Giving advice & support

During the Covid pandemic, Pete and I spoke by phone. In the beginning, I made the mistake of trying to advise him about how he could lift his depression. He had earlier gone to Vietnam to perform eye surgeries for those who were too poor to afford them. I told him he should do that again, since he found it so tremendously rewarding. I did not real

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Which is another way of saying: good advice is contextualized. It accounts and expands for difference. Bad advice delivers itself as universal

I know that grief never ends. When a friend’s loved one dies, put the loved one’s birthday on your calendar. Send them flowers or a card on that date, and never stop doing that.

The lack of context isn’t a problem here, because Strayed’s not actually telling the asker whether or not he should have kids. She’s offering the wisdom of her own life. She’s not telling the asker what to do so much as inviting them to ask themselves some questions (instead of her).