Photo Credit: Canva
A dachshund in a pink boa. A woman with pink hair.
Ever been to a dog park and seen a woman with dyed pink hair and a matching dyed pink Shih Tzu, complete with painted nails? My thought is usually, I could have seen the dog first and known exactly who the owner was. (Now this one isn't quite science. I'm a light-hearted shorty on the quiet side who once had a very large and serious Rottweiler.)
That said, a veterinarian named Dr. Indya took to TikTok with a short clip to share her thoughts on dog breeds and what they say about the person who owns them. She writes under her video, "Your dog breed says so much about you and I refuse to think otherwise."
@doctorindya your dog breed says so much about you and I refuse to believe otherwise #vetmed #dogbreeds #petparent #miniaturedachshund
In the video, over a clip of her talking straight to camera, a chyron displays, "I judge you by your dog breed." She says, "I have this theory that you can tell how seriously someone takes life based on the type of dog they own. Like to me, German Shepherds people? Very serious. A to B, get everything done. Like you cannot mess with someone that owns a German Shepherd."
She goes on, now pointing at the camera. "Doberman, same. Cane Corso, same." She then puts her hand out and waves it. "Golden Retrievers? Pretty casual, they have fun. But they get the job done. They're kind of like finance bros."
She then bends down and picks up a longhaired Dachshund. "Me? What is this? Weenie dog. I have two weenie dogs, bro. You think I take life serious? I have two long dogs, running around my apartment. You think I take life serious?"
A dachshund gives the side-eye. Giphy
As her dog squirms around and side-eyes the camera, she continues, "Do you know how fun life is with little short legs just running around? Just pitter-pattering? You think I take life seriously?"
She puts the dog down. "I know that's just me and my brain, but like if I see someone with a weenie dog, I know you're just vibing. You're just a girl. You're just here. I don't know, I could be wrong, but that's my theory."
Well, this theory struck a chord: 9,000 comments later (just on TikTok alone), people are chiming in with their thoughts and experiences.
Some merely agree with the Dachshund of it all: "Was not surprised at all when she picked up a Dachshund. And it’s almost a requirement to have more than one."
Others note how similar they are to their breed: "Chihuahua owner. I’m fun, but with only one or two people. I don’t like anyone else." "I have a Beagle. All we do is rock out and eat food."
Others make jokes: "Me and my Yorkie Terrier are going to law school. In the future."
And one person throws this wrench into the mix: "I have a German Shepherd and a wiener dog. I guess I’m a conflicted soul."
What your chosen dog breed says about you. www.youtube.com
In the recent piece, "What Your Dog Breed Says About You," Laurent Jaccard writes, "Psychologists have spent decades mapping owner personalities to their canine sidekicks, and the patterns are hilarious (sometimes painfully accurate). A Bath Spa University survey of 1,000 owners showed we flock to breeds that mirror our own traits."
He gives the following examples: "Extroverts gravitate to sociable party animals like Labradors and Golden Retrievers. Introverts vibe with low-drama independents such as Shiba Inus or Greyhounds. High-achievers pick brainy workaholics like Border Collies. Trend-setters flaunt bougie French Bulldogs—quirky, compact, Instagram-ready."
He cites a few research studies that support the idea that dogs and owners should have matching energy and sociability, usually, in order to be a great match.
He then lists dog breeds and gives a breakdown of what choosing them says about one's "vibe." One example is his hilarious description of the French Bulldog as a "stylish clown with a side of sass." What this means about their "person" is: "They are probably funny, expressive, and loyal. Care about comfort, charm, and vibes. And like attention, but only on your own terms."
Frenchie licks lips. Giphy
Again, while this isn't an exact science (obviously) it's fun to think about. And if by chance you've opted for a rescue mutt of some sort, well we know your "vibe check," and it's probably pretty awesome.
Harvard researcher Arthur C. Brooks studies what leads to human happiness.
