Paige Graffunder
Bio
Paige is a published author and a cannabis industry professional in Seattle. She is also a contributor to several local publications around the city, focused on interpersonal interactions, poetry, and social commentary.
Stories (99/0)
- Top Story - April 2019
A Love More InclusiveTop Story - April 2019
I would like to preface this, with the understanding that I am in no way trying to put down romantic love. Romantic love is magical, and wonderful, and when reciprocated in a healthy way, can be very fulfilling. In this piece, all I am meaning to convey is that there are also other types of magical, wonderful, healthy ways to love, that have nothing to do with romance. If you are interested in reading my takes on romantic love feel free to do so Here.
By Paige Graffunder5 years ago in Humans
The Incredible Burden of Creativity
I have had a typewriter for as long as I could remember. It started as novelty born of poverty. I was a kid in the late 80s and early 90s and my family couldn't afford a home computer, so for things that needed to be typed, we had a typewriter. It wasn't fancy, but it wasn't an antique either. I wrote all my homework on that thing until I was well into high school, certainly after I had a computer of my own, and a printer, and could have done it the same way as everyone else. I liked the way the keys felt. I liked that it felt like I was constructing each letter in a way that typing on a computer has never really afforded me. You have to really push down on a typewriter, you see, you can't just lazily glaze over the keys, knowing that spell check and auto correct will come in behind you and clean up your messes. With a typewriter, I have to be certain of how things are spelled, and I have to be absolutely sure when I type. I certainly don't manage to type my normal 120 words per minute on a typewriter. I slow down to probably 50 or 60. So why do I continue to use one? Well, because it matters to me. The medium matters to me. Depending on what I am writing, I need to have something so concrete that all my mistakes stand out to me.
By Paige Graffunder5 years ago in Journal
Breaking Your Word
I have written before about how people don't quit bad jobs, they quit bad bosses. (If you are interested in reading that one, click here) But what makes a boss bad? I wrote a few points to watch out for, that may be indicative that your boss is abusing your good nature. So for all the employees out there reading this, use this as a guide to help make the decision if you need to give your boss the finger. If you are the boss, then take a hard look at yourself and if you find yourself doing these things, then perhaps it is time to reevaluate your management strategies.
By Paige Graffunder5 years ago in Journal
All the Reasons I Didn't Hire You
This is not a definitive list, and this is also just how I personally, as an HR professional, feel about things. Perhaps other recruiters feel completely differently, and following this will ruin your chances of ever getting a job, but somehow I doubt it. The thing is, when you stare at resumes for a living, and talk to probably 100 candidates a week, you start to notice patterns. Not so much in the way people behave, but in your own prejudices on how you will perceive those behaviors. Just in the same way that I, as a person who suffers from sound sensitivity, will be more likely to be annoyed by a person who pops their gum, other small mundane habits wouldn't bother me if they didn't pop their gum. Maybe I am alone in this, but memes I have seen have led me to believe differently. Either way, I thought I would share them with you all, just in case we ever cross paths professionally, and you decide you want to work for me. (It is a pretty great place to work, and I hear their HR Director is really smart!)
By Paige Graffunder5 years ago in Journal
A Resolution More Attainable
We all like to think that we are going to be different people as soon as the year changes. It's almost romantic, the optimism that so many of us enter the changing of the year with. "New year, new me." is seen splashed across lots of Instagram posts, and gyms see an uptick in memberships. Programs like blue apron, and daily harvest see an uptick in customers, and everyone remembers the password to their My Fitness Pal log in. In addition, a lot of us set personal goals for things other than weight loss. Things like getting out of debt, and meeting that special someone, or continuing an existing relationship, maybe even taking that relationship to the next level. Some of us strive to be more mindful about ourselves, to meditate, to do yoga, to start therapy again. There are a million things we can resolve to do. But sometimes, in our optimism, we shoot ourselves in the foot, and render ourselves incapable of even starting. This is doubly true for people with certain mental illnesses like Bipolar Disorder and variations of Attention Deficit Disorder or Borderline Personality Disorder. That initial optimism can make us set unrealistic goals, that in the cold light of the morning on New Years Day seem so daunting, we just don't even try. So here are some tips on NOT overwhelming yourself, on setting realistic goals, and how to trick your brain into working for you instead of against you.
By Paige Graffunder5 years ago in Motivation
Better Together
Whether your relationship is new or old, we always should be improving, making sure that we are getting what we put in, and putting in nothing but love. The longer a relationship lasts, or the easier it is in the beginning, the easier it is to forget that all relationships take work. Here are five things that I recommend doing in the New Year to make sure that your relationship is better in 2019 than it was in 2018.
By Paige Graffunder5 years ago in Humans
I'd Really Rather You Didn't
'Tis the season once again for the most broke among us to become very awkward. It is one thing to not be able to afford gifts for your friends, or family, but it is quite another when you in turn feel terrible about accepting gifts because you know you have nothing to offer in return. This is one of the more awkward situations I have encountered in my life, and considering that my status quo is awkward in the extreme, that is saying something truly. What makes this situation even worse is when people in their attempt to be kind, get you something knowing full well that you can't reciprocate, and don't understand that you really wish they just wouldn't. So here are four things that I suggest to help alleviate this particular piece of social discomfort. It's the holidays anyway, there is bound to be plenty of other things to be uncomfortable about.
By Paige Graffunder5 years ago in Lifehack
Physician, Heal Thy Self
I have kept a journal since I was old enough to know how to write. I have documented almost every moment of my whole life, and more importantly than that, I have recorded my feelings on the things that have happened to me. I don't do this because I think my life or thoughts are particularly note worthy, but because it is a coping mechanism.
By Paige Graffunder5 years ago in Psyche
The Things That Keep Me Breathing
There is a Predator in my brain. Sometimes it is quiet, dormant, napping, but it is always there. If I am not on guard, if I am not constantly vigilant, always on the ready, when it wakes up, it may kill me, and all of those closest to me could suffer. I don't know when The Predator arrived, or if it was always there. I don't remember a time in my life without it. It has been my closest companion in this life. Sometimes I have fallen into its embrace and let it soothe me with its poison. Other times I have rallied against it, screaming and biting, clawing, my way out of its grasp only to realize, it is never really gone. Whether I accept or fight, The Predator does not care. It knows, in the end, it will win either way.
By Paige Graffunder5 years ago in Psyche
A Love More Ordinary
We are over saturated with love stories where there are grand romantic gestures and epic sacrifices. I don't remember the last time I read a love story where love developed organically, slowly, over time, between friends, and instead of huge romantic gestures, and life and death sacrifices, talked about the safe feeling that comes from knowing you have someone who understands you. Actually let me amend that. There is one book that has done that, that I have read in the last few years. It was The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Though not a "love story" specifically, there is a love that develops there organically through friendship and is not demonstrated through grand gestures but in simple sentences and support. The fact that it is queer love, makes it better for me of course.
By Paige Graffunder5 years ago in Humans
A Love Less Toxic
With so many things in the world that we consume depicting unhealthy, and sometimes downright abusive relationships as the pinnacle of romance (looking at you 50 Shades of Gray) it is important to examine how we are loving, and why we love the people we do. Sometimes, even with the best of intentions, we love from a place of selfishness, and it is important to examine ourselves and break poor habits. This is undoubtedly true when it will also affect another person—we are rarely ever only responsible for ourselves.
By Paige Graffunder5 years ago in Humans