This week on NPR’s All Things Considered, I heard Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy talk about the newly released study, "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation," which finds that “29% increased risk of heart disease; a 32% increased risk of stroke; and a 50% increased risk of developing dementia for older adults.” Dr. Murthy says that our goal is “to build a society that is deeply connected….We know that in-person interaction is what we’ve evolved for over thousands of years. We’ve learned to interpret not just the content of what someone’s saying but also the sound of their voice and their body language and when we lose a lot of that in text-based interactions, then that impacts the strength of the connections that we can form.” Dr. Murthy reminds us that we have a cure…Read on.

Just after I posted last week’s blog about generosity (thanks, Jake!), I began to think about overflowing generosity, endless outpourings, infinite neediness, The Giving Tree, boundless desire, the eternal teat, being bled dry. Yes, I am a parent. The expectation of limitless generosity that some of us might feel, is not healthy. For anyone—not the giver, nor the receiver.

So how do we maintain our abundant generosity and our whole selves? How do we balance taking care of ourselves and giving to others?

Read on…

Have you ever given a talk, told a story, or had the same conversation one too many times? Although I will always push people to do Extreme Preparation, there are certainly situations when the content is so old it might become stale. In these moments, we can easily disconnect from our audience or partner or team and just, “phone it in” as we say in the theater. Meaning, we turn on the inner tape recorder and get back into bed mentally.

What are the skills we practice to keep communication alive? We trick ourselves into being present by changing things up, adding an element of abandon and play, welcoming disaster, moving to a new place physically, using a new intention, and, as always, reveling in the unknown that every person and audience brings.

This week, keep communication fresh by inviting in the unknown!

Here are my favorite examples of keeping it fresh! Read on…