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Month: September 2024

IRL Initiators

Published on September 9, 2024

The person who initiates in-person, human-to-human gatherings plays a more important role than ever before in modern society.

Why? Because screens are capturing the best of our attention each day and are leaving us with less and less to give to IRL meetups—especially as algorithms, AI, and technology advance to make screens more and more addicting.

By the time we’re done with work or have a space in our schedule when we’re actually able to hang out with people, in-person… we’re exhausted. Or are more tempted by the easy access to screen dopamine than the resistance we might face when thinking about arranging IRL meetups.

I can feel it in myself: a hesitation; a laziness; a doubt; a distraction; a weight; a series of excuses; an expectation; an easier option—when I think about initiating IRL meetups.

And the crazy part is… I know I’m blessed with a circle of close connections who would love to meetup IRL and would laugh at the thoughts of:

  • “Well, I have to get my house perfectly clean before I invite them over.”
  • “I don’t want to set anything up until I know everybody vibes well together.”
  • “They’re probably as exhausted as I am and would rather chill at home than meet up.”

But, I suspect I’m not the only one…

What we need are people who can be proactive. People who can make arrangements, make the calls, discipline themselves with their screens, trash the excuses, and stick to their word.

There used to be a time when this was all there was.

Now… it’s a skill that needs to be built.

…Will you help fill the need for this ever important role?

“Less Comparing; More Dancing”

Published on September 8, 2024

…That was the message I settled on after taking a 90 minute, Meet Your Higher Self Workshop at Burning Man.

The workshop started with guided group discussions around Higher Self and what that even means. We shared ideas, did visualizations, talked about our greatest dreams, our greatest fears, and discussed how each of us are messengers who, by embodying all that is our Higher Self, get to communicate a specific message to the world.

And the ultimate prompt that lead to my above message was, “What’s the message that you’re carrying into the world?”

By “less comparing” I mean do everything in your power to reduce the amount of time you spend exposing yourself to people, places, and things that exacerbate your instinct to judge and make you dwell on all that’s better in others and worse in yourself. Particularly, less media featuring distorted perceptions of beauty, success, and happiness—and less time with people and in places where comparison is hyper prevalent.

By “more dancing” I don’t necessarily mean just more dancing—although dancing is one of the closest examples I could think of to express this next sentiment. What I ultimately mean is more time spent in moments of uninhibited self-expression. Uninhibited as in ego-less; without a care for what others think; done purely for the sake of celebrating a moment of being alive. And for me, spontaneous dancing is the complete embodiment of that. And it’s something we need more of it in this world.

This is the message I hope to carry into the world.

Now I pass the question off to you… What’s your message?

The Frustrated Eye

Published on September 7, 2024

While I was away at Burning Man, my email service provider (who sends out these daily emails) retired their services.

…Of course.

And so when I got back, not only did I have to unpack, reintegrate into daily living, and make sense of the other-worldly experience that was/is Burning Man… but I also had to find a new email service provider, migrate all of my subscribers over to them, redraft all of my email templates and rss feed settings from scratch, rebuild all of my email capture forms and popups, and create new automation flows.

…Not exactly good timing when there’s a million other things to do after coming back from vacation.

But, with that challenge came an opportunity that I had been procrastinating for a long time.

My old email service provider wasn’t really keeping themselves up-to-date with the times. They had a service that worked, kept it minimal, and trucked forward for almost 10 years without changing much along the way.

And while it worked just fine for me, it was definitely time for a refresh.

And that’s what coming home to this challenge gave me the opportunity to do… refresh what I had been stubbornly refusing to do for so long.

Worth thinking about for yourself: what challenge are you facing in your life and where’s the opportunity in that challenge?

In the heat of the moment it can feel like there absolutely isn’t one—and the only presiding thoughts and emotions are all geared towards “the bad” and the inconveniences of the circumstance.

…But with a calm and collected mind, you just might find there’s more to your life’s challenges than what meets the frustrated eye.

All In Flight [Poem]

Published on September 6, 2024

I can’t help
But look away
And turn completely
After looking directly
At light so bright

I can’t help
But bounce back
And stumble clumsily
After two-stepping into beauty
That radiates depth in spite

Even as I fight
I’m just not ready
To soul gaze with infinity
To rhythmically move
Open my heart
And forget the better in sight

Until I lock into you
It takes everything I’ve got
I bear the brightness
Withstand the inner storm
Your forcefield now a black hole
We couldn’t have been more tight

I’m captivated later
By the image of dancing feet
Nothing I felt up there
Existed down here
Where all seemed equal
Just one interrelated energy

—All in flight.

P.s. You can read my other poems here.

They Were Right

Published on September 5, 2024

Do more things that make you forget you have a phone… they said.

…And they were right.

There isn’t much presence that comes from being on a phone.

Except maybe when you’re having a great conversation.

But, that feels to me to be more of the exception than the norm in today’s world.

Phones are a modern day escape.

And there’s nothing wrong with escapes. I know I sure need them every now and again.

But, when you’re escaping for excessively large chunks of time throughout your day… it begs the question…

…What are you trying to escape from?

And how can you begin the process of reversing that trend so that your reality—your life—becomes a thing you don’t need to escape from?

P.s. You might notice some differences in how you get these posts emailed to you—my old email provider retired its service while I was at Burning Man. So please bear with me as I get everything migrated over and updated to a new service in the mean time. Thank you :)