Category Archives: Golden Rule

Despite a sensational season for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Boye Mafe arrived in Mobile for the 2022 Reeses Senior Bowl with the feeling that he had something to prove. There were question marks, he felt, being asked of his candidacy as a prospect in a fiercely competitive 2022 NFL Draft EDGE class. Did he answer those questions? You better believe he did.

One of the biggest questions was people saying that Im a raw talent, Mafe said as he reflected on pre-Senior Bowl preconceptions and how he challenged them in Mobile during an exclusive sitdown with Pro Football Network. That Im not very developed yet, and theres a lot of work to be done with me. My main focus of the week was to showcase that I know what Im doing out there, that I have a lot of speed, burst, and acceleration off the edge.

As he ascends in this 2022 NFL Draft class, development is something that Mafe takes great pride in. By his own admission, the player that arrived in Minnesota for the 2017 college football season is unrecognizable from the dynamic, explosive pass rusher that opened up eyes and lit up offensive tackles during Senior Bowl practices.

I think its night and day, said Mafe of the differences in his game. I dont think youd be able to recognize what I looked like as a freshman to now. Thats what college is there for. Its a developmental stage in your career. You need to go through that time where you know youre not at your best. But you know that youll be somebody someday. So just keep working at it, and thats what I did.

The Senior Bowl is one of the last opportunities for coaches to see you play good-on-good football, Mafe continued while discussing the reasons why the Senior Bowl is so important for showcasing that hes the real deal in the NFL Draft process. You play against the best of the best competition, theyre all striving to be in the NFL. Being able to go against a lot of guys in that situation was very good for me to be able to showcase my skills, my talents, in a different light.

A hyper-athletic pass-rush talent, Mafe laughed as he told me the three best words to describe his game are fast, fast, explosive. While the NFL is a serious business, you can tell that the Minnesota defensive end wants it to be fun, too. A wrestling fan growing up, he sees the sport as a medium to entertain in the same way that stars on the square canvas do except his canvas is a football field.

High energy, motor, quick burst off the line, he said, describing what he brings to the field. I try and have fun out there, enjoy the game, make it an artwork. Try and make it something that people would enjoy watching.

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If the football field is akin to a wrestling canvas, Mafes pass-rush toolbox is his finishing move. While he jokes hed like to try out some wrestling moves on the field, the Minnesota defensive end has some go-to moves that he describes as his favorites. His athleticism will only get him so far as an NFL Draft prospect these tools of the trade will help him transition into an exceptional NFL player.

I like the stab. I like the swipes. Swipe is probably my favorite. I like to swipe, dip, and off the edge, Mafe said. Hes used those moves to get straight into the opposing backfield, where hes consistently resided over the course of the last four years in Minnesota and most recently in Mobile, where he earned National Team Player of the Game honors for his explosive performance.

Turn on any game Mafe points to Wisconsin in 2021 and the bowl game against West Virginia as prime examples and the talent is easy to see. What isnt apparent from purely watching the Minnesota defensive end go to work is the journey that hes undertaken to get here. He calls himself an open book, but did you know that hes of Nigerian ancestry and spent two years of middle school overseas?

It was very interesting, he reflected on his time in boarding school in Nigeria. It was something that, for me, you never really understand it until you look back, and you dont realize the blessings of it and how beneficial it was to me. In the moment, I was like, wow this is crazy! Im leaving everything that I knew and everything Im comfortable with. But, I enjoyed that time, I met new people and made new relationships. I grew up and matured, you learn how to grow up really fast.

His Nigerian heritage has proven to be extremely important to him as hes developed not only as a football player but also as a young man.

Its everything, Mafe said. Its my moral compass of how I carry myself and how I live my life. The culture, and the religion, everything that we do is based off the stuff that my parents instilled in me as a little kid. It makes me who I am today. The golden rule of taking care of your family, respecting your elders, respecting others. Thats how I live my life.

While hed grow to take care of his family, it was their environment that helped nurture and develop him as a blossoming football talent at a young age. The family is full of standout athletes, and Mafe points to their inspiration and direction as a driving force that helped produce the competitive nature that he showcases every week on the football field.

Its been a great development, Mafe said. Honestly, looking up to my siblings and cousins, everybody played sports, and it was something that Ive always liked to do and I enjoyed. When we got together, we were a very competitive family. So no matter what we were doing, wed make it competitive. Thats the competitive nature of our family.

The competitive nature translated to tackle football. Although he missed two years of football development during his trip to Nigeria, he picked it right back up on his return.

They kind of told me, Hey, come play tackle football with us! I didnt play for two seasons while I was at boarding school, Mafe said. But, when I came back, that was when it really kicked off for me. A lot of my closest friends I played with during middle school and high school. When I got to college, I was like, Oh, this is football for real, for real! Had to really get into gear and lock into the process of really getting better.

Born and bred in Minnesota, Mafe took his football talents to the field at Hopkins High School. While he was still developing as a football talent, there was no denying his athletic prowess. In addition to suiting up on Friday nights, he starred in track and field. It was an experience that would ultimately aid his football development.

I feel that, through track, I learned how to control my body, Mafe said. Running mechanics, learning how to strike the ground, how to lean into your run. Ultimately learning how to get maximum speed in a short burst of space. All the aspects of track can translate somewhere to football, and you can always use them in some area.

Mafe used them to devastating effect on the football field. Highly productive, he made a name for himself on all-star teams and earned All-Metro and All-State honors. However, when it came to recruiting for the college level, all athletic and performance advantages were negated by a lack of exposure for Minnesota high school athletes.

I mean, the recruiting process from Minnesota is very limited, Mafe said. Were not one of those big football states where you have a bunch of five stars. People dont put a lot of money into recruiting Minnesota. Hopefully, that changes in the near future. Theres a lot of talent in Minnesota that gets overlooked and that deserves recognition.

The nations loss was his home states gain. An offer from the University of Minnesota allowed Mafe to play his football close to home while showcasing his talents in the Big Ten. Before hed have the opportunity to do that, however, hed redshirt his freshman season, an experience that helped build the disruptive defensive monster that heads to the 2022 NFL Draft.

Honestly, it helps you learn the game, makes it slow down for you, Mafe said. You have the opportunity to really get the mental aspect of football. Going from high school to college, its really two different speeds. Youve got to learn to read faster, do your assignments faster. I took it upon myself to make sure that I was ready for the next season, working on my fundamentals and technique to get the opportunity to play.

After making his debut against New Mexico State, Mafe would go on to play four years for the Golden Gophers. Each season, hed be more productive for Minnesota, resulting in his most successful campaign of all in 2021. He tallied 19.5 tackles for loss and 15 sacks, all the while playing with the energy that embodies head coach P.J. Fleck.

