Day 170 – Building an EcoSystem
Visited Austin, TX this week and had the opportunity to hang out at Antler VC for a couple of hours. This group focuses on early-stage development of new businesses by emerging entrepreneurs. For most of the afternoon, I just roamed around and watched whatever was going on. I talked to Sherma, the General Partner of […]
Day 169 – Rules of Evidence
I watched with some amusement an online back-and-forth debate between two family members regarding a hotly contested political issue. Both were firmly entrenched in their particular ideology and had facts to back up their claims. However, they each disputed the other’s facts, and quickly, their debate crumbled into a volley of attacks, with each using […]
Day 168 – The Feeling of Loneliness
Yesterday, I had the notion that understanding the emotion of loneliness and its root causes would be beneficial. I often hear people say, “I feel lonely,” and it occurred to me that I didn’t fully grasp what this emotion means. First of all, loneliness is an emotional experience. The emotion is far more complex than […]
Day 167 – Turn Every Stone?
The story goes in the Greek mythos that the general Mardonius, on the field of a great battle, buried his treasure so that it would not be found by the enemy. Many adventurers, including Polycrates, would later seek this treasure. When asking the Oracle at Delphi where it was, the oracle responded: “Turn every stone.” […]
Day 166 – Accomplishing “Stillness”
The concept of being still is a common answer offered to those who struggle with anxiety. But if you’re anything like me, the idea of just laying back and doing nothing sounds absurd. You always have to be doing something. If a moment goes by and you aren’t being productive, it feels like you’re wasting […]
Day 165 – Jesus, Take the Wheel
A few years ago, there was a popular song by Carrie Underwood called “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” The story in the song is about a young single mother driving back home with her small child buckled safely in the back seat. She’s at the end of her rope, heading home to seek help from her […]
Day 164 – Principles of Creativity
When I was a young boy, around 12 or 13 years old, my mom had a book lying around the house called Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy. Truth be told, this book probably caught my attention because of a few of the partially nude advertisements Ogilvy highlighted in it. However, curiosity led […]
Day 163 – A Dream is Only Chased
We’ve all heard the phrase “chasing a dream.” It often carries a negative connotation—especially when it comes from your mother or other loved ones. You’re told you have your head in the clouds. You’re told that what you want to do is impractical, ill-conceived, even irrational. But still, you have a dream. You have an […]
Day 162 – Hieros Gamos
It happened all at once—at sunset, while he sat at his favorite point on the small peninsula that jutted out into the water. Tano Kai was a young boy from a small fishing village. He was a dreamer, they said. He needed to be more realistic, they often replied. So he sat where he always […]
Day 161 – Solace the Butterfly
Solace was generally a sad, discouraged, and depressed butterfly, unlike all her friends and family. She understood how incredibly short her life was and believed it would end with little fulfillment beyond the continuation of her species. Solace saw further and understood more than a typical butterfly because she had perspective. Her parents had died […]