The Room Exhaled
Some of us have confused seriousness with importance. For many years, I believed that if I wanted people to know something that mattered, I needed to become more intense, more focused, and more serious. What I eventually learned is that seriousness often communicates something very different. It can signal a threat.
Jerry Clark
2 days ago2 min read
Here I Go Again
For most of my life, I thought being strong meant pushing through.
Later in life, as a counselor, I learned to take responsibility. I became the person others depended on. The problem was that I got so good at carrying things that I stopped noticing what it was costing me.
Jerry Clark
4 days ago2 min read
Connection Over Perfection
One of the greatest lies I ever believed was that people would respect me more if I always had the right answer.
Jerry Clark
6 days ago2 min read
Self-regulation
People often believe self-regulation is simply a matter of discipline, grit, or work ethic. But I have come to believe something different. The ability to think clearly under pressure is closely linked to the state of the nervous system. When the body is overloaded, even highly capable people begin making poor decisions they would never make under normal circumstances.
Jerry Clark
May 292 min read
Am I Missing Something?
I used to believe difficult conversations were about finding the right argument, the right evidence, or the right explanation. If I could just explain myself clearly enough, surely the other person would finally understand me. What I did not realize was that the urgency itself was often the problem.
Jerry Clark
May 272 min read
The Empty Chair
Somewhere right now, there is a dinner table with an empty chair that has remained vacant for many years. That chair is not just a symbol. It represents a debt paid by someone who never came home.
Jerry Clark
May 251 min read
What Safe Listening Really Means
Over time, I have learned that listening beneath the words requires emotional maturity. It asks me to listen not only to the content, but also to the context. Not just the sentence, but the story behind the sentence.
Jerry Clark
May 222 min read