We live in a society that prizes ambition, celebrating goal-setting, and hustle culture as praiseworthy vehicles on the road to success. We also live in a society that associates successfully getting whatever our hearts desire with happiness. The formula we internalize from an early age is that desire + ambition + goal-setting + doing what it takes = a successful, happy life.
But as Harvard University happiness researcher Arthur C. Brooks has found, in his studies as well as his own experience, that happiness doesn't follow that formula. "It took me too long to figure this one out," Brooks told podcast host Tim Ferris, explaining why he uses a "reverse bucket list" to live a happier life.
Many people make bucket lists of things they want in life. Giphy
Brooks shared that on his birthday, he would always make a list of his desires, ambitions, and things he wanted to accomplish—a bucket list. But when he was 50, he found his bucket list from when he was 40 and had an epiphany: "I looked at that list from when I was 40, and I'd checked everything off that list. And I was less happy at 50 than I was at 40."
As a social scientist, he recognized that he was doing something wrong and analyzed it.
"This is a neurophysiological problem and a psychological problem all rolled into one handy package," he said. "I was making the mistake of thinking that my satisfaction would come from having more. And the truth of the matter is that lasting and stable satisfaction, which doesn't wear off in a minute, comes when you understand that your satisfaction is your haves divided by your wants…You can increase your satisfaction temporarily and inefficiently by having more, or permanently and securely by wanting less."
Brooks concluded that he needed a "reverse bucket list" that would help him "consciously detach" from his worldly wants and desires by simply writing them down and crossing them off.
"I know that these things are going to occur to me as natural goals," Brooks said, citing human evolutionary psychology. "But I do not want to be owned by them. I want to manage them." He discussed moving those desires from the instinctual limbic system to the conscious pre-frontal cortex by examining each one and saying, "Maybe I get it, maybe I don't," but crossing them off as attachments. "And I'm free…it works," he said.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
"When I write them down, I acknowledge that I have the desire," he explained on X. "When I cross them out, I acknowledge that I will not be attached to this goal."
The idea that attachment itself causes unhappiness is a concept found in many spiritual traditions, but it is most closely associated with Buddhism. Mike Brooks, PhD, explains that humans need healthy attachments, such as an attachment to staying alive and attachments to loved ones, to avoid suffering. But many things to which we are attached are not necessarily healthy, either by degree (over-attachment) or by nature (being attached to things that are impermanent).
"We should strive for flexibility in our attachments because the objects of our attachment are inherently in flux," Brooks writes in Psychology Today. "In this way, we suffer unnecessarily when we don't accept their impermanent nature."
What Arthur C. Brooks suggests that we strive to detach ourselves from our wants and desires because the simplest way to solve the 'haves/wants = happiness' formula is to reduce the denominator. The reverse bucket list, in which you cross off desires before you fulfill them, can help free you from attachment and lead to a happier overall existence.
Love finds beauty and joy in the mundane.
For centuries, perhaps millennia, poets have tried to capture the essence of the most profound human feelings. While success on that front is subjective—a poem that hits one person right in the heart may have little effect on someone else—there are some poets who manage to strike a universal chord on themes that are hard to put into words.
World Poetry Slam Champion Harry Baker has done that with one of life's most beautiful but underrated experiences—to love and be loved by a partner in the most basic, everyday ways. Nothing fancy. Nothing that requires a massive effort. Just the daily joys and routines that make marriage or a life partnership the comforting, safe place it can be.
@harrybakerpoet NOW AVAILABLE AS A PRINT ON MY WEBSITE ✨ I wrote this for my wife and so am always thrilled when people tell me they’ve had it or heard it at a wedding - After years of requests I have finally teamed up with @Katie to make it into four different options of stunning print 💙💙🤍🤍 🎥 @Liam Bagnall #poetry #poetrytok #spokenword #lovepoem #wedding
Baker wrote the poem "Dust" for his wife, and it's clear he speaks from experience. "It's not the flowers, it's the weeding in the mud with you," he begins. "It's not the champagne, it's that cuppa in that favorite mug you use."
