I’m Marie Well, as in healthy well. At least, that’s my aim—to get well and make you well. We all have woes, from breakups to cancer to hoarder houses. I’m here to fix those woes—with tips mixed with my own tales.
Why read me? I’ve got a track record of fixin’ stuff. I’ve cured myself of anxiety. For a decade, I had anxiety attacks that struck almost daily. When not stricken, I’d write Voice articles, mostly on how to combat stress.
And then my world changed. One week went by with no attacks. A month. A year. Two years. And counting.
Now, I want to skyrocket our health—and bolster our creativity. After all, nothing soothes better than strokes of paint or tones of music or reps in a gym.
So, let’s get fit, creative, and well with Marie Well.
Do you like puns? Maybe you busk in the summer and call your act “Busking in the Sun.” Or maybe you plan to start the next GroupOn for soup-spoons called Group De Jour. If you’ve groaned at least once, then you see why advertisers avoid puns. But one type of pun works well in ads,… Read more »
Make your essay titles thrill like Super Bowl ads. Remember Go Daddy’s ad with the supermodel French-kissing the chubby geek? The ad repulsed, but left a mark?a drooled lipstick mark. You, too, can make a (4.0) mark by applying advertising concepts to your titles. Now ask yourself, what if the geek wore the lipstick and… Read more »
Have you ever felt jealous of another student’s GPA? There’s no need. In a logic class lecture hall that contained nearly 500 students, the prof handed back exams. After he handed out the papers, he announced, “Two people cried when they got back their exams: the person with the lowest grade and the person with… Read more »
Has someone looked you up and down and said, “No competition”? How would you feel if you worked as a grunt at an energy company, and the CEO corners you, seething the words, “No competition”? What if you served as the water boy at a major-league baseball game, and the star pitcher pulls you aside,… Read more »
Do you dream big? In other words, if you love to bake and make crafts, could you be the next Martha Stewart—sans prison? You could: through creating lists of fantastic dreams. Philosopher Henri Poincaré outlined a four-point path to creating. We’ll cover that soon. But for now, I’m going to show you a way to… Read more »
Do you know your strengths? If you acted on your strengths, you could up your success at work, home, and school. Now, That’s positive. To start, take the VIA Signature Strengths Questionnaire?the free version. You’ll discover the strengths that could take you furthest. My top three strengths? (1) Love of learning, (2) kindness, and (3)… Read more »
Do you have an untapped creative gift? I mean, something you do exceptionally well, but don’t use? And whenever you dismiss your gift, do you feel an uneasy hunger? Because if you have an unused creative talent, then I hope fate unscrambles the puzzle so you see your gift in full raw potential. I’ve discovered… Read more »
What do you dream about? Daniel Goleman, author of Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, poses a similar question: “If everything worked out perfectly in your life, what would you be doing in ten years?” My ten-year dreams have changed over time. As a teen, I aspired to become a computer science professor. As a… Read more »
Does Hollywood strike you as shocking? Well, one cinema manager said her mother refuses to watch anything Hollywood. Why? Because Hollywood bases itself on a model: one of sexuality, violence, criminality, and revenge. We all know that?on the surface. When I first drafted this article, I included a soul-sucking characterization of Hollywood’s depravity: a quote… Read more »
Are you a B or C student, dreaming of A’s? Or do you simply want to get smarter? In either case, you’ll benefit from Dan Hurley’s book Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power. Hurley challenges the recent notion that brain-smarts stay the same. Yes, research now indicates you can get smarter. We know… Read more »