Hes everything that you see on TV. Mafe smiled while reflecting on his head coach of five years. He has that energy, hes always energetic in everything that he does. He never slows down. I try to tell him sometimes, Relax! But thats him, thats how he does it. Thats how he lives his life, and that energy is contagious. I feel like a lot of things in football are contagious, and he used his energy throughout the university.

Despite his remaining eligibility, Mafe opted to declare for the 2022 NFL Draft following his four playing years in Minnesota. He reflected on the guys who are behind me, ready to play while embracing the fact that the next challenge for me is to play in the NFL. After receiving the invite for the Senior Bowl, he recognized that Im really doing a pretty good, decent job during his final season in the maroon and gold.

The athletic upside of the Minnesota defensive end is extremely enticing. Hes an explosive playmaker who has showcased the technical ability to shake off that raw prospect tag he feels has been hanging around his neck. Mafe is ready and raring to go, ready to showcase why an NFL team should take a shot on him in the NFL Draft.

My personality and my playing style, he said. Being willing to learn, honestly. Im ready to learn a new scheme and put myself in a new situation. I think thats exciting. Whats perhaps more exciting for an NFL team is how Mafe conjures up his feelings towards what it would mean to him personally to be selected in April. Its a tantalizing prospect.

It would mean the world, Mafe said. Its something that Ive been working towards my whole career. Now that its in front of me, I want to be able to move forward. Honestly, I think my best football is ahead of me. Well see where that takes me, see where it leads me.

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Minnesota DE Boye Mafe out to prove he's more than just a raw prospect in the 2022 NFL Draft - Pro Football Network

If Abbott elementary were a real school, the online reviews would probably be brutal. The students are unruly. The principals out to lunch. One teacher even kicked a kid. You can imagine childless neighbors complaining about their property values, former teachers ranting about why they quit and school parents cautioning other families to stay away.

Of course, Abbott Elementary isnt a real school. It merely depicts a fictional one on ABC, and in the mockumentary style. The workplace under the microscope in this sitcom is a West Philadelphia public school thats typical of its subject. Which is to say its overcrowded, underfunded and underserving its community. Its too true to the woeful state of public education in America to seem like it could be funny.

And yet it mines laughs, big ones, through its note-perfect imitations of life. After two years of Covid-related school closures, Zoom classes and critical race theory panic, its nice to be transported back to a simpler time when public schools were symbols of urban decay, and not the downfall of America.

Theres a reason why teachers are the rarest television fodder; unlike doctors or lawyers or even journalists, their lives dont appear to be especially cinematic. (Never mind the raft of headlines and cellphone videos that teachers attract for everything from breaking up hallway fights to entering into underaged affairs.)

And when teachers are on screen, they mainly function as props for the angst-riddled teens or tweens really driving the story. (See NBCs Saved By the Bell, HBOs Euphoria, Netflixs Sex Education, etc.) Glee and season four of The Wire are the rare shows that actually deem teachers worthy of genuine exploration.

AP Bio, the NBCUniversal comedy that ran for four seasons, is a notable exception that foregrounds faculty but even that sitcom is less a reflection on the seemingly impossible challenges of the job than one teachers unhinged fantasy of avenging the loss of a tenured professorship at Harvard. Even its fictional Whitlock high is a small-town, blue-sky idyll for the college-bound, majority white middle class.

Abbott Elementary, though, keeps it real. It doesnt shrink from urban public schools well-known occupational hazards the metal detectors, the corroded infrastructure, the expired books, the broken families. (Not even West Philadelphia gets a Fresh Prince-like caricaturization.) Abbotts comedy comes from teachers who are committed to solving these seemingly intractable problems, even when it would be easier and smarter to take the path of least resistance.

None in the teachers lounge is more keen than Janine Teagues, whose dedication is driven by a desire to be remembered as that elementary school teacher we adults canonize long after the world turns us cynical. If that character sketch seems more grounded than Harvard redundancy with an axe to grind, its because Quinta Brunson the A Black Lady Sketch Show alumna who stars on screen and as a writing executive producer conceived of the ABC series in tribute to her mother, a near 40-year schoolteaching vet. And the show takes its name from Brunsons actual sixth grade teacher, Joyce Abbott still of West Phillys Andrew Hamilton school.

She even gets an onscreen avatar who is played to utmost primness by the Tony-nominated Sheryl Lee Ralph (of Moesha fame). As for the rest of Abbotts core faculty, youve got the tough neighborhood broad (Lisa Ann Walter), the woke Teach for America type (Chris Perfetti), the blas principal (the devastatingly charismatic Janelle James). And then theres the substitute whose ambition and hotness keeps tongues wagging, played by Everybody Loves Chriss Tyler James Williams, whose on-screen chemistry with Brunson dates to their Black Lady Romeo and Juliet spoof.

Interestingly, Williams is inarguably the biggest name on the show. But for Abbott, the absence of celebrity actors is an asset, as it allows the story to be the star. And so far the story has resonated. After modest promotion and a launch in early December, ratings for the Abbott premiere quadrupled over the next 35 days, in an ABC first. Even more impressive: the series has avoided stigmatization as a Black show despite its overwhelmingly Black cast, a pitfall NBCs excellent Grand Crew could not avoid. If anything, Abbotts Black cast of teachers and students deepens its authenticity.

In interviews, Brunson has spoken of her desire to create a show with heart. And theres little doubt her success on that score has Abbott Elementary poised for a Ted Lasso-like breakout.

But ultimately this show is a win for teachers, many of whom have contacted Brunson directly to say that, finally, they feel seen. Its high praise; who knows if itll lead to any substantive reforms or even motivate viewers to shore up their public schools and advocate for those teachers. At the very least, Abbott offers a refresher on comedys golden rule: the truth is always funnier than fiction. Which is to say its not a school you want to skip.

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Abbott Elementary sees teachers for who they are: big-hearted and underfunded - The Guardian

On his fourth album, Jake Webb comes at you with a question that sounds heavy and even a little bit ridiculous: Are You Haunted? When you think about it, it makes sense that the genesis of the album dates back to Castigat Ridendo Mores, a song named after a Latin phrase that essentially suggests the only way to get through the craziest, most difficult times which is what some may describe the past two years during which Webb crafted his most solitary project to date is to point out their absurdity. The Western Australian singer-songwriter and producer, who has been honing his eclectic brand of psychedelic dream pop since he adopted the moniker back in 2013, is less interested in offering easy answers than trying to capture the essence of a question, the things both frightening and funny that creep around the edges and evade you. Its a fitting title for an album that is moved by abstract ideas but finds bold and intriguing ways of exploring them.

Out today via Future Classic, Are You Haunted? Methyl Ethels first for the label is his most unrestrained and experimental effort to date. There are sections of solo piano, an instrument featured heavily on the album, weaved alongside dissonant strings, dramatic melodies, and heady electronics, like on One and the Beat, which stretches out to six minutes. But for every moment that feels brooding and introspective, there are others that are groovy and danceable, like the propulsive Matters or the Stella Donnelly-assisted Proof, his first song with a featured artist. Its a strangely evocative album that concerns itself with serious subjects climate change, politics, the culture at large but never takes itself too seriously. Because what its really haunted by in a poetic sense, at least, but still quite visceral is the actual space that made it possible, the studio where Methyl Ethel recorded their earliest material and where Webb returned to during the pandemic, following the passing of a close friend who owned it. You can spend your time pondering the meaning of that question, but at the end of the day, you just have to feel it.

We caught up with Jake Webb to talk about how an Andrei Tarkovsky quote, The Waste Land,the golden ratio, and more inspired his new album.

Had we been speaking in my studio, which I normally would be for most of the interviews, you would have seen it behind me, but its just three words. Im paraphrasing, but I think he was essentially saying that these are the core elements of what he considers to be his art or his creative process, and its Luck, lies, and witchcraft. That felt really apt, and it kind of resonated throughout the making of the record. To this day, I think those are totally three core elements in any creative pursuit of making something that is special.

Do you see one of them as being in any way more important when it comes to your work?

Not at all, because I think what it also does signify is that you kind of need to be in the room, doing the work, for any of them to actually manifest. You need to really be there to to get lucky in any way, but after toiling for so long you can totally make that happen. The lies is really kind of like that showbiz thing where its all smoke and mirrors, trying to trick people into feeling certain emotions. I think thats the driving force in many ways for the choices that you make, its just, How do I fabricate an emotional response out of something? Thats where that witchcraft comes in there is sort of an unknown factor where everything goes right, I guess the magic, if you will. Its something that is open enough to be a great source of inspiration.

I actually noted down another Tarkovsky quote from Stalker that I thought was interesting and wanted to ask you about. It goes, A man writes because he is tormented, because he doubts. He needs to constantly prove to himself and the others that hes worth something. Do you believe thats true?

I feel like thats just a pretty human perspective. In loads of pursuits, there is so much of proving oneself in a persons life, too, to a certain degree. So certainly, I think it does resonate. But the torment is just too dramatic for me. I understand and I can empathise with the thought, but its far too dramatic of a perspective for me. I dont feel tormented so much only as tormented as anybody else. I mean, life has its torments, you know, and it can be read and experienced as nothing but endless torment. But the opposite is also true.

I also think this idea of self-doubt being a motivator is interesting, that part of creating something is putting yourself in a vulnerable position.

I think there is something in that. I think you do know that the answers that you look for through doing this kind of stuff, theyre impossible to find. Even striving for some kind of perfection is an impossible quest, but its that striving for it that is so seductive, thats so enjoyable, to feel like youre really trying to grab onto something.

Its something I came across years ago, and there was just a part of it that resonated with me, that essentially was something I would have written down in a journal that has become the title of the album and just a lot of thoughts about it. Theres this title that comes on the screen, and its speaking about displaced spirits of soldiers who have died while at war on an island away from their home. From my memory, thats what it kind of is. I think it says, Are we haunted by homeless ghosts? I thought that was a really beautiful sentence. Even just that question, Are you haunted? was something that felt really evocative for me. Its something that I saw years before this record was something I was working on, and I think this really illustrates how Im using my antenna to kind of pick up on things that get stored away for later time.

Last year and the year before, they were the biggest two years of readings for me. Ive read more books than I ever have. I looked at my bookshelf at the time, at the beginning, I just thought its shameful how many of my own books I havent actually finished or read. So it was a really feverish time of reading, because I was also this is one of my inspirations, but it ties into catching the train. I was catching the train and the bus to my studio, which was a really peaceful 45-minute journey just to myself that I would read all these books while doing it. I was so engrossed I would walk and read at the same time our streets arent particularly busy, so its very easy to do that, but you just go straight out the door, straight onto the page.

I think David Foster Wallace has been the most exciting author that Ive read for so long. The inspiration is more of a rule-breaking thing. Its almost like: dont be afraid to cram all your ideas into something. Dont be afraid to speak in your own voice. Dont be afraid to mash all of the formats and bits and pieces of things that you are interested in into the work. Thats the first time Id ever read it, and I cant wait to read it again. But its just challenging in all the right ways, funny as hell, which is also so important. Its something that Ive tried to put into this record as well. There needs to be a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek. Because I also read Ulysses not long after that, just because Im a pretentious wanker, mainly, and for me, so much of those works theres so much piss-taking in it. And theres so much that it wasnt meant for us to understand. We can try so hard to figure things out, but its just like a practical joke on the reader a little bit.

When it comes to catching public transport, was there anything you wanted to add on point?

It really is that time of quiet contemplation, and wanting to look out the window as much as possible when not reading. Its just a reminder that sometimes thats where the experience of music is perfectly suited, when you give yourself the opportunity to slow down a bit, not have anything to do right at that moment.

I can hear the piano being more prominent on the album, but how did those things specifically inspire you?

The piano is at the studio space that I rent, its not my piano. But coincidentally, the first piano that Ive ever owned arrived today and is upstairs and ready to tune tomorrow, so thats pretty special. Future inspiration, perhaps. I havent had access continuously to an actual acoustic piano, because I write on keys wherever I am pretty much for most of the records. More than what the piano signifies, that particular piano was just always there, something that I spent hours at arranging. And I wanted to record it really well and have it be how it sounded to me in the room, because thats how special it was. And you have to be careful, with the piano, because it says something that is so familiar to people. Its almost too emotional, it can be very melancholic. But that was okay, because it sort of helped me to tell the story that I wanted to in a musical sense.

And those pianists, Scriabin and Sibelius, and there were probably a couple of others, but it was just the music that I was listening to most of the time. Because I do I revert to classical music and I still listen to mostly classical music, but when Im making my own music, I try to push away most other music except for classical music.

Its later in the list, but theres also this modernist work, The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives, that youve cited. Can you talk about that as well?

Yeah, similar sort of thing. I was really interested, and I didnt do it too much, but I think in other pursuits or moving forward, I found the beauty of dissonance to be really inspiring, and especially through listening to that Charles Ives piece. I remember working on some of the string parts for Castigat Ridendo Mores as soon as I found this dissonant swell, I just remember playing some parallel notes together, some mash that was just exactly perfect. It was this sort of epiphany moment that all of a sudden, you realise there are no rules, really. Everything is just there for you to use in whatever way. Thats a special thing that listening to that Charles Ives piece kind of unlocked a little bit.

Im interested to see how that manifests in future works. Maybe thats why it was further down in the list, too.

