Archive

Dive into a collection of past posts and rediscover timeless content.

Filtered Truths: When Politeness Breaks Trust

Filtered Truths: When Politeness Breaks Trust

We tend to think of bold, outright lies as the great enemy of love. And yes, they can do enormous damage. But we often overlook the quieter culprit—the filtered truths: the polished words, the swallowed frustrations, the “no worries” smile when your insides are twisting. These half-truths erode connection just as efficiently, only more subtly.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

Imagine, Here and Now

Imagine, Here and Now

Love doesn’t become real through wishing or waiting. It becomes real when we take responsibility to engage in proactively growing our ability, our willingness, and our capacity to live love well.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

Christmas Day 2025

Christmas Day 2025

This Christmas Day, some are waking up to a warm, easy day: laughter, food, safety, love, togetherness. And some are waking up to a complicated day: grief, tension, loneliness, exhaustion, anxiety, the ache of an empty chair. If there’s one thing I want to offer today, it’s this: don’t make your goal that everything will be “good.”

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

With Gratitude: 2025

With Gratitude: 2025

If there is one theme from this year, it is this: love multiplies. It heals, strengthens, clarifies, and calls people back to themselves—and then it keeps going, touching everyone around them. Thank you for helping us build a world grounded in the art, science, and spirit of love.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

The Thing Behind The Thing

The Thing Behind The Thing

There are so many things we say, repeat, and reenact simply because they’re familiar. We rarely stop to wonder what’s actually behind them. We inherit habits, traditions, and rituals, and we perform them without ever examining the meaning they were meant to carry.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

The Spirit You Bring

The Spirit You Bring

If we’re paying attention, every holiday gathering offers a small but significant fork in the road: Will I show up hoping others meet my needs, my preferences, my sensitivities—or will I orient myself toward love, choosing a posture that seeks the good of others in the room?

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

Are You Showing Up in Pieces?

Are You Showing Up in Pieces?

If we want to lock-in—at work, at home, with our partners, our kids, our friends—we need to learn how to “lock-through” with intention. How to let things settle. How to clear residue. How to arrive whole. Not in pieces.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

When Growth Feels Threatening

When Growth Feels Threatening

Growth: it never stays politely in its own lane. It barges into places you counted on, rearranging routines you’d grown fond of. Sometimes it feels like an amazing gift. Sometimes it feels like you're being robbed.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

The Power of Play

The Power of Play

We tend to think of play as child’s territory. A sandbox thing. Something we outgrow when life becomes “serious.” But neuroscience tells a different story.

Teresa Penner

They Got Engaged — With a Little Help From Their Friends

They Got Engaged — With a Little Help From Their Friends

We were never meant to do life alone. A relationship might start with two people, but it grows because of a healthy village around us.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

Learn to Discern

Learn to Discern

Psychologists have long studied why we so often misread people—not because we’re naive, but because our minds are wired for trust, belonging, and meaning. Those same instincts that make connection possible can also make deception hard to see.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

When Being Right Gets in the Way of Love

When Being Right Gets in the Way of Love

There are three mindsets we tend to slip into when our beliefs or identities feel threatened. And when we default to certainty instead of curiosity, we're disconnecting from the part of us that’s still learning.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

The Discomfort Advantage

The Discomfort Advantage

Life begins outside the comfort zone. Here’s why that’s not just a cliché—it’s neuroscience.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

Don't Fight To Win, Fight To Understand

Don't Fight To Win, Fight To Understand

Every argument is a choice: chase victory, or cultivate understanding. One divides, the other connects.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

It Goes Both Ways

It Goes Both Ways

It would take me years to realize that “it goes both ways” wasn’t fairness. It was defensiveness. And defensiveness, I’ve since learned, is like bubble wrap for your ego.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

The Hidden Heckler in Your Head

The Hidden Heckler in Your Head

Our inner critic doesn’t stay inside. As decades of research have shown, it not only attacks our sense of self; it also ripples outward, quietly sabotaging our most important relationships.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

The Economy of Outrage

The Economy of Outrage

From clicks to chaos: how outrage is monetized and what it's costing us

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

Love: Humanity’s Core Intelligence

Love: Humanity’s Core Intelligence

As we move forward in a world where AI could help solve global hunger or climate change—or just as easily drive mass manipulation, political chaos, and economic exploitation—we must remember this: AI itself is not the opportunity or the threat. We are.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

Ask For What You Want

Ask For What You Want

Because closed mouths don’t open doors—and sometimes the doors that open change everything.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

Turmeric, Lavender, and a Lesson in Self-Care

Turmeric, Lavender, and a Lesson in Self-Care

Why slowing down is neither laziness nor luxury—it’s preparation for living love well.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

The Problem With ‘Never Be Perfect’

The Problem With ‘Never Be Perfect’

Here’s the real problem: “not perfect” isn’t just a tough game—it’s the wrong game. We’ve been taught to chase it as if it were the prize, when in reality it’s a rigged game. No one wins. No one even gets close. And while we’re busy playing it, we miss the real game entirely: becoming healthy.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

The Art of Receiving Affirmation

The Art of Receiving Affirmation

Why it feels so hard—and how to let it in.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

Live & Let Live: The Art of Loving Without Control

Live & Let Live: The Art of Loving Without Control

My mom taught me something most of us spend our whole lives trying to learn: how to love without controlling, how to release people from our expectations.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

Let Love Rule: The Muscle Memory of a Better World

Let Love Rule: The Muscle Memory of a Better World

Letting love rule isn’t soft—it’s disruptive. It calls us to reorder our lives, surrender ego, and risk kindness even when it costs us. It’s not the easiest path, but it just might be the most reliable path to a better world.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

The Gift Inside Regret

The Gift Inside Regret

How emotionally intelligent people use regret not as a punishment—but as a path to love, learning, and repair.

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner