Loose Ends CC Barlow and Valerie Uhlin

Send us a Text Message.Wherein CC and Val discuss the six "bodies of speech" or "speech acts." CC offers an acronym to help remember them, as well as the origin of most communication disagreements: making assertions when they're really assessments. Stating opinions as facts mucks things up. If we want better relationships then improving quality communication becomes key.

Send us a Text Message.Wherein CC and Val discuss their reactions to, and reflections on the import of, the assassination attempt over the weekend on the former President of the United States. We've tried to stay away from politics and conspiracy theories and all things Trump, but this event marks a turning point and we felt compelled to respond to it.

Send us a Text Message.Wherein CC and Val discuss our comfort zones--because we all have many--where they come from and how they either protect us or prevent us from moving forward. Like a dog's electric collar, our "buried wires" delineate what's safe from what's not, at least as children. As adults, maybe it's time to dig up some of those electric boundary wires and set ourselves free.

Send us a Text Message.Wherein CC and Val take refuge from the heat dome and talk summer food, global warming, and the recent suggested warning for smart phone apps. They meander all the way to suggestions for staying cool as well as summer reading thoughts before veering into a flourishing finish with a spontaneous (and questionable) version of the Canadian national anthem in honour of their Independence Day. We tried. Blame the heat. It's all the heat's fault.

Send us a Text Message.Wherein CC details the 6 primary ways we distort incoming data - ranging from catastrophizing a particular event, to developing tunnel vision, to personalizing everything - and thereby slowing our growth and ability to move forward .

Send us a Text Message.Wherein CC and Val discuss the moments that lead to a change in our thinking, events or comments that shift our perspective - the "aha" moments. Things were going so well, and then CC has her own sort of moment remembering another moment of magical meaning. Who knew she'd go all soft and mushy?