I can understand how, once you get interested in that sort of thing, its hard to return to melodic, tonal music. All of a sudden, its not exciting anymore. Itd be cool to really see that through.

Personally, I find it hard to get away from T.S. Eliot, and this is somebody that I have and probably lots of people have studied in high school. I find that his poetry is just perfect to me, and something I use as something to strive towards. But for this time around, I spent a lot of time on writing the lyrics for this album and rewriting them a lot. Im not somebody whos proofread any of my schoolwork or anything over the years, and this is the first time I really did that. The Waste Land was almost like a workout for me while I was writing lyrics, to just read it and see if it can set something off.

The thing about The Waste Land, more than content, its just really sitting with something that is so well-constructed. Not that I would ever want to copy any part of it, thats not the point, the point would be to really see what somebody whos a great writer can do and get excited about going in to do that. Because thats the biggest amount of toil in writing songs, I suppose, is the fact that youve got to marry these two totally separate things sometimes, you marry a melody to a lyric. As far as rhythm and melody goes, its really hard to do. I feel like Ive chanced it a little bit more in the past, and this time I wanted to be more precise. So, what better inspiration than somebody who was a master of writing in that way?

I was watching a lot of films at night, but just with the subtitles on and the sound muted. And with all due respect to Wim Wenders, I would fall asleep. It would really lull me into sleep in a totally beautiful way. But these films, the pacing of it all was so beautiful and meshed with the evening, the stillness of night. Sometimes you wake up feeling in a similar mode to what the film had because youre so lulled into that floating around. Wings of Desire maybe is one that thematically did kind of find its way in, because I find that often you can feel like youre sort of a silent observer of things when youre walking around. And especially when youre listening to music, its very easy to feel like youre just watching things going on around you. Its totally a feeling that I wanted to have in the music.

I dont know how it happened, but it pretty much gave me the idea for the opening lyrics for Proof. Theres a scene where one of the characters is asked what they can see, and they start describing what they can see out the window. I started writing down the dialogue instantly because there was something in it, and I suppose thats the truest form of inspiration. All these things, they have something there that in the moment Im not quite sure what it is but ends up becoming something. Thats why I have so much respect for all the people who are involved in making these films theyre just rich, full of great ideas and great moments that can just be mined by bullshit artists like me. [laughs]

Im glad we talked about this because out of all the lyrics on the album, that line and that melody from Proof is the one that just keeps coming back to me the most.

Thats the witchcraft, then.

This is another one of those things that I have written up on my wall. I had this realization I thought that what I was doing by continuously going and working on music, and just everything in that room in general, I thought I was striving perfection to get everything perfectly balanced. But the thing that I wrote and I found out was, for me, perfection and harmony and harmony not necessarily in a musical way are kind of two different things. I feel that disparate parts being harmonious together, it doesnt have to be perfect. And I know that imperfection is a total cliche when it comes to making music, especially, being rough around the edges and stuff. But it goes with the thing about dissonance, too, just to remind myself that the purpose of it all is not to try and get everything to be perfect. Especially when I was mixing, its a good thing to remind myself that I dont need to tidy every little last bit up.

What had you written down specifically on your wall?

I have the gold ratio formula. I just put a big red circle with a cross through it [laughs]. And I wrote something like, Perfection is not even to harmony.

This is the side of things that is just purely enjoyable. Its just because I love playing drums and its a totally different side to all of this real pondering of the deeper things. Sometimes I just want to get into the room and play music shaking out a bit of the nervous energy of being in the room in 30 minutes to start the day was just a great way to get on with it. To go, Okay, Ive had my fun, now its time to do some work. And Im really proud of the drum parts that Ive played on the record, too. Groove is so important in music to me, and that serves as a counterpoint to some of the darker, heady themes. You can cut away that or if you dont speak English and youre just listening to the music, you should be able to move in that way thats really primal.

This is where you recorded the album, right?

Yeah. Its a place that, many years ago, thats where I started learning how to do all these things. My friend whose studio studio it was, he sort of set it up, I went to high school with him and I learned a lot of stuff with him. A couple of years ago, he passed away tragically. It just so happened that when I came back to Perth, I asked what was happening with a room in the place the short story is that I found myself back there, which is really special because I spent so much time there many years before. The plan was for me to just do a bit of work there and Im still working out of there.

When you think about what recording music in a space is, you really are capturing the essence of the space that youre in. And if you want to take it to a poetic level, theyre the actual ghosts on the record, the way everythings bouncing off those walls, all of the air that youre kind of getting to move the diaphragms, the microphones, which then move your headphones. There are memories that are these ghosts that Im talking about as far as haunting goes throughout the album whether theyre real memories or misremembered things, or whether theyre collective memories of people that we have been or ghosts of humanity. Thats what I think about when I think about this record, and that space is so tied into that because thats the most literal version representation of a lot of those ideas. You can hear that space on the record, so how could it not be an inspiration?

How did that idea of being haunted in this personal, almost literal way, blend in with the theme of the ghosts of our collective past? How did you go about merging those?

I think it was really easy because I pretty much always have the title of a record before I really start writing the record, really writing it. Its not a dissertation or anything, its just a way for me to bring a bunch of disparate ideas about things in totally different ways together in one place. So naturally, each new piece of work that I started working on, I wanted to come with a different angle. That was the intention, to do a reading of the same idea in different ways.

Do you mind sharing one thing that youve learned or that youre still learning from your friend?

I think more than a lesson or anything like that, its just that I feel really lucky and its really special to be doing it. To be full-time making music. That would have been both of our I hesitate to say dreams, but its something that we definitely wanted to work towards and he was doing as well. Its nice to feel like he would just be loving what Im making at the moment. I would have so much to talk to him about now about all this stuff that Ive been doing, you know, under the same roof. There was great time back in the day, all those years ago, when I was working in one room and he was in another and another friend was in another, and we would come out for to have a chat and have a cigarette or something. And we were so excited about everything that everybody was doing, and it was so awesome to be feeding off all of that energy, of people just working and doing their thing in their space. I think rather than a lesson, its just knowing, its just feeling Yeah, hed be really into it.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Methyl Ethels Are You Haunted? is out now via Future Classic.

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Methyl Ethel on How an Andrei Tarkovsky Quote, 'The Waste Land', the Golden Ratio, and More Inspired His New Album 'Are You Haunted?' - Our Culture...

Mrs. Dorothy Jean Stacey, 87, of Woodbury, Tennessee passed away Friday, February 18, 2022, at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She was born on Monday, July 23, 1934, in Nashville, Tennessee. Preceding her in death were her parents, William "Will" Robinson and Lillian Spencer Robinson Crosslin; husband, Elmer Pruitt Stacey, Sr.; sons, Pruitt Stacey, and Donald Stacey; brother, Roger Robinson; sisters, Sandra Murphy and Ruby Martin; and granddaughter, Candace Richardson.

