Monthly Archives: October 2022

#120 – Heyoka and the Power of Being Weird

Phil Jackson. This picture was taken from The Last Dance Documentary

“We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” ― Dr. Seuss

The Zen Master

Phil Jackson is arguably one of the most iconic and respected coaches in professional team sports. 

He not only led the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers to a combined 11 NBA championships, but he also won 2 chips as a contributing player for the 70′ and 73′ New York Knicks. 

His style of coaching was unorthodox, to say the least. He incorporated Eastern and Native American philosophies into his leadership repertoire. He’s been touted as the “Zen Master.”

Tai chi, meditation, lighting up sage to ward off evil energy, and having teams practice without the ball weren’t uncommon techniques under his coaching. 

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#119 – A Short Story on Empathy and Compassion

Meli and I on the road. Our destination has yet to be determined.

“Compassion is the basis of morality.”― Arthur Schopenhauer

What is Empathy

Empathy means to have the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. 

Although empathy is a beautiful feeling to convey, it has broken me. I would feel the pain of another, to such a degree that I would make it mine. 

This pain would manifest itself in anxiety, fear, and worry. 

I would live in this pain, even long after the pain wasn’t needed anymore. It was a type of self-deprecating torture of the mind.

Like many, my life has been wrapped around heartache and as someone who has been empathetic without trying, it has taken a toll on my soul. 

As with the years, wisdom grows. However, the turbulent waters only become calm if one is steadfast in understanding the self. 

A Story on Empathy

To take parlance from the Dali-lama, there is a story of a young man caught between a few boulders who is suffocating. A stranger sees that he’s in trouble, so he practices empathy and decides to lodge himself between a few boulders too, so he can suffocate as well. 

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