Jonathan Penner

Founder of LifeApp | Relationship Coach | Exploring: What is love—and how do we live it well?

Feb 26, 2026

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14 min read

Nothing Happened. That Was The Problem

Here's the thing about unrepaired conflict: the damage doesn't go away just because the moment does. Damage that isn't repaired remains—quietly, stubbornly, accumulating over time.

Jonathan Penner

Feb 19, 2026

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12 min read

What I Defend, I Repeat

When we say, “That’s just who I am,” what we're really saying is, “This behaviour is not up for change.” And that’s where things get dangerous.

Jonathan Penner

Feb 12, 2026

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10 min read

The Shame That Was Never Yours

When something violating happens—whether it’s a scam, abuse, assault, or betrayal—our nervous system doesn’t ask philosophical questions. It asks one urgent question: How do I make sure this never happens again? That's when shame rushes in with an answer.

Jonathan Penner

Feb 5, 2026

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8 min read

The Power of One-on-One

One of the most important—and often overlooked—factors in building healthy, thriving relationships isn’t more time together. It’s how that time is shared.

Jonathan Penner

Jan 29, 2026

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10 min read

What's Wrong With You?

What if a person's "bad" behavior makes perfect sense—once we know the context? What if instead of asking, "What's wrong with you?" we ask, "What happened to you?"

Jonathan Penner

Jan 22, 2026

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9 min read

The Comparison Trap

We live in a culture saturated with opportunities for comparison. From social media feeds and reality television to LinkedIn success stories, wellness culture, parenting milestones, relationship highlight reels, and travel narratives, we are constantly invited to measure our lives against carefully edited versions of others.

Jonathan Penner

Jan 15, 2026

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8 min read

The Art of Other-Centred Conversation

When we don’t listen well, we miss what matters most. Not the story—but the person telling it. Not the words—but the heart behind them. Living love well isn’t about being interesting. It’s about being interested. About choosing presence over performance and attention over advice.

Jonathan Penner

Filtered Truths: When Politeness Breaks Trust

Jan 8, 2026

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8 min read

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

Jan 1, 2026

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8 min read

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

Dec 25, 2025

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7 min read

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

Dec 18, 2025

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5 min read

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

Dec 11, 2025

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11 min read

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

Dec 4, 2025

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12 min read

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

Nov 27, 2025

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13 min read

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

Nov 20, 2025

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12 min read

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

They Got Engaged — With a Little Help From Their Friends

Nov 6, 2025

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12 min read

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

Oct 30, 2025

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12 min read

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

When Being Right Gets in the Way of Love

Oct 23, 2025

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8 min read

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

Oct 16, 2025

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11 min read

The Discomfort Advantage

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

Jonathan Penner

Oct 9, 2025

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10 min read

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

Oct 2, 2025

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8 min read

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

Sep 25, 2025

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13 min read

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

Sep 18, 2025

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14 min read

The Economy of Outrage

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

Jonathan Penner

Sep 11, 2025

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8 min read

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

Sep 4, 2025

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10 min read

Ask For What You Want

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

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

Nothing Happened. That Was The Problem

What I Defend, I Repeat

The Shame That Was Never Yours

The Power of One-on-One

What's Wrong With You?

The Comparison Trap

The Art of Other-Centred Conversation

Filtered Truths: When Politeness Breaks Trust

Imagine, Here and Now

Christmas Day 2025

With Gratitude: 2025

The Thing Behind The Thing

The Spirit You Bring

Are You Showing Up in Pieces?

When Growth Feels Threatening

They Got Engaged — With a Little Help From Their Friends

Learn to Discern

When Being Right Gets in the Way of Love

The Discomfort Advantage

Don't Fight To Win, Fight To Understand

It Goes Both Ways

The Hidden Heckler in Your Head

The Economy of Outrage

Love: Humanity’s Core Intelligence

Ask For What You Want

Sign up here Discover how the art, science, and spirit of love can reshape your thinking, deepen your relationships, and infuse your work with more meaning, connection, and sustainable success—restoring wellbeing from the inside out.

Sign up here

Discover how the art, science, and spirit of love can reshape your thinking, deepen your relationships, and infuse your work with more meaning, connection, and sustainable success—restoring wellbeing from the inside out.