Thank You from the Bottom of My Heart: Ozzy’s Last Show

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Music

As a lifelong metal fan, I had caught wind of the show: Back to the Beginning, a one-day music festival in Birmingham, England—the home of Black Sabbath—intended to be Ozzy Osbourne’s final performance both as a solo artist and Black Sabbath’s final performance with the full band: Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, and Geezer Butler. But I forgot about it until the week of, when I happened across a message online that reminded me it was going to be streaming. At first, it was just another streaming concert in my mind, but I kept thinking about it. The lineup was sick, the biggest metal bands on earth. I wondered what covers everyone would play leading up to the final show. Pantera certainly would surely play Planet Caravan, a personal favorite from Far Beyond Driven (1994). It was the Fourth of July weekend and I was going to be home all day anyway smoking a brisket, so why not?

Why I Meditate: Finding Peace in Our Hyperconnected World

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The Why I... Series

“What a joy it is to be on an incompleteable path.” - Henry Shukman, Sanbo Zen Master

I actually want to write about my zen practice. But I feel like setting the stage with meditation more generally is a better place to begin.

The world is afire, literally and metaphorically. It’s been almost 20 years since suddenly everyone had smart phones. We started opening and refreshing feeds—no, waterfalls—of problems, tasks, and agendas. Priorities set by companies, organizations, influencers, bots. This technology added hundreds of new voices to our daily experience. Embedded in dopamine, streaming constantly. Directly to you, 24/7.

So, you’re telling me we already got this damn monkey mind that won’t shut up, that fills us with suffering well enough…and now we’re injecting doomscrolling into the mix?

Of course people need meditation. We need it more than ever.

[Continue reading…]

Introducing: My “Why I…” Series

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The Why I... Series

“In the first half of your life you build a container, and then the second half you fill it up.” - a paraphrased quote attributable to Richard Rohr as far as I can tell

I heard this quote in the course of my zen studies. As a middle-aged human, it really struck me. This blog is a container that I’ll fill by writing about key lessons from my life experience. It’s a wiki-in-progress, a place to share ideas and tactics that have helped me and might help others.

To create a foundation of core principles and positions on the tentpole topics of life, it made sense to start this new blog off with my “Why I…” series. I’ll publish pieces on topics like why I prioritize sleep, why I meditate, why I’m not drinking alcohol this year, and so on. Over time, I’ll be able to refer back to and link to these foundational topics.

I’ll share stories about my experience and how I overcame challenges. I’ve noticed that I’m able to flip perspectives on basic assumptions that can empower change.

Welcome to the Blog

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genesis

So, I decided to start a blog. Again. And a newsletter.

I was supposed to, as part of my platform, according to the book publishing industry. It wasn’t always so, but here we are. The platform helps promote and sell books in the Digital Age. I’ll revisit that topic another time.

It’s going to be fun though, a forum to publish ideas, essays, creative works. A forcing function to write things that preclude my typical scope.

Breathe life into loving writing again.

Explore insights, perspectives, and life hacks on topics like health, wealth, and finding meaning. Maybe some longer form work will emerge from the blog. And yeah, without AI. OR SPELL CHECK.

A place to share with others. Maybe something here will help someone. Jack Kornfield wrote, “We’re all just walking each other home.” That’s part of what this blog is about. Trying to help out while figuring out how to help out.