by Eddie Pipkin Image by Peter H from Pixabay While I was travelling during Holy Week, I had an identical experience at two separate places of worship that threw me off kilter and made me wonder how much thought the good folks at both venues were giving to the experiences of drop-ins. On [...]
by Eddie Pipkin Image by 悍匪 社交 from Pixabay I’m in Virginia this week, visiting with an old friend who has changed things up by moving from the big city to a small bucolic town where she bought a 115-year-old house with great bones and quirky character. This friend has a sophisticated sense [...]
by Eddie Pipkin Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay I heard a good story recently from a pastor friend who had made time for parishioners who had requested an ‘urgent’ meeting. Their emergency? They were greatly concerned that the church he led isn’t “doing discipleship right.” As long as there has [...]
by Eddie Pipkin Image by Anja from Pixabay It’s plenty easy to cruise along with something that’s “good enough.” Right now, I have a busted stereo in my 2002 Jeep, so I keep telling myself how awesome it is to ride along without the distraction of music or news, just my own thoughts [...]
by Eddie Pipkin Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash Perhaps you are familiar with the work of Arthur Brooks, author, academic, and researcher of the science of happiness. He has lots of practical advice about how to build a better life, and although his work with Oprah occasionally veers into woo-woo territory for [...]
by Eddie Pipkin Image by Ivana Tomášková from Pixabay Last week I wrote about Starbucks and “forced joy,” a directive from corporate leadership that employees would express joyful interactions by writing encouraging messaging on customer cups. It didn’t work, because dictating employee happiness and enthusiasm rarely does. On the other hand, giving employees [...]
by Eddie Pipkin Did you see Starbucks in the news in recent weeks for adding an additional mandate to the responsibilities of employees? Beginning in January, according to an edict from CEO Brian Niccol, all baristas were required to add a handwritten comment to each beverage. A note of affirmation, a tasteful funny observation, or [...]
by Eddie Pipkin Image used under Pixabay content license. I had designated the past couple of weeks to work on home projects. I am not known as a handy guy. I can get things done when needed, but I am not gifted in this department, and I don’t have much fun doing it. [...]
by Eddie Pipkin Image by Perlinator from Pixabay I went to the county fair with my wife and my godson last week, and although we had gone mostly to check out the prize-winning chickens and sample some fried Oreos, we took advantage of some of the ‘free’ entertainment on the midway. Of course, [...]
by Eddie Pipkin Image by StockSnap from Pixabay I’ve always been a Saturday Night Live fan, and I’ve been consuming comedy for most of the show’s tenure, so I really enjoyed the 50th anniversary special that aired last weekend. It was a star-studded event (featuring many of the kinds of mash-ups I wrote [...]