She is survived by her daughters, Diane Foster of Shelbyville, Carolyn Jernigan of Murfreesboro, Linda (Steve) Duke of Woodbury, and Cathey (Ricky) Stahl of Murfreesboro; son, Buddy Stacey of Bell Buckle; brother, Wayne Robinson of Murfreesboro; grandchildren, Crystal (David) Haggary, Terry (Lynn) Stacey, Johnny (Bernice) Stacey, Johnathan (Lara) Jernigan, Stacey (Johnathan) Toombs, Michael Duke, Kim (Eric) Partridge, Dustin (Laura Beth) Stacey, Shaina (Zack) West, Anthony (Vanessa) Stacey, and Brandon Richardson; 23 great grandchildren, 4 great-great grandchildren, and dear friends, Wilma Prater and Helen Paschal.

If you knew Mrs. Dorothy there were a few things you could say about her. One was she was likely the toughest lady you ever met. She went through a lot of hard times in her life, but even when the chips were down, don't count her out. Just like a cat it seemed she had nine lives. Two was "Going" was her middle name. If anyone mentioned they were about to go somewhere, she already had her purse in hand ready to hit the road. When she could still drive she would come up with reasons she needed to go somewhere or visit someone. After she couldn't drive, one of her close friends, Wilma Prater, would come by to pick her up for outings. Another close friend was Helen Paschal, Mrs. Dorothy would call them up in the mornings just like she was their alarm clock to see what was going on and what they were all going to get into.

Another thing you could say was she knew how to cook and every meal was laid out like a Thanksgiving feast. With seven kids and a bus load of grandkids and great grandkids she didn't really know how to cook for a small group. Some of the family favorites were banana pudding, asparagus, and minute steak with onions and tomatoes. Cooking for a crowd went hand in hand with the plan she and her husband Elmer had to open a restaurant on the square in Murfreesboro called the Eat Shop. Mrs. Dorothy had a sweet tooth that wouldn't quit. She would rather have dessert than a regular meal. Her brother would often come by with a box full of a favorite treat of donuts.

Hard work didn't scare her a bit, whether it was taking care of her family at home or going out to earn a living at one of the numerous places she worked through the years. Whatever she did, she did it right. She and another friend owned and operated Jake's Auction in McMinnville. It was a job she enjoyed because it encompassed two of her favorite hobbies. When they needed items to auction on Saturday, she would go to all the local yard sales, storage auctions, and estate sales and get good deals on the things that would sell best at their auction. The real fun came on Friday nights at Jake's. It was wrestling night. They would book local wrestlers to come in and put on a show for the crowd. She loved seeing all the action and the wrestlers loved her and would often come give her a big hug and kiss.

Faith in God and love for her family were at the top of her list. Her giving spirit fit well with the Bible's Golden Rule of love thy neighbor and it is more blessed to give than to receive. Many friends, family members, or strangers were recipients of her love, care, cooking, and generosity. God blessed her with motherly wisdom. It often flowed from her and wasn't shy to tell you what she thought about a particular subject. Over the years her love of the Lord lead her to different churches, her home church was at Living Springs, but she would often find herself at Plainview Baptist in recent years. Old school gospel music by the likes of Loretta Lynn and George Jones topped her charts over any of the contemporary Christian music. In church she loved to hear and sing the old time gospel hymns.

Mrs. Dorothy's adventurous side and love of going didn't fade as she got older. She was well in her 80's when she took her first plane ride to visit her sister in South Carolina. The family made sure to indulge and spoil her with frequent trips out to eat, birthday parties, and shopping sprees. When she was out and about she wanted her nails done and her lipstick on. After all the going when she did get home, she was happy to get out the old faithful sponge hair rollers to get her hair ready for the next big adventure. She was happy to recline in her chair with her curlers, a pair of warm slippers and blanket to rest up for wherever tomorrow would lead her. Her family will have many happy memories of the family gatherings and going with Mrs. Dorothy to cherish in the years to come.

Visitation will be held at Gentry-Smith Funeral Home on Wednesday, February 23, 2022 from 4-8 pm. Funeral services will be Thursday, February 24, 2022 at 11 am in the Gentry-Smith Funeral Home chapel. Greg Mitchell will officiate. Interment will be in Jernigan Cemetery. Share memories and condolences at http://www.gentrysmithfuneralhome.com Gentry-Smith Funeral Home, 303 Murfreesboro Rd. Woodbury, TN 37190, 615-563-5337 Because every life has a story

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Dorothy Jean Stacey - The Cannon Courier - Cannon Courier

As an empathy researcher, educator and a clinical psychiatrist, I've recently become aware of my own limited empathy as I've attempted to understand vaccine refusal, grappling with my own secret feelings of disgust bordering on disdain, as the stakes are so high that have tested the limits of what I not only practice, but also teach.

Studies show that empathy has been linked to greater trust in the patient-clinician relationship, greater adherence to medical recommendations and better health outcomes. Despite these benefits, even the most well-meaning healthcare providers are being challenged right now.

My own feelings hit a new high when I learned about a 15-year-old who asked someone to pose as his father so he could get vaccinated because his own parents refused. Weeks later, both parents were hospitalized with COVID. The father died while his mother eventually agreed to be vaccinated.

Why does it take death to convince others to get vaccinated? How can physicians and others maintain empathy when people make decisions that flout medical wisdom and basic science?

For doctors, this is not new. We work with patients every day who refuse to quit smoking, lose weight, or stop drinking behaviors that can also affect the health and well-being of others. Empathy education is often needed to help move doctors beyond judgment and into a curiosity mode, enabling us to uncover more about patient perspectives and build trust.

We already know a few reasons why people refuse vaccinations, including fear and uncertainty of side effects, need for autonomy, education disparities, lack of medical literacy, widespread misinformation, polarized political rhetoric and distrust of governments.

But we're also seeing a big departure from one of the most powerful past drivers of vaccine adherence: a strong belief in social responsibility for the common good.

We're moving quickly away from a society that was once ideologically grounded in principles of cooperation, collaboration and reciprocity to one focused on the self. And that profound shift may be the most fundamental reason why appeals to get vaccinated to protect fellow humans aren't working.

This is certainly not the only reason for vaccine refusal, but it is critical that we understand why the golden rule of caring about our neighbor as ourselves has eroded. Why have people lost faith in participating in the public good?

It all leads back to empathy. When there is empathy, people feel seen, understood and helped. Our brains are wired to care for others, which is why we flinch when we witness someone fall or get hit by a ball. We also feel motivated to help in these scenarios because the human brain maps others' pain onto our own pain matrixes, producing concern and helping behaviors that involve reward networks and moral reasoning.

