And, unfortunately, we’ve been taking steps in the wrong direction lately. — There was a Twitter thread that made the rounds about a year ago because it put forth a basic but daring premise: these days, men have to get women to like them, and a lot of men aren’t likable. The author of the tweet makes many good points. A few…

It’s that time again. Hey there, it’s the August 6, 2022 edition of the Weekly Thing. Here are the stories from the past week: Saturday’s story was about packing (and unpacking) trauma, as well as other things. Packing Up Pieces of Your Life On old things and trauma boxes.medium.com Sunday asks a simple question: what would you do if you won the…

We have built a system where you have to be on top to thrive. — I don’t really have any desire to climb the corporate ladder in life, and my job doesn’t really afford me that privilege anyway. I am a grant writer by trade, and any job that would allow me to climb the corporate ladder would take me away from grant writing, which…

A long time ago, people told stories of mythical creatures that roamed the world, living among us but not quite visible unless they deliberately showed themselves. …

Yes, white kids too. — I wrote an article the other day that talked about diversity and inclusion as not being for random white dudes. I stand by that article, but I wanted to make an addendum based on something a friend posted. In that article, I talked about how girls, BIPOC kids, LGBTQIA+ kids…

Just…let people like things. — I don’t understand and have never liked gatekeeping. It feels weird and wrong to disqualify someone from enjoying something for weird, arbitrary reasons, and I don’t get why people wouldn’t want more people to enjoy their hobbies with. Just in case you are unfamiliar, gatekeeping is exactly what it sounds…

Quit griping about it and accept that there are people other than white men in the world. — Let me tell you a story about someone. It’s a straight cis white guy, so you know that it’ll be good. This ignorant little white dude is walking through the toy section of Target with his girlfriend. As they pass through the doll section, she comments that she really likes…

Honestly, a lot of answers these days are kind of depressing. — The Mega Millions, a multi-state lottery in America, just had its jackpot hit 1.33 billion dollars, and a single ticket sold in Chicago won. That person is going to wind up with several hundred million dollars after taxes, and that’s some life-changing money right there. The question that gets thrown…

On old things and trauma boxes. — We have to move the contents of our basement, and there’s a ton of stuff down there. Some of it we use — holiday stuff in particular, and on occasion the odd tool or piece of camping equipment. …