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Category: Archives

The full collection of explorations.

Connection Initiative

Published on April 27, 2023

“I love being by myself, but then, I get lonely and don’t have anybody to listen to me.”

…Was sent to me as a reply on Twitter.

To which I spent some time thinking about… and replied back with this:

“A question that has helped me with this: ‘Where do people like me, who like doing the same kinds of things I like to do, hang out?’ And then I go there and let common ground take care of the rest.”

I have found this to be the best strategy for combating loneliness—deliberate, heart-guided, initiative.

Friends aren’t just going to come knocking at your door while you binge Netflix series or doom scroll. And work friends can sometimes come with layered complications.

But people who are doing the things you also love to do—just for the hell of it? …Opens up a door WIDE for connection.

…You just have to show up and walk through.

Inner work prompt: How might you respond to that reply? Send me a… reply :)

Little Big Things

Published on April 27, 2023

I see you…

  • Person who smiles when you could’ve chosen to frown.
  • Person who lets people in the lane when you could’ve chosen to cut them off.
  • Person who pays a compliment to a random stranger when you could’ve carried on and pretended like they didn’t exist.

You might not think you’re seen… but you are. Maybe nothing is said, no acknowledgment is paid, and maybe some things are done when none of us are looking… but have no mistake—goodness gets seen.

And while I (we) couldn’t say thanks in the moment for doing your part to improve our world—for whatever reason…

I’d (we’d) like to do so now.

Because it’s the people like you, doing the little things like that, who make big differences in the little lives of those living on this big planet.

Thank you.

P.s. If someone came to mind for you when you read this, forward it to or share it with them. There is no greater feeling than that of feeling seen.

The Gift of Receiving

Published on April 25, 2023

Giving is the easy part.

Giving means you have more than you need and you’re able to offer others some of what you have.

Of course, not everybody wants to give for the right reasons. Some want to give to manipulate—so others will be indebted to them and they can be owed.

But for many, this isn’t the case at all.

Many want to give simply because it makes them feel great inside; because it satisfies their nurturing nature; because they genuinely feel blessed, know what it’s like to suffer, and want others to suffer less.

Genuine giving is one of the most beautiful experiences on the planet for both the giver and receiver.

What most people don’t talk about, however, is the difficulty (and importance) of receiving.

For some, it’s because they’ve been manipulated through gifts and don’t want to be indebted to others—which is a terrible shame. For others, it’s because nurturing is in their nature and being a receiver of nurturing feels against their nature. And for others still, receiving conflicts with pride—it creates a sense of guilt because they weren’t able to acquire “enough” on their own.

But, without receiving there can be no giving.

And while it may seem like a prideful, honorable, noble thing to do—to reject gifts—it often can have the opposite effect. Once trust is established in the genuineness of the gifts (and it isn’t manipulative), receiving wholeheartedly becomes (what most people miss) a gift (and a damn beautiful one at that) in and of itself.

P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

The Checklist That Makes Me Feel Like I *Actually* Visited A Place

Published on April 24, 2023

Below is my highly refined checklist of what makes me feel like I actually visited a place when I travel to visit a place. Because as some of you may relate, there have been plenty of times when I visited a place, did some things, left, and felt like I didn’t really visit the place at all. The list below is my unique concoction of things that act as an antidote to that feeling.

In no particular order:

  • One local bookstore
  • One quaint coffee shop
  • One offbeat nature path
  • One unique-to-the-area attraction
  • One conversation with a stranger
  • One conversation with a local friend (if applicable)

…How about you? What makes you feel like you’ve actually visited a place when you visit a place? I’d love to hear in a reply.

P.s. This was my vacation reflection from Monday, April 24, 2023.

Nuggets Everywhere

Published on April 23, 2023

Things I heard others say while on vacation that bear repeating:

“Living in paradise is no paradise if you don’t have the ones you love to share it with.”

“When I’m browsing books, I open to a random page, read that page, and if it makes me want to read the next page, I buy the book.”

“Everything will be okay in the end. And if it isn’t okay… it isn’t the end.“

P.s. This was my vacation reflection from Sunday, April 23, 2023.

Life Balance From A DJ

Published on April 22, 2023

When you watch a really great DJ play a live set, you see a beautiful balance worth emulating.

They’ll put their headphones on and focus intensely on the next track—keenly preparing for what’s to come and how to transition most brilliantly.

And then—and this is where most of us miss—when the transition is about to happen, they take their headphones off, grab the audience by the hand, and jump, pump, and JAM OUT as they celebrate the byproduct of their work.

Focus on preparing the whole time and you miss moments worth celebrating. Jump, pump, and jam the whole time and you won’t be DJing at all—you’ll be playing someone else’s track.

Get this balance right… of putting your life energy into your work and then celebrating key moments along the way… and you’ll unlock a level of life fulfillment that’s worth raving about.

P.s. I was on vacation this past weekend which is why I haven’t published my daily writings—but that doesn’t mean I didn’t write. This was my reflection from Saturday, April 22, 2023.

Language Dreams

Published on April 21, 2023

As I took my seat on a flight today, I couldn’t help but notice my neighbor using sign language over FaceTime. He was presumably speaking to a friend who was signing back over the tiny screen that was propped up in the back of his airplane seat.

I watched in wonder as the two of them fired back and forth hand manipulations and body gestures that contained the depth and precision of the entire Merriam-Webster dictionary.

A few hours later, long after the FaceTime call ended, I saw this gentlemen signing again. But, there wasn’t anyone around who had been signing with him the whole trip so I took a closer look and realized… he was dozing off. In the midst of falling asleep, he was signing… his dreams and/or thoughts.

I have no idea what they were, but boy did this light me up.

It reminded me of a time when I studied extra hard for an oral Spanish final and dreamed in Spanish the night it was over. It didn’t last very long, but it blew my mind the morning after.

We dream in the language we know. And not just that—we dream within the confines of the words (gestures) we know inside the language. If you want to dream more deeply, more vividly, more precisely—not just while you sleep, but while you’re awake—explore the depths of your language.