These crucial brain networks have been preserved throughout millennia to protect and ensure the survival of our species because when others hurt, we hurt. We need one another to survive as a species, and nowhere is that more evident than when fighting a global pandemic.

Studies show that well-educated, more affluent people are likelier to be vaccinated because they trust the government to do right by them because they reap many benefits. One of the root problems of vaccine refusal occurs when people experience a lack of empathy from the government and live the consequences of a broken social contract. Because many people living in poverty don't benefit from the public good, and are denied safe housing and decent schools, this lack of government empathy is mirrored externally: If no one cares about me, why should I care about you?

A failure of empathy toward the poor, disenfranchised, wrongfully imprisoned, and those with insecure food and housing can result in no desire to "give back" because the fundamental empathy loop that motivates positive reciprocity is broken. There is no reservoir of goodwill to tap into when people live in dire straits, distrust the legal system and watch billionaires get rich while paying zero taxes.

Frustrating to many leaders and doctors is the fact that meaningful change in people who lack trust in authorities happens slowly, one caring relationship at a time. But our society is not structured that way.

In the medical world, patients make changes when their unwillingness to change is viewed through the lens of empathy and met with curiosity and genuine interest. Respecting the autonomy of individuals to make their own choices while helping them build confidence in making small changes results from many conversations, not from bombarding them with information and public service announcements about why smoking leads to cancer.

The government and its institutions must tap into the power of empathy to learn more about how to make vaccines feel safer. However difficult to do, both doctors and citizens must also tap into their own empathy to offer understanding to those who feel they don't need to care about others, knowing that they may indeed have reasons not to care.

We also need self-empathy when we find ourselves judging others, recognizing that we've all fallen into the same trap of blaming rather than working on solutions. While this blame trap can lead us to feel powerful in our outrage no matter what side we're on we need to work together in our conversations to bridge our divides by seeking opportunities to understand and connect.

Waiting for the federal government to convince vaccine refusers to change may be waiting much too long. Our collective health is not an individual matter, yet we run the risk of individual choices undermining the health of our country and the world.

As a collective solution, we need to empathize and understand the predicaments that many people live with, including a lack of basic housing, food, education and medical access, all of which can cause people to give up not only on their own health, but also on the health of society.

Empathy can get us through this pandemic, and we must find ways to harness it. Our lives depend on it.

The information provided here is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. You should consult with a qualified healthcare provider for advice concerning your specific situation.

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Psychiatrist and Empathy Expert: Can Empathy Help Overcome Anger Toward the Unvaccinated? - Newsweek

One of the most accepted truths of the Jewish tradition, and of the world at large, is to love your neighbor as yourself. And since today is Valentines Day, the day of love, what better time to revisit the oldest saying about love?

Weve been hearing this love your neighbor saying for so long it rarely dawns on us that it may be overlooking something. For example, what if I hate myself? What if Im depressed and abuse myself? What if, deep down, the confident, self-loving front I show the world is covering up feelings of self-loathing?

Is that the kind of love I should show my neighbor?

For better or worse, self-hatred and the emotional ills attached to it is so prevalent throughout our society that treating it has become a billion-dollar industry. And yet, we keep promoting the golden rule, which assumes that because we put our own interests first, we must love ourselves.

As natural as that may sound, reality and psychology often tell a different story.

Even the ultimate self-lovers, the narcissists, are not what they seem. A recent study reported by BBCindicates that unlike Narcissus staring at himself reflecting in the pool, many narcissists actually arent in love with themselves after all. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Much of the time, the study showed, a narcissists behavior isnt driven by self-love rather, self-hatred narcissistic behavior like flexing on social media might come from low self-esteem and a constant need for self-validation.

The point is this: We shouldnt assume that people love themselves more than they love their neighbors.Many people, in fact, treat neighbors far better than they treat themselves. Its a lot easier to be respectful and polite with those who dont remind us ofour inner demons.

Many people treat neighbors far better than they treat themselves. Its a lot easier to be respectful and polite with those who dont remind us ofour inner demons.

I remember speaking to a therapist once about how some people are more courteous with strangers they encounter during the day than they are with their spouse. Its the old idea that familiarity brings contempt. That same principle can apply to individuals. Self-loathers, after all, are only too familiar with the traits they hate about themselves.

If some of what Im suggesting here rings true, the real question becomes: How do we increase our self-love so that we have more of it to give to others?

For the millions who dont love themselves, but who show impeccable courtesy with the outside world, maybe we ought to flip the golden rule: Love yourself as your neighbors. Start by being as courteous and respectful with yourself as you are with strangers.

And then, youll be more likely to be courteous with your loved ones. In the world of love, courtesy is just as important as a dozen roses.

Happy ValentinesDay.

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Is It Time to Revisit Love Your Neighbor as Yourself? - Jewish Journal

The number one writing rule that I'm sure most people have heard of is Show, don't tell. What that means is that if you want to convey information to your audience, it's better to do so in a way that isn't just straight up telling them.

Let's say you want to tell your audience that your character is angry. You could just have them say I'm angry. But how often does a person in real life ever plainly announce their anger that way? Have you ever been able to tell someone was angry without them telling you? What if instead of having our character say I'm angry, you write them entering their house and slamming the door behind them so hard that picture frames fall off the wall and shatter on the floor. Air hisses out of their mouths as they huff and puff through gritted teeth. That's usually better writing. That's what show, don't tell means.

But what if I told you that Kare Kano breaks this golden rule of writing, and does so with incredible results?

His and Her Circumstances (also called Kare Kano for short) is a 1998 anime adaptation of the shoujo manga of the same name by Masami Tsuda. It was directed by Hideaki Anno, creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion. It tells the story of 10th grade Yukino Miyazawa and her boyfriend Soichiro Arima learning to love each other and themselves as they try to live as their authentic selves.

Kare Kano spends the first half of episode one explicitly telling you everything you need to know about Miyazawa. She's an extremely disciplined student at the top of her class. She's respected and revered by both her classmates and her family. She's beautiful and has a radiant personality. But her deep secret is that her entire public persona is a carefully constructed mask she wears in order to elicit as much praise as possible. When she's at home, she's lazy, slovenly, petty, and conniving. We know all of this because well, the show tells us. All of this info comes directly out of the mouths of Miyazawa's classmates, her family, and Miyazawa herself. At some points the characters even break the fourth wall by addressing the audience directly. Now I know what you're all thinking, Miyazawa says to us as she looks directly into the camera. It's such blatant exposition. But it's also what makes this show so charming.

