This is the Long Version, episode 013 : Christmas
I share five pieces, spread between 2010 and 2020, about the nature of relationships, parenting, and myth making. Jolly jolly to ya’ll, mask up, stay well, and make the best memories possible!
Thanks for listening. 😀
00:00:00 Introduction.
I re-introduce myself after a month-long absence.
00:01:03 “We Say Hello, and Also Goodbye”
The importance of greeting properly and being excited at seeing people.
00:05:48 ”Forgot”
Forgetting gets such a bad rap. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing, especially in the context of how we form, archive, and revisit long-term memories. We can’t control which memories (of us) others will make and remember someday. Also, I namecheck Malcolm Gladwell and refer to one of my favourite parts of the brain : the ventral medial prefrontal cortex.
00:12:09 “When we decide when we talk about what to decide”
I decided long before having kids that I would never hit children. Including my own children, and committing to not justifying the doing so with euphemisms that sound responsible, authoritative, important, and effective (hint: hitting a kid in the name of discipline or punishment is none of those things). It’s important to think beforehand, before the frustrating moments arise and the tough times leave you floundering, it’s important, so important, to think and plan ahead of how you’re going to deal with a child when things are bleak and you’re looking for easy solutions.
Please: leave some things off the table.
00:13:40 “Poetry (the mistakes we catch in the dark of a tuck-in)”
I talk poetry with our three-year old in bed. We finally decide on one to recite and talk about, and then he corrects the giant mistake I make…although it’s a different one than I think it is. Fascinating.
00:18:51 “Is Santa Claus really real? (a Christmas Eve story in which I go shopping with my dad in an elf hat, and I am the good guy in the story)”
The title should give you a good idea. Also, the story is buried within the story, sort of like a holiday-Inception deal. It’s a morality tale of sorts, it’s true-ish, and we all end up in the hospital.
00:36:00 The End.
Thanks for listening, and thank you to Jeremy M. Long, as always, for answering my questions about audio stuff!
Until next, love y’all.
Joseph.