A brief summary of a life-changing epic tale Our shared dream started before the pandemic. I wanted my wife to quit her soul-crushing job in medicine, she wanted adventure. We could do something different once our third daughter graduated. We decided to sell everything and live on a boat. We…
Tag: buddhism

Not Taking Things Personally Is the Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Tried to Do
But it may be the most rewarding skill we can learn I’ve been ‘in therapy’ for almost two decades. For about one-third of my life, I have sought help from others to heal my emotional wounds. I’m not weird or special. According to SAMHSA, over 50 million Americans received mental health…

How Do I Connect With Oblivion?
Building community in an individualistic world I talk a lot about community Sangha, in Buddhist teachings. I long to be a member of meaningful communities. I want to belong. I beat up on the rugged individualists and condone their self-serving greed. As pretentious as I might be about my relative…

The Agony of the Gifted Child
A late identified neurodivergent perspective. Have you seen this Far Side comic by Gary Larson? It’s near-ubiquitous in my memory. Just the other day I thought of it again. But this time I remembered it through the awareness of my neurodivergence. Like many of us, I was placed into the US…

Reincarnation May Not Be True but It Can Be Helpful
Do other people ever make you angry? I’d be worried about you if you said no. Or assume you are the Dalai Lama. Many of us struggle to find connections to people we disagree with. Or people who act out, are annoying, or mean. I preach a lot about how we…

I’m Not You and You’re Not Me
Have you ever wondered how any two people can have a conversation and walk away feeling both like they were heard and believing they heard the other person? It blows my mind how limiting conversation can be. As magical as language is, it leaves so much room for error. Words…
What Freedom Means to Me
The fourth of July makes me ashamed. I’m ashamed of myself because I can’t seem to match the patriotism that surrounds me. In the USA, people get almost spiritual about their fireworks, hot dogs, and freedom worship. Behind all of this, for me, is a whole lot of weirdness. The…
Awareness. Cultivation and Growth. (KEW Episode 121)
I’m revisiting some of my favorite concepts in this episode. Awareness. Intent. Attention. Consciousness. Will. And how these things work together and facilitate growth. Being human. Underneath all of this, I believe that growing to be a ‘better’ human is a critical requirement of being alive. Or, if it is…
Does Technology Alleviate Human Suffering? KEW 113
Are you a technologist? Do you think tech is going to solve all of our human problems? Do you see science, health advances, nuclear tech or some other human invention as being our salvation? Maybe you don’t even see problems around us. I find it hard to believe that everyone,…
KEW Episode 102: The Acid Test. Looking to Nature to Address Life’s Big Questions
I apologize that it has been nearly a month since my re-introduction post and Episode 101. I have been overwhelmed with thoughts, ideas, tangents, trailheads, and rabbit holes regarding this new direction for my blog/podcast/and YouTube channel. In this Episode, and over the next 4-5 I will start to unravel…