conclusion, call it gospel, and move on without ever having to consider it again. It doesn't work like that.

Jargon can be dangerous because it attaches insincerity to the things we say. Using someone else's words is a way of trying to distance ourselves from what's being said, and the consequences of saying it. It doesn't work, it just makes the speaker look bad.

Let things go. It's okay. Capturing and remembering everything isn't necessary. You aren't your possessions, your experiences, or your memories. You don't have to "know who you are" in order to be fantastic and worthwhile. Just be.

You don't gotta. When you think about your obligations, remind yourself that for the most part, no, you actually don't gotta.