Do not be scared of vulnerability—of softening to the world.
Look at a flower… look at a baby…
There’s a beauty in fragility. There’s a sacred appreciation for that which lays close to death.
It draws you in… it holds you in presence… it gives you life…
Because anything that hardens you to the world moves you in the opposite direction.
Away from appreciation… away from presence… away from the foundation of life.
Yes, small changes done over an extended period of time add up to big change.
But, more importantly, small promises made and kept to ourself—which is what small changes done over an extended period of time is—adds up to big self-trust change.
Added up enough and suddenly our word isn’t as flimsy as sand… it’s solid as rock.
We do what we say we’re going to do because we’ve made THAT the habit. More powerful than any giant, one-off change we try to make that’s followed by countless promises made and broken.
Routine is good for building habits. For aligning with momentum. For compounding growth.
Change is good for building richness. For exploring new paths. For resiliency training.
Sure, go to work. But have you ever tried to build a side-hustle?
Sure, workout every morning. But have you ever tried a martial arts class?
Sure, have family dinners. But have you ever tried ordering food from a different city (yes, you can do that)?
Sure, have date night. But have you ever made a random night into a date?
Sure, have travel plans. But have you ever just called a friend and taken them on a spontaneous hike?
If your life is feeling too monotonous or boring… it’s because it probably is! Add in some spice and give yourself something to look forward to, ponder over, or get challenged with.
And if your life is feeling too crazy or unhinged… it’s because it probably is! Ground yourself into ritualistic practices that you can look forward to every day, without fail, that can be done even on your busiest days.
Life is best lived in balance. And getting this even just a little more right can make things feel a lotta bit more better.
To understand 10,000 things… understand one really well.
There are 10,000 ways to the summit of a mountain… yet they all converge to one singular point.
Which path you choose to take isn’t as important as having chosen a path.
There will be challenges, adversities, confusion, problem solving, victories, scenic points, and more on each.
Each path will have at least 10,000 things to teach you.
If you always give up too soon, however, and climb back down, change your mind, or double back… You’ll never get past even the first 10 lessons of the mountain.
And you’ll end up repeating the same lessons at the beginning of each different path over and over and over again.
This isn’t to say you should never switch paths. Some paths will certainly be more wise and more aligned to take than others.
It’s simply to say, the path isn’t always “clearer” on the other side. At some point you have to fully commit. Give it a full send. Utilize the resources at your disposal in their entirety.
The view at the top is the view at the top is the view at the top.
There’s an infinitely small sliver that’s smack in between past and future.
And it’s on the edge of that razor that one of life’s great paradoxes is found… eternity.
Because eternity isn’t really about time times infinity… it’s about bringing infinity into the span of a single moment of time—the vastness of it all, balanced on the smallest of lines.
See you never really touch the past—yet it expands infinitely behind us…
And you never really touch the future—yet it expands infinitely in front of us… both as vast as the universe itself.
…But here? Right on this tiniest of slivers that we stand on in-between these two infinitely expanding timelines?
This is where eternity lies. In the constantly renewing string of nows… again and again and again… the only place where infinitely expanding timelines don’t survive.
The trick is to keep balanced on the sliver. Because slipping into the depths of the past and falling forward into a bed of daydreams of the future is impossible to avoid altogether.
But those who can learn to balance on the sliver more often… get more.
More fully received experiences. More fully present moments. More tastes of eternity…
I love you
No words have ever left my lips
So effortlessly
My hands formed a heart
No gesture has ever been shared
So truthfully
No other words shared
Except those said by hands, hips, and feet
Yours in mine, against mine, with mine.
How strange
To go years getting to know someone
And hesitate
When mere moments
With aligned, raw, overflowing energy
Leaves no fear
How strange
To know that moment was enough
And to walk away
When those three words
That connection; that energy
Is what I went right back to seeking
Maybe leaving it there
Pure… innocent… wholesome…
As effortlessly as it was found
…was the point.
Maybe not looking back
Holding the purity of the moment
Forever in my heart
…is the destination.
P.s. You can read my other poems here.
Think of some of your favorite things you’ve ever created in life—the things people will remember you by.
How much would someone have to pay you to remove that creation from ever existing in your life?
…The thing is: many of us are doing this daily. And for A LOT less than we think.
Think about how many creations have been “taken away” because of extra work or from bringing work home or from being too exhausted to create after work…
Think, too, about how long some of those favorite creations took you to make? …And how much you get paid per hour in your job/career? …And if that creation is worth that price?
For many of us… the answer would be an unwavering, “No.”
And yet… many of us continue to work for that hourly rate at the expense of the things we might’ve been so proud to have created.
This isn’t a call to quit your job. It’s a call to renew your commitment towards creation—in the time you can afford to budget… just like you do so vigilantly for your job.
Nobody is going to make the time for you—especially not your boss.
But if you can be your own boss and learn how to make the time for yourself again… what you might end up with is something far more valuable than anything your boss ever gives you in a check.