Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Work

  • The Problem With Self-Care

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    5 min read

    The phrase “self-care” doesn’t just give off weird vibes. Its fundamental flaw is contained in the wording itself.

  • Full Employment and Other Failures of Words

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    4 min read

    The first problem with the way we talk about our economy is that we use phrases that don’t mean what we think. The second is worse.

  • The Dignity of Work

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    2 min read

    The dignity of work is a strange phrase. It is almost never used as an abstract truth, though it intends to be. Otherwise we would hear related truths: The dignity of leisure. …of sleep. …of walking your dog. Or even more telling:The dignity of driving while black. …of sleeping on the sidewalk. …of walking in…

  • Skip the Vacation Advice. This is What We Really Need.

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    6 min read

    We don’t need vacation advice. We need forgiveness for going on vacation. Maybe you’re like me and struggle with going on vacation. It isn’t easy to leave work or home. Packing the car and getting away long enough to forget about the other stuff. So we go looking for vacation advice. Or maybe it’s worse.…

  • Telling Someone To Get A Real Job In the Gig Economy Doesn’t Help

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    6 min read

    Some people know the power of joy. My friends at Starbucks do. We greet each other, How are you? – Awesome! Big smiles brighten my day. Today, one of the biggest smiles was being pushed around. I’m supposed to be praying the morning office. Well, I am, but I can’t help but hear them passed my earbuds. She’s…

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  • The Trouble with Being Done with Church

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    12 min read

    It is a familiar sight in many of our churches: to see the empty space, the pew that once held up a faithful member, a devoted, active, loving Christian. One of us. And now, an empty space. Nobody has died, of course. Not this week, anyway. The space is empty because the person who was…

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