His poem hits at the heart of what makes genuine, lasting love what it is—not the stereotypical symbols of romance (flowers, champagne, chocolate, fancy food) but the daily work, the shared indulgences, the knowing what makes one another truly happy, and the joy in those everyday realities.
The poem has funny parts throughout, which only makes it more perfect. Humor is such a part of real love that any love poem feels incomplete without it.
Love makes us laugh.Photo credit: Canva
But it's seriously profound as well: "It's not the dreaming, it's the waking up with you. I want to be here long enough to gather dust with you."
When he speaks of the "glorious consistency," the "everyday magnificence" and the "spectacular normality" of loving his wife, anyone who has been in a long and happy relationship understands exactly what he means. Fireworks are fine, but it's the slow-burning fire that creates a warm home—a home where we know we are safe and cherished just as we are.
Baker shared that "Dust" is his most requested poem for people to use at weddings, and it's easy to see why. The comment section is filled with people who say they had part or all of it read at their weddings, along with people praising Baker for hitting the nail on the head with his words:
"Why do I always get brought to tears when I hear something that perfectly captures an emotion? Idk, but this made me cry. Couldn’t have said it better."
"I have heard this 1000 times, and I cannot get enough. Tears every single time 🥺 You’re amazing Harry ♥"
Love joyfully gathers dust. Photo credit: Canva
"My sister read this for us at our wedding and everyone LOVED it!! It will forever be one of my favourite memories, thank you for your poetry!!!"
"I showed this to my best fiend, and she cried. Now she’s reading it at our wedding next year 🤍 thank you for writing such a beautiful poem."
"All of this. Thirty years of marriage this month and he’s still the best part of my day ❤"
"I have stage 4 cancer and you are saying everything in my heart I want my husband to know before I leave here. 🥰"
"As a widow this hits so hard. 💜"
Baker's "Dust" is truly a gift to those who know and appreciate the simple joys of a solid, lifelong partnership.
You can find the poem in Baker's second book, "Unashamed," and you can find more of his work on his website. You can also follow him on TikTok and Instagram to see more of his spoken word performances.
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The world's greatest mentalist reveals 5-second trick to never forget someone's name
Unfortunately, it seems that the longer I'm alive, the more people's names that I have to remember. With two kids in school, sports, and other activities, I find myself trying to keep track of dozens of different friends, teammates, siblings, coaches, teachers, and of course, parents. It makes my brain hurt! Lately I've had half a mind to start a spreadsheet so I can start remembering Who's Who.
In order for that to work, I've got to find a way to stop people's names leaving my head immediately after I'm introduced. I know I'm not the only one who does this. It's like people say their name and it just zips right into one ear and out the other! And for that, I went looking for tips when I stumbled upon a good one from a unique sort of expert.
Derren Brown is one of the most famous mentalists in the world, so he knows a thing or two about people. Mentalists are a special breed of magician that focus on tricks and illusions of the mind.
They do things like hynopsis, mind-reading, and impossible predictions. There's trickery, involved, of course; but mentalists are also masters at reading people and have to employ advanced memory techniques to keep track of information they learn during their shows.
In an interview with Big Think, Brown revealed some of his favorite memory hacks; including his 'party trick' to never forget a person's name.
Trick number one: Say their name Giphy
The secret is to create a link between the part of your brain that stores information like names, and the visual part of your brain that is more easily accessed. Visual memory has also been found to be substantially stronger and more detailed than auditory and other kinds of memories, so what you want to do is get the visual part of your brain involved in remembering!
"You find a link between the person's name and something about their appearance, what they're wearing, their face, their hair, something," Brown says. "You find a link with something that they're wearing so if they're called Mike and they've got big black hair you think, 'Oh that's like a microphone' so I can imagine like a big microphone walking around or if they've got a stripy T-shirt on you imagine a microphone with those stripes going around it.
"And it's the same process later on in the evening you see them, you look at the stripes and you go, 'Oh that's Mike. Oh yeah that's Mike. The hair, why am I thinking the hair is like a big microphone? Oh yes, of course, they're called Mike.'"
