Curated Shares

• What’s hyperphantasia? It’s the ability to visually remember everything you’ve seen in detail. What would it be like to have this ability? Do you have it or know someone who does?

• These 5 countries have the highest rates of narcissism, “a psychological trait that involves excessively high self-esteem but relatively low empathy, also involves an excessive positive focus on the self and a low regard for others.” Spoiler, the US isn’t in the top 5, but the article is fascinating.

• Deborah Froese shares the benefits of laughing and explains how our bodies cannot differentiate between forced and natural laugher. She’s got a 7-day prompt to help you laugh with intention. I guarantee you’re going to love this.

• This from Fast Company: “Parents aren’t just burning out at work. They’re quitting their jobs because of it. …Businesses are seeing masses of Millennials and Gen Xers leave because they’re burnt out juggling homework and Slack messages. But Generation Z employees aren’t willing to accept that trade-off. And if businesses don’t start changing how they treat parents and caregivers who need to “switch gears” at the end of the day, they’re going to lose an entire generation of employees. Being a human who wants to recover from work is once again a must-have. And ambitious employees are about to show businesses just how valuable that flexibility is.” Here’s the rest of the article.

• Think tipping has gotten out of hand? You’re not alone. Here are some crazy examples (I guess some may be fake, but overall, wowza!).

• Feeling overwhelmed at mid-life? “People born in the 1960s and 1970s are reporting different midlife experiences than their parents did. Higher loneliness. Greater financial strain. More fragmentation of social structures. Increased exposure to continuous digital input. More individual responsibility for retirement, healthcare, and family support.” Dr. Michael Hunter has some ways to help you back to balance.

• I zebra striped this weekend. “Niki, you did what?” Yep, I did.

• Ilona Goanos was joined by Keith Bumgarner for a special post in The Pebble in Your Shoe on investing time wisely to find the right therapist. I’m sharing that here, and I am calling attention to the brilliant quote Keith shared by Gisèle Pelicot: “Shame must change sides.”

• Luke Harlan has it right: “own the day before it owns you.” And he tells you how, too.

• Do you feel people shutting you down sometimes in conversation? Or do you suspect you may be inadvertently doing that to others? Karo Wanner overviews common scenarios and what to do instead.

• Laetitia Vitaud does an excellent job overviewing the challenges faced by women going through menopause while employed. She offers suggestions for how and why companies should do better for their female employees as they transition through this stage of life, which has much more to do with life around them than just their hormones. I recommend the full article in Fast Company, but if you can’t see that, there’s a synopsis on LinkedIn (scroll down, it’s not the top story).

• From Vicki Salemi, Monster’s career expert, in an article about coffee badging (swiping in at the physical office), “For employers and employees alike, this trend [coffee badging] raises questions: Do we value presence or performance, and can we reconcile both in the hybrid era?”

Heroes Without Capes: Virginia Lynch

A note for our readers: This section contains topics that some may find sensitive. Please read at your own comfort.

This is a new feature I’m testing; I’m going to point to a story about someone who saw a problem and developed solutions to it—sometimes quickly, sometimes over a span of decades. I’m doing this to help remind us we don’t need to be leaders on the global stage to make significant contributions.

Today, I’m focusing on Virginia Lynch who pioneered more humane, better functioning forensic medicine processes for people who have been sexually assaulted.

Do Good Spotlight: The International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee’s goal is to help those affected by conflict and disasters with high-impact and cost-effective solutions. They focus on health, safety, economic wellbeing, education, and empowerment. Learn more about who they are and what they do: The International Rescue Committee.

⏳Until Next Time…

We made it to March, phew! Now let’s get ready for more time outdoors as the weather warms and we get more color in our world.

Niki