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Category: Archives

The full collection of explorations.

Sub 9

Published on July 19, 2023

Today, a friend and I ran 4 miles.

At the end, she reported that we averaged 8:50ish per mile and said, “Anything sub 9 is good.”

I didn’t say it then, but after thinking about it, I’d like to say next time, “Anything done is good.”

Put too much pressure on “sub 9” and you might skip runs altogether when sore or exhausted.

Better to let done be the primary metric you track and allow room for grace when it’s needed.

Because often… grace is needed. And those who can give it are the ones who truly stay on track.

P.s. If staying consistent with positive habits is hard for you (like exercising regularly), stay tuned. My NEW guide is in its final stages of completion…!

Aligned Problems

Published on July 18, 2023

This is your reoccurring reminder that there is no escaping problems in life.

Problems only get to be exchanged and/or upgraded.

So, the next time you find yourself complaining about a problem, ask yourself:

  • “What kinds of problems would I rather be solving?”
  • “What kinds of problems make me feel equal parts challenged and excited at the prospect of solving them?”
  • “How can I reverse engineer my way towards those problems and start exchanging some of my current ones for those ones?”

Those who live more fulfilled and enjoyable lives don’t live that way because of fewer problems per se—they live that way because of more aligned problems.

P.s. You might also like this 2-minute piece I published: The Problem With The Problem-Free Life

Thinking and Being

Published on July 17, 2023

There’s a time and a place for thinking. And there’s a time and a place for being. All being and no thinking leads to rash decision making. And all thinking and no being leads to a sheltered, inexperienced life.

Times when we’re experiencing life are times when we should drop thinking altogether. Like when we’re: walking, running, swimming, playing, hiking, meditating, listening, dancing, drawing, painting, etc.

And times when we’re reflecting on life and planning ahead for the future are times when we should turn the thinking up. Like when we’re: reading, writing, conversing, planning, researching, developing, building, brainstorming, imagining, visualizing, etc.

It’s when we get either of the two confused that we stumble in life.

It’s when we start thinking about playing or meditating or dancing that it suddenly becomes awkward and unnatural. And it’s when we spend all of our time being and none of our time writing or planning or imagining that suddenly our mistakes repeat and our life trajectory worsens.

Like most things in life, it’s a balancing act. One that I don’t think we’ll ever get perfectly correct, but one that we can and should be more conscious of and aim more deliberately for.

P.s. This post was inspired by (and became the afterword for) The Story About The Centipede and The Frog.

Alone… Together

Published on July 16, 2023

I meditated with a group for the first time today.

We met at a local park, sat in the grass, did 15 minutes of quiet sitting, 15 minutes of quiet walking or continued sitting (most kept sitting), and finished with another 15 minutes of quiet sitting.

Then, after everybody came out of their practice, the group spent 15 minutes discussing a topic.

Before we began, I asked one gentlemen what brought him to the group and he said he had a hard time meditating alone.

Which struck me because what is a meditation group, but a group of people who are practicing being alone… together?

There’s that element of connection during the discussion portion, but for 45 minutes, it’s just you. And if being with you is hard for you, for any duration of time, it’s as good an indicator as any that inner work is needed.

I don’t say this from a place of judgment, but from a place of compassion.

Because of all the company you keep in your life, there should be no better company than the company you keep with yourself. And the more you improve the company you keep with yourself, ironically, the better the rest of the company you keep will become, too.

Some questions to reflect on: (1) Have you ever considered practicing being alone? (2) Have you ever considered practicing being alone, in a group? (3) What, if anything, is coming up that’s preventing you from starting a practice like this?

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

Overstimulating Pixels vs Uncomfortable Quietness

Published on July 15, 2023

Overstimulating pixels vs uncomfortable quietness is THE modern day dilemma.

So many of the negative symptoms people experience in our modern world have to do with this boiled down and plainly stated challenge.

And as is true with any negatively experienced symptoms or illnesses in life, we can’t work to fight what we can’t name or don’t understand. It’s only after we understand what it is we’re up against, that we can start to work strategically to fight back.

With the awareness of the challenge laid out in front of us, hopefully more people can move into that uncomfortable quietness and get, what I consider to be, a taste of the antidote to the overstimulating pixels.

…And see how, with regular doses, their lives may start feeling less agitated, insufficient, anxiety-inducing, depressing, lonely, nerve-wracking, etc.

So many of our modern day problems can be solved with this, almost too easy, ancient and yet timeless solution—quietness.

And as much as you might want to consume more and more pixilated videos and articles explaining to you how to reduce anxiety, stop overthinking, improve self-image, etc… consider the idea that it’s the pixels themselves that are at the root of the cause of the negative symptoms.

My prescription to you is this: practice making uncomfortable quietness, comfortable again—and watch as your life slowly starts to improve and feel better.

P.s. Thank you to Samantha who inspired this post. Your email reply was refreshing to read.

Turn Off or Turn Up?

Published on July 14, 2023

Sometimes I fantasize about living another life.

And sometimes I find myself fantasizing about being in that other life, fantasizing about being back in this one.

And part of me wonders if this is just the human condition: to constantly imagine and desire all the other possibilities in lieu of the incredible opportunities that have already come together to give us the life we have today.

And part of me wonders if this will always be a mental program running in the background: dreaming, fantasizing, scheming, desiring, wishing, wondering—and if it’s something worth turning off (and practicing more present gratitude) or turning up (and letting imagination run wild to paint a masterpiece that we can ambitiously reverse engineer our way to).

And part of me wonders if, like most things in life, it’s some kind of combination of the two…

Luck Stuck In Reverse [Poem]

Published on July 13, 2023

I remember you telling me
you met him
in a coffee shop

You went to get a drink
and thought it’d be nice
to see if he wanted one too

I simply can’t fathom
What luck like that
Must feel like

To be sitting; working
And be unintentionally chosen
By the rarest of butterflies

You tell me this
As we navigate broken rock
Near thundering falls

Where missing a step
Could mean broken bone
Or at least red cheeks

But I don’t miss
Not a beat; not a step
Not a single strain in thought

I’ve become numb
To this sort of pain
Luck stuck in reverse

I glance forward
You settle your wings
On a flower I’d never have seen

I glance back
Sun, river, flowers—this butterfly
Maybe luck is made?

Our path together ends
You float to bench nearby
And stop me from walking away

I smile; remember the coffee shop
And decide to say it anyway
Let’s do it again sometime

Knowing damn well
This butterfly
Is getting away

P.s. You can read the other poems I sometimes write here.