About.

NameItTameIt is a home for one old way of seeing hard things: name it, then tame it. Here you’ll find essays, true stories, events and simple tools.

Where the name comes from

The name is the whole idea in four words. When something hard happens, first name it: say clearly what it is and what I’m feeling. Then tame it: see what is really happening and get some control back, one sensible step at a time.

A very old idea

Nearly two thousand years ago, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius told himself to “make for thyself a definition or description of the thing… and tell thyself its proper name” (Meditations 3.11).

Many traditions say something similar. In the Bible (Genesis 2:19) and in the Qur’an (2:31), Adam names things. Early Indian thought speaks of nāma-rūpa, “name and form”. Rumi, old proverbs, project work and measurement all put naming near the start of understanding.

The philosopher John Dewey wrote in 1938: “It is a familiar and significant saying that a problem well put is half-solved.” Even then, he called it a familiar saying.

The phrase ‘name it to tame it’ is a recent, popular wording of this old idea, from Dr. Dan Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson (The Whole-Brain Child, 2011). This site is my own take on it, applied to everyday hardship and to life as AI changes work.

Why it helps me

Something heavy with no name has no edges. It sits on everything. Without a shape, it feels like the weight of the whole world is on my shoulders.

Once I give it a word, it gets an outline and a scope. It is this thing, not everything. The weight is still there, but now it has a border, and something with a border is something I can carry. That is why this phrase has helped me so much over the years.

What you’ll find here

• Journal: dated essays, about one a week.
• Stories: people who kept going through hard times, and what I learn from them.
• Events: public events for life after AI.
• A free “Name it” sheet to print.
• Updates log and Archive: everything, by date.
• Audio versions of the essays: coming later.