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Month: August 2025

Sliding Down Bleacher Stairs

Published on August 15, 2025

I saw a kid today, maybe 10 years old, sliding down high school bleacher gym stairs, on his butt (hear: thump, thump, thump…), with his martial arts uniform wide open exposing his chest and tummy, laughing hysterically, giving zero cares to any of the other hundred or so people in the gym, concluding planted on the gym floor, laying on his back, giggling like it was the best thing he had done in his entire life.

…I hope one day I can unlearn my way back to a place where I can un-self-consciously do things like that at such a high level.

It’s amazing how far away from presence, joy, and healthy carelessness we’re taught to be—in the form of “Grow up” “Be cool” “Fit in” “Don’t act like such a child” “Don’t be so immature” “Don’t be such a loser…” When in reality… it’s the younger version of ourselves that—in so many ways—had it right all the way from the start.

Your Lover Is A Butterfly

Published on August 15, 2025

Your lover—or the one whom you want to be your lover—is a butterfly.

Try and catch them with a net and they’ll instinctually flap away.

Trick them into a cage and they’ll definitely resent you.

Trapping, forcing, controlling should never be the goal…

Attracting is where your focus should be.

Create such an amazing space that the butterfly can’t help but flap curiously around you.

Radiate such warm and welcoming energy that the butterfly can’t help but feel drawn to you.

You—or the one whom you want to become—are a garden.

…And if you learn how to properly take care of yourself… and grow both on the inside and the out… your butterfly will choose—won’t be able to help but to choose—to keep coming back.

Love In Wrong Turns

Published on August 14, 2025

A co-worker shared a story with me today about the moment she knew she wanted her brother and his girlfriend to get married.

Both girls were out at a girl’s night chatting and she—the girlfriend—made the following comment about my co-worker’s brother:

“Whenever he’s driving and he makes a wrong turn… I don’t say anything. I just let him figure it out. I know we’ll eventually get where we’re meant to be… and keeping him calm and anxiety free on the way is more important to me than being right or correcting and stressing him out.”

…For some couples, wrong turns lead to something in the opposite direction of love.

…For others, you get to a point where you wonder if there even is a wrong turn for their love.

Random Theory About Live Music

Published on August 13, 2025

Random question: If I asked you to place your hand where you think your soul hangs out, where would you place it?

…I don’t know about you, but my hand tends to go somewhere between my heart and my stomach—near the very center of my being.

If this wasn’t you, then go ahead and just disregard the above two sentences.

Okay, now random theory about live music: one of the reasons we love it so much is because we can align the very center of our being with the type of music that we innately and have always indescribably loved… and we can feel it vibrate into that sacred center—what some might describe as our soul.

Which is also why I think we love to sing our favorite songs—because the vibrations from our voice box resonate into that same place.

…And whatever vibration our soul has always been craving, is finally shaking its way inside.

…And for that brief span of time—everything in our world feels aligned, in rhythm, and alright.

P.s. This extra post is being sent to make-up for the one missed on Friday, August 8th, 2025.

When I Went To A Music Show Alone

Published on August 12, 2025

Once upon a time I decided to go to a music show alone.

While there, a random person saw me vibin’, asked if I came with anybody, grabbed my arm when I said “No,” dragged me around the packed venue filled with thousands of people until she finally found her people, and introduced me to them all.

We’ve all been friends ever since.

And that squad and I have gone to many other shows, have created countless memories, have rippled that same inclusive energy to hundreds of other strangers, expanded our squad beautifully, and are still making plans together today.

…All from that one random, happenstance initiative.

Three lessons come to mind from this story that popped into my brain today:

  1. Don’t be afraid to do things alone. Go where you feel pulled to go—your people will be there, too. And if you don’t, you might never cross paths with who you were supposed to meet.
  2. Always show up with intentionality. I don’t recommend dragging strangers by the arm who go places alone—it only worked because the vibe I was giving worked and she sensed it. And I allowed her to drag me because the opposite was true, too. I don’t know how to describe it, but your vibe attracts your tribe. It’s something you feel, you just have to intentionally show up with the vibe you want to attract… and follow the pull of your attraction.
  3. Keep doing inner work. The deeper I continue to dig inside, the better things continue to get outside. At the forefront of which are the people I’m blessed to be connecting with at this stage of life.

I Lost My Voice

Published on August 11, 2025

I went to a music festival this past weekend and lost my voice yelling and screaming.

…Makes things kind of tough when you come back to work as a teacher.

But, what was interesting is that it made me perceive all of my daily communication challenges differently—a forced perspective change if you will.

And so rather than greet everybody with an over the top volume… today, I greeted everybody with claps and a whisper.

Rather than communicate with my instructors and staff in one broad stroke of my voice… I met each of them where they were and communicated individually.

…Which, interestingly enough, made me do the same with the students. Rather than ask the class questions, I asked each student individually. Rather than delegate after class helping, I spent a little extra time whispering answers to the ones who asked. And rather than control the whole dialogue of the class, I delegated and had students and other staff members get involved.

Having no voice as a teacher can undoubtedly be a challenge… but it doesn’t have to be a problem.

Inner Work Prompt: What are you looking at as a problem that might be better percieved as a challenge?

On Toxic Work Environments

Published on August 7, 2025

I student of mine asked for advice on working in a toxic workplace.

Step 1, I said, is to figure out if the toxicity is coming from one or a few rotten apples—that are contaminating the rest of the lot—or if it’s the tree as a whole that’s toxic and it’s the source itself that’s contaminating the lot.

Step 2, of course—if we’re talking of one or a few rotten apples—is to take the appropriate actions to either remove the apples that are rotten or perform some kind of corporate/systemic/HR alchemy and cure them of their rot. Even if it’s the biggest, sweetest, highest yielding apple of the lot… it’s never worth ruining the rest of the harvest. Cure or remove are the only options.

…And if it’s the tree as a whole that’s toxic, well, I told my student, you’re better off taking your apple to another tree. Because the time, energy, and effort that would need to be invested into curing an entire tree, would be taken away from the time, energy, and effort that could be invested into yourself and a different tree that’s healthy and postured for growth.

Which is the last point I made: A massive tree that’s toxic is not better than a smaller tree that’s healthily growing. Always invest in trajectory as much as you do any other factor.