The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: effort

  • Some of Us Don’t

    After taking a semester of one-on-one guitar lessons many years ago, my instructor decided to be brutally honest with me. He said, “Barb, some of us have it, and some of us don’t. And you don’t.” When I tell that story, a lot of people are outraged at that teacher, but actually I appreciated his…

  • Putting My Best Foot Forward

    When I really, really like someone, or when I’m on a job interview, I try to put my best foot forward to make a good impression. Everyone does that, I’m sure. The thing is, when I feel like I’m making this extra effort to be accepted, deep down I feel like a fraud since it’s…

  • Ospreys as Analogies

    We’ve heard the expressions “stubborn as a mule”, “dogged resistance”, markets that are “bullish” and “bearish”, and I really, REALLY would love an explanation for this one: “happy as a clam”. We often use the qualities of various animals to better describe our world. In the past couple of months, I have come to realize…