Seven years sober. It's surreal to write those three words. I used to live in a parallel (drunken) world where I'd imagine a sober me. The odds always seemed insurmountable, though. Sobriety was for other people. Me? I'd never get out of the vortex of addiction, at least not alive, anyway.
Read MoreRembering Chris Cornell
I was introduced to Soundgarden around the time I was introduced to my best friend, Trev. It was late 1992 and I was in high school. I'd been digging on Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains for a while and when the Singles soundtrack dropped, I was anticipating going deeper with the Seattle scene which was shifting the paradigm of culture around us. We didn't have the Internet but we devoured fanzines, rare VHS tapes of live performances, and copied album cassettes that we played until they stretched and broke. It was the most amazing time to be alive.
Read MoreEvolution
Evolution is a part of life. Ideas, tools, technology... it all evolves. I started my first blog back in 2009 and it was called Running for Pearl. It was a way to document my running and the parallels between it and raising a child with autism. Writing has always been cathartic (cliche I know) for me. These days, I find myself writing less online in blog format. It doesn't mean I write less, I still fill notebooks with daily thoughts, plans, schemes, professions etc., but I just find the blogging medium to not be enticing for me anymore. My time is filled with a lot of other stuff and if I really wanted to make time to blog, I could. Fact of the matter is my blogging has been eclipsed by the evolution of probably my favorite online platform, Instagram. It allows me to post snapshots of my daily adventures and write little blurbs underneath—mini-blogging almost.
This makes no difference to the world at large but I felt an obligation to my readers who have stuck by my writings over the years to say that I will probably only sporadically update this blog in the future. For my adventure and training, please check out my Instagram and Strava or hit me up on Twitter.
Peace.
Weclome to Your Best Year Yet!
Week one of 2017 is in the bag and you've probably stumbled across countless goal-setting, new years resolutions, and life-hack articles already. While I usually avoid these articles I understand why they are written and their subsequent popularity. People want to become the best version of themselves, right?
Read More2016 Wrap-Up
Ah, the contrived year-end summation. Having distilled down most of the emotional highs and lows of 2016 in my previous post, I am veering into the territory of personal influences for this (maybe not-so) little commentary.
Read MoreSobriety: Six Years On.
August 7th, 2010.
It was on that day I said to myself, Do it today, there is nothing in this life for you anymore but hurt and pain; the kids will forget you and get on with life. You will no longer feel the deep shame and powerlessness that has taken away the person you were. Kill yourself. Today!
Read MoreLiberty | Equality | Fraternity
In France, you don't talk about religion. Full stop. Case closed. Go back to your mille feuilles.
It's not because it's divisive. You won't even get the discussion started-shut down before you've finished your opening sentence. A lot of folks on the outside look to Liberté, égalité, fraternité as a model for how a society should function. Having spent nine years here and thousands of hours in class rooms talking with adults of all races and socio-economic backgrounds, I can tell you it's a motto of paradoxical frustration.
Read MoreGrieving Good Seasons
The opening line of this post was supposed to be, “I hate goodbyes.” That's not entirely true. There have been plenty of people in my life I've been happy to see the back of. I shouldn't say it, but it's the truth, and I know you all love to come here for my eloquent slices of candor.
Read MoreAmerican Memories
On Sunday morning, I will board a plane bound for Chicago and then on to Cleveland, Ohio. The purpose of the trip is to attend a leadership retreat over the weekend. I'm thankful to get to attend it and even more thankful to have my dude, Tim, show me around his old stomping ground.
Read MoreActive Waiting vs Passive Waiting
A few weeks ago my church asked me to speak as part of a series they were doing. Any time I am asked to talk at a church or event, I have to carefully weigh whether to accept or not. Of course it's easy to say a knee-jerk “Yes!” and dive right in. After all, it's kind of nice to be the centre of attention and have people listen to your every word, non? The decision hinges on am I teaching something truly relevant or trying to be clever? If it's the former, I'm in.
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