Carragee Consulting

Unknown (willing to add attribution)

Not sure where I heard this, and it seems totally obvious once you say it out loud, but it still bears repeating.

Probably my whole life, but even more so from the moment I was visibly pregnant and now as a mom I often have people give me, mostly well-meaning, but none-the-less unsolicited advice.

A decade of living in the Midwest has likely dulled my Philly zingers down to civilly understated responses like “that’s interesting”. Shania Twain captured my sentiment well with her 1997 song “that don’t impress me much”.

There are a handful of people whose writing, clear communication, high quality work products, personal accomplishments, physique and style of interaction I do find inspirational.

I like to try and remind myself that their seemingly innate abilities are likely the product of hard work and practice and came at the expense of other potential pursuits.

With so much ability to retreat into our media echo chambers and filter bubbles online it’s sometimes jarring when you have to mix in with dissenters and self important jerks “in real life”.

I haven’t mastered any technique to let criticism and rudeness roll off my back, but I think evaluating my respect (or lack there of) for the advice giver may be a technique I work in more often.