Microphone Mike! Any sort of alliteration based on a physical characteristic will work. Stripey Steve, Tall Tim, Green Gene. The more interesting and unique, the better you'll remember.
If this sounds a little bit like Michael Scott's mnemonic devices from The Office, well, they're not far off. He applies in a pretty strange and convoluted way: "Baldy. Your head it bald. It is hairless. It is shiny. It is reflective, like a mirror. M. Your name is Mark." But ultimately, he was on to something. If you watched the show, you know that Michael Scott never forgot a name!
Michael Scott: Memory master. Giphy
There is one catch with the technique: You have to actually listen and pay attention when someone tells you their name!
"So, you do have to listen that's the first thing when they say the name," Brown says. "Normally the very moment where someone is giving you their name you're just caught up in a whole lot of social anxiety anyways you don't even hear it, so you have to listen."
Using someone's name when you talk to them has tons of benefits. It conveys respect, friendliness, and intimacy. When you're on the receiving end and someone you've just met uses your name, it just feels good! It feels like it matters to them that they met you. Just don't overdo it. Repeating someone's name every other sentence comes across disingenuous and salesy. A good rule of thumb is to repeat their name immediately after learning it ("Nice to meet you, Jim") and upon saying goodbye. The rest of the memory work should happen in your head to avoid creeping them out!
"And then at the end [of the party] you get to go around and say goodbye to everybody by name and everyone thinks you're very charming and clever," Brown quips.
Listen to the entire, fascinating interview here.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Brown's name-remembering technique is tangential to an ancient philosophy called the "Method of loci".
The method involves attaching things to be remembered (numbers, tasks, facts) to specific places that are easy to visualize in your head. Imagine taking a brain-walk down the street you live on and all the objects or places you might see there. The mailbox, the gnarled tree, the rusty fire hydrant. This memory method asks you to visually associate one thing you want to remember with each item or location. The more strange and visual the image you can create, the better! Brown uses the example of trying to shove a sparkling-clean shirt into his mailbox, reminding him to do his drycleaning.
When you need to recall the item, you just take a little walk in your head down the street.
(Did you know that there's a World Championship of Memory? Most of the best competitors use a version of this technique, which originated all the way back in Ancient Greece, and possibly well before even that.)
The Method of Loci could save you from forgetting key information. Giphy
The name hack isn't so dissimilar. You're attaching an intangible, abstract thing (a name) to a specific visual image you can see in your head and even in the real world. But that's just one way of getting better at remembering names! There are all kinds of tips, hacks, and methods you can try.
Some people swear by repeating the name immediately after hearing it. "Hi, my name is Jake." "Hi, Jake, nice to meet you!" (Just don't say someone's name too frequently or you risk coming off a bit slimy.)
Others use a technique similar to Brown's loci idea, but instead of a visual, you lean on things that are already deeply engrained in your memory, like rhymes or free-association. or even celebrities. Mary - had a little lamb. Jake - the Snake. Daisy - flowers. Tom - Cruise.
Another trick (that I've definitely used before) if you do forget someone's name? Introduce them to someone you know! "Hey, this is my wife, Sarah." The person was almost always introduce themselves using their own name, and then you get a second chance at remembering it.
A lot of the best advice really comes down to being intentional about remembering when you're introduced to a new person. Whatever mental gymnastics you choose to do with the name, the mere fact that you're thinking about it with such focus immediately after is a big part of why these 'tricks' help names stick.
It feels really good when someone cares enough to remember your name, so it's definitely worth putting in a little effort of trying to instill that feeling in others.
And, furthermore, remind yourself that it's perfectly OK to forget someone's name; especially if you've just met. A kind, honest, and vulnerable, "I'm sorry, can you remind me your name again?" might feel awkward in the moment, but it utilizes the easiest 'trick' of all: Just being a normal human and asking.
This article originally appeared in February. It has been updated.