After three years of writing, I recently released my second book, True Nature.The art isn’t finished—I could have kept working on it for years.But there comes a time when something grabs ahold of us and says,You’ve held onto this for way too long.It’s time to let it go. Please, for your own sanity. I told … Read more
I originally wrote this essay about my experience with “harmful ideologies that caused me unnecessary suffering.” I believed that by telling my story and pulling back the curtain behind these ideologies, the reader could avoid them and save themselves the time and trouble of navigating these worldviews. But as I wrote, I realized that contending … Read more
These last four years, I’ve kept a daily meditation practice inspired by my first vipassana meditation course in 2016. Here, I’ll discuss my personal experience with the technique, some important hindrances to manage on your path, and more recently, how I’m overcoming these hindrances by opening up to new ways of thinking and being. I … Read more
“Words inform the world in which we inhabit. Words create our stories. Stories create our reality. Reality creates our destiny.” — Mark England Words are near and dear to my heart because they intersect three of my life’s greatest passions: storytelling, meditation and communication. I believe the study of words is critical to my development … Read more
I recently completed an 8-day water fast. No food, tea, coffee, or supplements. Just water. In this post, I’ll share with you the why and the results. Warning: This content is not advice. I do not recommend unsupervised fasting and take no responsibility for your decision-making. Okay, now that that’s over, let’s begin. 🙂 Why … Read more
It is April of 2015, in the days leading up to a 2,650-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail, when something called Vipassana is brought to my attention by my college fraternity brother and soon-to-be hiking partner, Bradley. He begins to explain these ten-day meditation retreats. My eyebrow raises. I think of meditation as a … Read more
In the Buddhist teaching, there are three primary characteristics of existence: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and no-self. I’ve experienced these characteristics to varying depths and degrees in my practice of Vipassana, a body-scanning meditation technique and a Pali word meaning “to see clearly,” but no-self is far and away the most elusive insight of the bunch. No-self … Read more
I had the wonderful opportunity to share yesterday evening with this book club of lovable ladies who have successfully read one book every month for the last twenty-five years, except November, and months when the book failed to meet their high standards. 🙂 I enjoyed laughing, listening and answering questions about trail life, the inner-journey … Read more
This post was written on October 22, 2017. I recently returned from a ten-day meditation retreat. I walked away from the retreat with important reminders and new experiences. I gathered intellectual knowledge of the teachings. I was reminded of how to practice the technique properly. I gained experiential wisdom and insight into the inner-workings of the mind … Read more
The whistle’s blow pierces the cool spring air as we return to the field for the second half of play. Darkness shrouds everything beyond the bright tower lights surrounding the field’s perimeter. Everything is hushed because there is no good reason for any audience to attend a co-ed soccer team’s rec league game. Tired but … Read more