The difference between this show and others that break the "show, don't tell" rule is how direct they're being with the audience. When they have an entire dinner scene of Miyazawa and all her family members describing her character in fine detail, there's no wiggling around it: they're exposition-dumping. Both the show's staff and the audience know that this is an incredibly unrealistic way for people to talk. But why do this? It's so the show can separate itself from the typical third-person narrative format of storytelling. The characters aren't just talking to each other, they're talking to you. Even when they aren't literally talking to the audience like Ferris Bueller. Kare Kano doesn't want you to feel like you're watching a story from afar. The show wants to recreate the feeling of a person sitting down with you personally and telling you their story. It breaks down the wall between you and the characters, creating a more intimate feeling.

When other shows attempt the same thing, however, it feels like they're trying and failing to trick us. Instead of closing the distance between the audience and the story, it feels like they're trying to trick us into thinking that it's characters talking to each other when really it's the writers talking to us. I contrast Kare Kano's approach to certain American animated shows like Bojack Horseman and Rick & Morty. As those shows went on, it seemed like they more and more often had characters break out into monologues about philosophy, social commentary, or their own characterization. This isn't any less realistic than the dinner scene in the first episode of Kare Kano. In fact, sometimes it's more realistic. But it's less genuine. Kare Kano is honest about what it's doing. Meanwhile Rick & Morty and Bojack Horseman try to disguise their intent by sticking their protagonist in a therapist's office while their character thesis is dictated to us.

This style of creating intimacy by speaking directly to the audience is one of Hideaki Anno's specialties. Kare Kano came out very soon after the release of The End of Evangelion. An apocalyptic sci-fi show about giant robots and aliens might sound like the farthest thing from a high school shoujo romcom, but watching both series back-to-back will reveal just how much of Evangelion's DNA is in this show. The way this show has characters soliloquy their emotions for minutes on end sometimes makes the show feel like a decompressed version of Evangelion's episodes 25 and 26. And over 20 years later in Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0, we can still see the evolution of this same style. In its ultimate form, Anno is able to make characters plainly explain why people hold hands and say goodbye in one of the best parts of the movie.

Any rule of art or storytelling is actually just a suggestion. Even though it may serve you well most of the time to follow them, nonconventional approaches can also be incredibly rewarding with the right vision. Kare Kano is a sappy, sappy show about two high schoolers having their first love while dealing with their own inner turmoil. Characters will stare right into the audience's face and tell you about their feelings for minutes at a time. They tell, don't show, and I can't recommend it enough.

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How His and Her Circumstances Breaks the #1 Writing Rule - Anime News Network

Album Review: aloha Son Little

Being open to the beauty of accidents is my golden rule. Aaron Livingston (Son Little)

aloha opens with a simple bass line, a verse, and a chorus. It gets to the point, says it, and moves on. hey rose introduces the album, demonstrating elements that are infused into the tracks later on. A salacious bass line opens and folds under a picnic-basket vocal and its guitar, which walk down as the drums enter and guide the song into a chorus. The flow and elegance of the arrangement makes room for Livingstons vocal fry to crackle lightly like Rice Krispies, and for the guitar to speak its truth in moments of silence. Then the stage is set.

The songs flow into each other like streams into a river. about her. again., begins also with a steamy bass line, and breaks off into an almost whispering acoustic guitar inside a thick silence. The effect of that dynamic choice is wonderful, and creates space for the song to grow out of it, and it blossoms into an introspective led by another poignant vocal melody.

This pattern continues through the album, with songs taking lives of their own, but staying true to the family.

The family is known as Son Little, an alias for Aaron Livingston, who in addition to his own career has produced for Mavis Staples and The Roots, having won a Grammy with Mavis Staples for best soul performance. Having self-produced his first two records as well, he opted to employ the production prowess of French visionary Renaud Letang (Manu Chao, Feist). Their work in Paris culminated in a complete rework of the album, forced by a hard drive failure, and the results were, in a nutshell, successful.

Listen a little closer now, and look for the tambourine. Its in every song, and plays a huge part in crystallizing the percussion, giving the spaces between drums meaning, and adding sparkle and spice to the cymbals when they appear. In an album driven by clever melody and instrumental pairings chosen like chocolate and wine, the little touches of tambourine and phaser effects are enough to elevate it all into a cohesive and understandable truth. But sometimes the romantic fog of perfect bass and poppy tambourines dissipates and gives too much clarity. In the wrong context, the album feels like a bad date. The more you hear it, the more attention it demands from you. Listen to it by yourself or with your friends the first time around, and dont expect to party. Its a wallowing celebration of deep feelings in shallow waters, but its not a mess to clean up; its a respite on a hot day.

Released on Jan. 31, 2020, aloha is a musical journey born from the pre-COVID times. Remember those days? Listen and you just might.

New: Let The Festivities Begin Los Bitchos (2022)

Los Bitchos are a London-based band with a love for cumbia fusion. Hailing from four distinct corners of the world London, Sweden, Uruguay, and Australia these four women have lightning-in-a-bottle energy on stage, and their infectious beats and surfy mesmerizations have infected quite a few dancing bodies. This album is great for dinner, lunch, walking your dog, driving to Woodmans, driving back from Woodmans, and even putting away your groceries. Sometimes the album may seem like one 37-minute song, which is why its great for a commute or a walk in the park. Pick one song for a playlist to give yourself a taste, and work up an appetite for the next time theyre in town and buy the damn tickets. In short, Los Bitchos will keep your spirits up.

Like new: Mambo Sinuendo Ry Cooder (2003)

Los Bitchoss surf-garage-latin grooves can be somewhat indistinct at times, but where they lack in entertainment, they pick up the slack by reminding you of Ry Cooders Mambo Sinuendo, a legendary pop-jazz collab with members of Buena Vista Social Club. The record ebbs and flows, centered around the catchy and bodacious guitar melody of track five, Caballo Viejo. The whole album speaks from the past through Los Bitchos in a refreshing way, straying from nostalgia while retaining its integrity.

What to listen to right now

Turn Off: The Eagles, The Beatles, Creep by Radiohead

Turn On: candy grapes Foushe, Steve Lacy

Turn Up: Small Poppies Courtney Barnett

On Campus: Tae Laurent (Dionta Charles 22) debut EP: XTASY

Laurents debut EP is full of life and plug in magic. Theres a hint of mainstream energy and a lot of patience, beginning with GENIE, it sets a mellow background mood at half volume, and at full volume it will blow your friends car windows off with great power GEEKED UP is begging for a mosh pit literally and figuratively and will be sure to flow well in any playlist reserved for a fun time. The EP follows a predictable 4/4 high-hat driven vibe, but if its your size, its going to fit just right. Go ahead, try it on. Available on all streaming platforms now.

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Oh! You Should Check This Out The Round Table - Beloit College Round Table

In summary

If Californias leaders want to ban Indigenous knowledge from the classroom, they should at least first learn it.

