Please tell me there’s another way to see it: The way we as a culture consume doof and chase comfort and convenience over meaning and purpose, people using heroin, fentanyl, and other serious drugs aren’t an aberration from our culture, they’re it’s future. They aren’t behaving qualitatively different than, say, someone who buys from McDonald’s, Trader Joe’s, or other doof place. They differ only quantitatively. I don’t blame any of[…] Keep reading →

I meant just to list all my sidchas in my post Freedom exists in structure; it’s not chaos, randomness, or luck. Here’s my structure and freedom, but I made a mistake. I included standard operating procedures with sidchas. I didn’t think of the distinction. One is habits. The other is the best way to do something. I’ve written about sidchas. What about operating procedures? If there’s a better way and[…] Keep reading →

Freedom exists in structure. It’s not chaos, randomness, or luck. When I find something works in my life, I make it automatic. For many people, diet and exercise seem horror shows, or mysteries, wondering what they should do, how often, how much, and so on. When the most important bases of my life are automatic, I don’t have to think about them. I can focus on everything else. People might[…] Keep reading →

I’ve been following Katharine for years. If you don’t know of her, after our conversation, watch her TED talk and read her book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World. It comprises decades of science, leadership, and efforts to live sustainably, the overlap I consider essential to influencing people on sustainability. Our conversation is about hope, faith, science, love, and our sledding hills.[…] Keep reading →

I’ve been following Katharine for years. If you don’t know of her, after our conversation, watch her TED talk and read her book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World. It comprises decades of science, leadership, and efforts to live sustainably, the overlap I consider essential to influencing people on sustainability. Our conversation is about hope, faith, science, love, and our sledding hills.[…] Keep reading →

Those who listen to my podcast or attended my workshops know The Spodek Method, my two-stage interaction to lead someone to share their intrinsic emotions about the environment, think of a way to act on them, and share their results. I find people enjoy the process and results. They share them openly. I contrast it with nearly all other techniques I see people trying to influence others’ environmental behavior. I[…] Keep reading →

Saturday and Sunday I rode over 100 miles from New York to Philadelphia, sleeping overnight in Princeton as a fundraiser for an organization creating a bike route from Maine to Florida called the East Coast Greenway. Technically we started in Jersey City, just across the Hudson River. I took the subway instead of swimming. Saturday we rode about 65 to 70 miles, Sunday 40. I rode an extra 10 or[…] Keep reading →