The Art of Living Well
In the 1800’s, New Orleans was the epicenter of the African slave trade. It became the largest exporter of cotton in the American South.
Although these brave African souls faced bigotry, trepidation and turmoil, they had something that many resort to during times of strife.
Music.
Continue reading “#86 Creation from Chaos – Art is the Soul Expressing Itself”
I played a lot of basketball growing up.
Many will agree, it’s the greatest sport ever created.
Thank you, Mr. Naismith.
Although I played on my high school team and in various tournaments, it was streetball that separated the men from the boys.
Continue reading “#85 Ball Don’t Lie – Belief in Oneself is Crucial”
Rarely, if ever, do we skip to the end of the things we enjoy.
When it comes to our favorite songs, we make it a point to listen to every beat.
The chorus is just as important as the ending notes.
It’s times like this where some esoteric force that’s beyond our comprehension, pulls us close to accept the present moment.
Continue reading “#84 Dance – Die to Yesterday, and usher in the Gift of Today”
I buy free-range, cage-free eggs.
I picture happy chickens, wallowing in the California Sun, listening to Bill Withers and two-stepping their feathers away in an open sunflower field.
As much as I want this to be true, it’s not.
At the very least, they must be free-range and cage-free, right?
Continue reading “#83 Is It Really Free-Range – Control the Controllables”
Celebrated in March, Nyepi, or day of silence marks the New Year according to the Balinese Calendar. It’s the oldest recorded ritual celebrated in human history.
It’s a public holiday in Indonesia but celebrated mainly in the city of Bali.
During Nyepi, the entire city is closed. There is no work. The airports are at a standstill. Lights are kept low. There is no entertainment, electronics aren’t permitted, and no one cooks.
Continue reading “#82 Day of Silence – Finding Peace within is still an Underrated Concept”
I don’t feel like working out most days.
But I still do.
I never regretted a workout.
There’s a lot of things in my daily life that I don’t want to do sometimes, but I know they are needed.
Continue reading “#81 The Wheel – Talk is Cheap, Take Action”
In my teens, getting in F was akin to Armageddon.
In my 20’s, a screw up at work made me feel tense and anxious for weeks.
Now in my mid 30’s, failing to do something correctly has become an opportunity for growth.
Failure is good. It’s the litmus test needed to grow our intellects, wisdom and spirit.
Did you screw up at work? Trust me, it’s not as bad as you think.
Did you upset someone? Don’t worry too much. Thankfully, you don’t have the power to perceive how others think.
Did you overeat and not exercise? Put a stamp on today and let it go.
Tomorrow is a new beginning.
Our failures, when acknowledged, can help us strive to be better.
Failure is not fatal, so fail as much as you can.
Having the tenacity to get back up after every downfall builds mental muscle.
It’s failures way of working for us, rather than against us.
What happens when we die?
We can speculate.
It’s fun to talk about alternative realities, string theory, different dimensions, and simulations, but no one has a definitive answer.
In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Keanu Reeves was asked, “What do you think happens when we die.”
Continue reading “#79 The Ultimate Question – The Answer that has yet to be Answered”
Around the 1860s about 95% of the Redwood Forests were cut down for lumber, to be used by ranchers, developers, and loggers.
John Muir, a disrupter of that time, as well as a naturalist, author, philosopher, and early advocate for all things nature, saw this problem and took action.
As passionate as he was about preserving nature, he needed help.
His beautiful essays, poems, and pictures of the Yosemite Valley caught the attention of President, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt.
When Roosevelt was 25, his mother and wife fell ill. They ended up dying on the same day. To this, he said, “The light has gone out of my life.”
Continue reading “#78 Wash Your Spirit Clean”
Founded in 1992, Dutch Bros is a coffee chain started by two brothers that grew up working on a dairy farm.
What started as pushcarts around town, is 300 locations strong in the Western United States today.
When I moved to Oregon, it was no surprise that Dutch Bros is more than just a place to get your morning Java. It’s an institution of the highest magnitude, with a cult-like following that rivals the Church of England.
During one of my morning rendezvous visits to this caffeinated shrine, I talked to the morning barista.
Continue reading “#77 Dutch Bros”