Roberto Cintli Rodriguez, who grew up in Southern California, is an emeritus associate professor in Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona. He is the author of several books, including Our Sacred Maiz is Our Mother.

In 2017, a Maya elder, Carlos Armando Dzul, took me to a church in Mani, Yucatn, to see where the infamous three-day auto de fe took place a mass book burning in 1562 led by Bishop Diego de Landa.

It was one of the most well-known book burnings in Mexicos history, though it was actually part of a 300-year policy which outlawed the possession and the teaching of pre-Colombian knowledge, purportedly because it constituted lies of the devil. The penalty for such crimes ranged from torture to death.

That brings to mind the recent settlement in which the state of California and several of its educational governing bodies agreed in a lawsuit by Californians for Equal Rights Foundation and others, to ban In LakEch, a Maya maiz-based philosophical concept from its Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, this while referring to it as part of the Aztec religion.

That agreement, which determines what is teachable knowledge also bans the Nahui Ollin, an Aztec-Mexica concept based on the erroneous supposition that the Aztec religion was demonic. It also bans Ashe, an affirmingAfrican Indigenous chant. Of note is that Mexican American students are the largest demographic in California schools.

While the Aztec and Maya share similar cultures, confusing them is mind-boggling, akin to confusing Greeks with Romans because theyre both Europeans. Here, I concentrate on In LakEch, because the philosophy from where it emanates is something that I have been teaching for years, which is maiz-based knowledge that has influenced the Americas for thousands of years, and because this is the continent in which we live.

In LakEch Tu eres mi otro Yo, or You are my other Self is but the Maya iteration of The Golden Rule, which is also part of a larger maiz-based philosophical universe.

Famed playwright Luis Valdez of Teatro Campesino introduced U.S. audiences to this concept via the 1973 poem, Pensamiento Serpentino. He received this knowledge from Maya linguist Domingo Martinez Paredez, who collaborated with the Teatro, resulting in several Maya-based plays. In effect, In LakEch is to see ourselves in each other. How that can be construed as demonic is to continue the notion that Indigenous and African peoples were less than human.

Beginning in the 1990s, Raza Studies at Tucson Unified School District taught In LakEch and Panche Be to seek the root of the truth, which necessarily leads to the quest for justice. It is perhaps the actual reason why Tucsons Raza Studies program was shut down in 2012, even though the courts affirmed its legality in 2017.

In 2017, I wrote an article for the Latino Journal of Education, Ixxim; a Maiz-based philosophy, summarizing some 60 Maya concepts. Generally, they have their universal equivalents in other cultures, including the West, though some are uniquely Maya or Maiz-based ideas.

For example, Hel Men or Zero did not have the same meaning to the Maya as it did in the West, where zero means the absence of value. For the Maya, zero marked the beginning of everything. The Maya thinker established that the zero is the germinating seed, the beginning of everything, which is why it was illustrated as a seed or a conch shell, according to El Popul Vuh Tiene Razon. This 1968 book by Martinez Paredez, is part of an explanation by the Maya scholar, of the validity and relevance of the Popul Vuh, considered to be the most sacred book of the Maya.

There is not enough space here to fully explain Maya philosophy; the minimum that can be done is to note that there is a whole universe that California students have never been exposed to, including:

Ixim or Xiimte: Ixiim is the word for maiz and Xiimte is sacred maiz. For peoples of this continent, maiz is who we are, what we are made of and where we come from. Scientists consider it one of humanitys greatest feats because it was scientifically created.

I would argue that if politicos want to ban Indigenous knowledge, they should at least first learn it, including our Indigenous worldviews.

_____

Roberto Cintli Rodriguez has also written that California should aim for an authentic ethnic studies discipline.

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Why ban Indigenous philosophies in the classroom? - The Denver Post

getty

Do you envy a colleague who can effortlessly fire off an email thats well-written and well-received?

The good news is that great communicators arent born; theyre made through deliberate practice. And that practice is worth it: your ability to communicate effectively helps you connect to others, enhances your relationships, builds trust, and paves the way for career success by bridging gaps between you and your clients, colleagues, and partners.

Here are five tips to improve your written communication:

Written communication is rife with unnecessary complexity. Maximize the power of your words by simplifying them.

Clarity is the foundation for effective communication. When youre not clear or use industry acronyms and buzzwords, youll force others to do the difficult work of guessing your intended message. As a result, theyll most likely get it wrong or be left scratching their heads. And when you confuse people, youll lose people.

But when youre clear, everything becomes easier. People understand you, what you offer, your value, what differentiates you, how you can help them, and how they can assist you. Clarity helps others know, like, and trust you. Swap jargon for plain language to increase the odds of your message being received and understood.

If every email you send includes a TL;DR (too long; didnt read) summary, youve got some work to do. Meandering signals that youre unorganized and unsure. Worse, youll lose your audiences attentionand the opportunity to communicate.

When preparing a piece, think concise and compelling. It becomes unnecessarily complex when you try to cover too much ground in your communication. A good rule of thumb is that each piece of written communication should have one clear takeaway. This forces you to get specific about and home in on your message. Instead, when you want to deliver a message, make brevity your friend by eliminating extraneous material and getting to the point.

Communication is only effective if your audience receives your intended message, so remember this golden rule of communication: its not about you.

Far too often, we assume that everyone communicates the same way we do, forgetting that our intended audiences may not live and breathe in our business world.Also,consider that even two members of the same team may require a slightly different message tailored to the individual. So, before you fire off that email, take a beat to put yourself in your audiences shoes, consider their wants and needs, and adjust your communications accordingly.

Your word choice sets the tone and elicits an emotional response, two things critical for effective communication.

Consider writing the way you speak for the most natural communication style, especially in non-technical formats. Incorporating your everyday language into your repertoire opens you up to a more descriptive, interesting lexicon that allows you to infuse a bit of personality into your writing, capturing your audiences attention and ensuring that your message will be more memorable.

Remember, too, thathowyou communicate is just as important aswhatyou communicate. Action-oriented language conveys a strong, clear tone and propels people to do something rather than remain idle. Where possible, minimize passive language and use active voice to add more power and intention to your words.

Ever sent a message only to realize later it was full of typos? Ugh. Mistakes happen, but if theyre more the norm than the exception for you, theyll weaken your ability to communicate.

Protect yourself against communication mishaps by proofreading. Before you post, use online tools likeGrammarlyto review and improve your writing, or enlist the help of an editor to put your best foot forward.

But be forewarned: even if everything is grammatically correct and contains no misspellings, you could still have problems with using the wrong word (writing pubic when you meant public, for instance). So to stave off those embarrassments and catch any unintended word choices, read your written communication out loud before hitting the send button.

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The 5 Best Ways To Improve Your Written Communication - Forbes