Psychologist Mimi Road Tripping the World

There is something deliciously cinematic about a 21-year-old university student casually stepping in to play piano for La La Land in Concert when the scheduled pianist falls ill. I mean, of course it happened during La La Land. Of course. Life sometimes has the subtlety of a Broadway finale.And just like that, a moment. A pivot. A “wait, is this really happening?” And then, music.We love these…

What’s a moment that made you question reality? So I did ask myself what is a moment that made me question reality.And I just blinked.A moment?I laughed because are we not doing that all day?Because my answer isn’t a moment. It’s a mood.A lifestyle, really.It’s called bewilderment.I am perpetually confused by the human condition.Take, for example, the people who run red lights. Not “oops, it…

I loved youuntil I didn’t until I couldn’t.There’s a difference.One is a quiet dimming,like a room at dusk.The otheris a circuit breaking;sparks, smoke,the unmistakable smellof something inside meburning out.Loving you meantlearning to disappearin plain sight.It meanthating myselfin small, socially acceptable waysthe kind no one applauds,but no one interrupts either.Loving you wasa slow…

There’s a particular kind of human arrogance that assumes insight belongs exclusively to us; along with taxes, existential dread, and the ability to overanalyze text messages. For a long time, scientists mostly agreed. Sure, animals could learn. They could try things, fail, try again. Trial and error. The cognitive equivalent of throwing spaghetti at the wall.But insight? That sudden, almost smug…

At approximately 2:00 a.m., which, clinically speaking, is the hour when good decisions go to die, a group of six individuals reportedly emerged from a manhole in Brooklyn.Let me repeat that.They didn’t open the manhole and go down. They came up.Like a plot twist.Like a metaphor.Like unresolved childhood trauma but wetter.It appears that they may have been underground for nearly two hours, the…

You really can’t make this stuff up anymore. Or rather, you can, and apparently people are doing so with admirable commitment and a suspicious amount of PowerPoint.This week’s dispatch from the “Is This Real Life or Did I Fall Asleep on the Remote?” files includes a story I found regarding an army veteran has come forward claiming he was part of a secret psychic spy program (already a strong…

Lately, I’ve been reading about so-called “dark personality traits.” Not villains-with-capes dark. More like everyday-people-with-good-lighting dark.Psychology tends to group them into a familiar trio: narcissism (I’m the main character), Machiavellianism (I’ll move the pieces), and psychopathy (I don’t feel much about it either way). Collectively, they’ve earned the charming nickname: the Dark…

I recently fell down a very specific internet rabbit hole, courtesy of a quick, suspiciously casual blurb about something called “alpine divorce.” The premise? One partner takes the other on a scenic hike and gently (or not so gently) bumps them off a cliff. We’ll, dumps them. Let me say this clearly. This is not a thing. This is not a lifestyle category. This is not a niche relationship strategy…

And just like that May is over.My birthday month. My personal New Year. My annual, slightly delusional belief that the universe revolves, briefly but meaningfully, around me.May, you were glorious. You showed up like a main character that was blossoming, dramatic and slightly unhinged in your optimism.You whispered, “Anything is possible.”And I, naturally, believed you.There is something…

Monday’s clinically questionable to-do list1. Bite off more than I can chew. (Because self-awareness is for Tuesday.)2. Build Rome in one day. (Surely they just lacked proper project management.)3. Poke a bear with a stick. (My core competency. My brand, really.)4. Beat a dead horse. (Actually, this feels more like a Wednesday activity. Let’s circle back.)5. Skate on thin ice. (Less “I do this”…

I had a small existential crisis in a restaurant bathroom recently.Not the dramatic kind. There were no tears, no life reevaluation. It was just a quiet, philosophical pause while staring at a dispenser labeled “Healthy Soap.”Now, I’m no contrarian. I’m broadly pro-health. I support vitamins. I hydrate. I have, on occasion, stretched voluntarily.But I found myself wondering about what, exactly,…

I recently learned about something called the 37% rule, which sounds less like a mathematical theory and more like a suspicious diet plan.Apparently, it comes from the optimal stopping problem, which is a very polite, academic way of saying:“How long should I keep scrolling before I commit to something and stop ruining my own life?”The rule goes like this. Reject the first 37% of options. Then…

I took a last-minute trip to St. Lucia because life, lately, has been “character-building” (which is code for mildly chaotic with a side of existential fatigue).St. Lucia, as it turns out, does not care about your problems. It is 84 degrees, unapologetically beautiful, and fully committed to rum punch. Spicy rum punch. The kind that says, you’ll be fine while quietly rearranging your nervous…

There is a word (because of course there is a word) for when life doesn’t just happen to you, but slowly organizes against you with your quiet, unknowing participation.It’s called zemblanity.Which sounds like a country you don’t want to vacation in. Or a skincare condition.It is, in fact, the opposite of serendipity. Where serendipity is “I stumbled into something wonderful.” Zemblanity is “I…

There is something deeply comforting about the fact that the most terrifying apex predator to ever walk the earth looked like it couldn’t clap.The T. rex, nature’s original overachiever, shows up to the evolutionary party with a skull the size of a studio apartment, teeth like artisanal daggers, and arms that feel emotionally unavailable.And scientists are still trying to explain why.The latest…

I recently sat through a quick cybersecurity training at work.You know the kind that you generally click through about how you shouldn’t reuse passwords or wire money to strangers named “Steve from Finance.”Except this one hit differently.Because this time the message was: “Even if it sounds like you… even if it looks like you it may not be you.”Pause.Not “don’t trust strangers.”Not “don’t trust…

Apparently, about one in three adults believes the world is ending within their lifetime.One. In. Three.Which means statistically, if you’re in a meeting, a subway car, or a heated group chat, someone in there is quietly thinking, “Well, this is all about to end anyway.”Comforting.This little existential gem comes from research by Matthew I. Billet and colleagues, published in the Journal of…