After a week off, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. But the standard conversational deviations into The Price Is Right, Rush lyrics, and why ADHD affects your ankle bones serve a subtle purpose as therapy for Doug, who is living alone—like alone-alone, not the-kids-will-be-back-next-week alone—for the first time since 1987.
Empty nesting can feel different for single people, especially when your family and best friends are all hundreds of miles away. When the nostalgia and excitement collide, the energy of the impact can launch a spate of “grief cleaning,” when you jettison a lot of stuff and rearrange whatever’s left.
Ultimately, a lot of our success as 50-plus-year-olds stems from our ability to handle change, which seems to come at us with more substance and less warning than before. It’s usually easier said than done, especially while you’re sifting through the artifacts of a formerly all-consuming way of life that is well and rightly over.
We also tackle several important questions of our time: Is there such a thing as a free market? Is 50 a good age to start an undergraduate education? And are the benefits of yoga enough to offset all the farting?
Other links:
“We better get going if we want to stay ahead of the weather.”
Congress passed 27 bills in 2023, the fewest in decades.
Changes aren’t permanent, but change is.
Another way to blow off some nervous energy? Get on your bike.
Episodes referenced:
Episode 38: "It's just a man, a cat, and two guest bedrooms."