The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: advice

  • On Leading Horses to Water

    I have this unique gift. I know what’s best for everybody except, perhaps, myself. At least, that’s the reality I choose to live in much of the time. It’s really easy to look at people’s lives from the outside and come up with quick and easy solutions for them, isn’t it? The real challenge is…

  • Trust Your Instincts

    Back when I was in college the first time, I was renting the top floor of a Victorian house just a few blocks away from campus. It had two bedrooms, so I decided to look for a roommate to split expenses. Based on the advice of a friend, I settled on a young, outgoing, very…

  • Pragmatism

    I was just reading a book about clutter reduction which actually had some extremely helpful advice. But then the author advocated a certain way of folding one’s clothes because she says that when clothes are in a drawer, they are resting, and it’s impossible to rest if you’re all wadded up. Also, if you don’t…

  • You Matter

    I was talking to a dear friend recently, and at the age of 67, he feels he’s pretty much done everything he planned to do in his life, and now he’s just “hanging around, waiting.” This brought tears to my eyes. To think of this wonderful man having absolutely no clue, no clue how much…

  • Write Your Own Life Story

    It’s not as though young people are beating a path to my door, asking me for advice. In fact, I don’t really know any young people. We move in entirely different circles. But given my rich inner landscape, I have a tendency to carry on conversations in my mind that I’ve never really had. This…

  • Help Me Map Out My Walk Down Memory Lane

    Hi everyone! I really could use your help. I’m going to be doing several anthologies of my blog entries, and I need your opinion. My blog is a bit eclectic. In general, it’s about stuff I think about while sitting up here on my drawbridge. So I’ve been going through old posts and trying to…

  • A Shout Out to Deadbeat Dads

    My parents got divorced when I was three months old. I never met my father. I did not receive a single Christmas or birthday card, photograph or visit, in my entire life. He paid not one penny of child support. People used to ask me if I missed my father. My stock response was, “How…

  • Maslow’s Hierarchy Writ Large

    I was talking to a friend about my utter lack of success to date on a dating website on which I’ve registered. “I have to say I’ve never felt worse about myself.” My wise and wonderful friend responded, “This is going to sound really bizarre, but your current depression is actually a positive development. For…

  • Virtual Influence

    I just got a flu shot. I usually wait until I see it marked on my calendar on October 1, but one of my friends in the virtual world of Second Life mentioned they were already available. No time like the present. As I got into my car and drove to the pharmacy and then…

  • Human Signposts

    As you walk your path in life, you’ll come across many intersections and forks in the road, and you’ll have to make decisions. Sometimes you won’t even know you’re at a crossroad until you look back and realize you’ve negotiated your way through it, or discover to your horror that you’ve gotten off track and…