Tag Archives: metaphor

Get going with your fitness pre-mortem!

Posted on May 6, 2011 | 1 Comment

From Joe:  In a prior post about candy jars in the office, I urged you to think seriously about the states of mind that characterized people who voiced opinions about whether or not candy jars were acceptable artifacts in an office setting. If you have already done that, you probably noticed that most commentators – no matter whether they approved or disapproved of such jars – framed the issue in moralistic terms: Candy jars are not a problem in themselves, they said.  Instead, the problem was in the people who lacked self-discipline, suffered from feelings of inferiority, had issues hanging on from their childhood or, as one commenter put it, need therapy. As far as I can see, this kind of moralistic discourse does nothing to address the practical concerns of people who are trying to devise lasting changes in life habits.

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When is a Candy Jar Just a Jar?

Posted on May 5, 2011 | 1 Comment

From Joe:  Now that Mad Men has recreated the office life of the 1950s, even youngsters know that there was a time when smoking in the work environment was accepted as normal behavior. To signal hospitality, some workers kept jars of cigarettes or boxes of cigars on their desks to accommodate visitors to their office. The same thing was done at home to accommodate guests at parties. When smokers met on the street, they might offer each other a cigarette as a sign of friendship and acceptance. Then they would share the experience of taking the tobacco smoke into their bodies as they relaxed together in conversation. In short, smoking was more than normal behavior. It was actually a widely practiced social ritual.

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Is your fitness regimen a pilgrimage?

Posted on March 24, 2011 | Comments Off

From Joe:  It’s possible to define a marathon as a bunch of people in their underwear running as fast as possible for 26 miles without giving proper attention to the bad things that can happen to them along the way. This way of looking at a marathon, taking the event literally, makes the runners look foolish. It makes the spectators too look foolish: They roar with primal excitement as the runners leave the start. Many of the spectators choke with emotion. Some are moved to tears. Same thing happens at Bulls and Bears games. Why the emotion?

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