Everything Under the Sun

Alan Watts, in one of his many profound lectures, famously fleshed out the cliche phrase 'Life is about the journey, not the destination.' He drew the analogy of music as part of his thesis. "You don't work the piano," he said, "you play the piano." When you listen to a beautiful piece of music, you don't skip to the end, or anticipate the final note, but instead, you enjoy the verses, the chorus, the bridge, and the final notes. We should adopt the same mentality when it comes to our lives, he surmised. The greatest authors, the ones with truly captivating abilities, practice this phenomena in their work. Non fiction and fiction alike, act in the same manner as a work of music. The best reads are dynamic, unpredictable, complex, and sometimes partially left unresolved. An author, for example, such as Jordan Peterson, attempting to disseminate the psychological significance of biblical stories while maintaining a partial stance towards literary i...

Doubt is like cancer. Once it infects your being, it spreads rapidly. It takes you over. And it's incredibly hard to beat. It acts in a cunning manner - hiding in plain sight, creating side effects, and furthering its scope of reign. But doubt is even more powerful than cancer, because it's contagious. I have a theory that we have a 6th sense: empathy. I believe we can sense the emotions of other humans, and by our mysterious mirror neurons, we can have a qualitative effect when this sense is activated. We think animals have something like this - something difficult to determine, but observale nonetheless. In some instances, entire herds of cattle have gone mad, when an earthquake or volcano eruption is imminent. It would appear that Dogs have it. Poll any dog owner and they'll agree, dogs respond to our mental state; they become sad when we're sad, and happy when we're happy. They experience depression when we're depressed. They "just know." And so,...

Change; despite its potential for newness and happiness, travels with a reliable companion - complication. And as life complicates, so does the change. We came back to this idea of change, in example after example, over the course of months, and my good friend kept repeating one thing each time: "It's growing pains man," he kept saying. Expressively stated and accurately coined, I believe Growing Pains is the name of this era. From about 18 into our mid to late 20's we experience so much change. And life has a way of making us feel like King Midas, as we rise to our potential and see achievement manifest. But in this specific era of life, as changes pile up, there exists a reliable dichotomy. The new is replacing the old. A new job requires you leave the old city. A new schedule means it's different than your old one. A new life means a departure from the old. I'm reminded of what my credo, the Desiderata, so matter of factly states, "gracefully surre...

A colon: A punctuation used to precede a list of items. It's a transition from the past, to all the potential of the future. The items after a colon expand on or clarify what came before it. They're not separate, lesser, or unrelated. They're what's to come. We know what comes after a colon is going to be important and meaningful.  Its optional to capitalize a word after a colon. It's a style choice. In my case, it's a lifestyle choice. How will I proceed, after the colon? How will I choose to live my life after the colon is gone? It's my choice.  I invented the idea when so much uncertainty and ambiguity began consuming me. But, I remembered the plaque my father gave me, which his gave to him. "God, grant me the  Serenity  to accept the things I cannot change,  Courage  to change the things I can, and  Wisdom  to know the difference." Long story short, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at age 5. I've been hospitalized...

Depending on who you talk to, their experiences as an individual and the general course of their life, typically makes them fall into one of two strong beliefs about this topic; relying on others. Belief 1: If you have negative feelings about other people, relationships, family, or friends, because somewhere in your life you've been given reason to (divorce, breakup, family member screws you over), then you're probably a hard no on incorporating others into your reliance structure. If you're insecure about your status in society, or what people think of your capabilities, then you're probably a no as well, seeking to "do it yourself, without anyone's help." Belief 2: If you've been taught to prioritize yourself and your career first, and that people are tools to help you achieve your goals, that networking creates allies, and that everyone you meet or rely on owes you a favor, then you probably fall into the hard yes side. To put it categorica...

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs -- at the base level we have physiological , then safety , love/belonging , esteem  and finally, self actualization . This pyramid represents the structure with which an individual follows whilst proceeding through life. But what if we could adapt this structure to represent the way humans as a whole proceed through history? A sort of Hierarchy of Priorities . I dawned on this idea of the path humanity has followed throughout history in determining the priority of the era and its resemblance to Maslow's hierarchy, while reading a book my good friend recommended to me called Status Anxiety. Status Anxiety details human's capacity to seek status in this life and the burden we bear mentally in trying to obtain it. In the book, there is a lengthy section detailing the history of consumerism and its contribution to our status anxiety. This is where it hit me. In my generation here in America, there is a real ideological pull-away from consumerism....

Recently in an interview, Jordan Peterson, a Clinical Psychologist from Canada who's been very vocal about the state of the modern man, was asked,  "Can you describe what we should all be shooting for as a man?"  Jordan Peterson:   "Yes, yes, I was thinking about an image related to that. So there’s a cathedral in Montreal called St. Joseph's Oratory and it’s built on a hill. It’s a very large cathedral. So it overlooks the hill. It’s a beautiful building. And there are many, many, many steps leading up to it. Hundreds of steps. And pilgrims come there to trudge up the steps one at a time towards the cathedral. And there’s something deeply symbolic about that. The idea that’s being expressed is — is profound and necessary. And that is that we all need a vision of the way that life and the world could be. We want to have a vision that that could be as good as it could be. The least amount of suffering and the most for everyone. And the most freedom for everyon...

Sight. Sound. Smell. Touch. Taste. The 5 senses. Once you block them out, what's left? That is the quest, the end goal is to answer that question. In a sensory deprivation tank filled with 1200 lbs of Epsom salt I attempted to answer this question for myself as others have done before me. I climbed in the tank, minimally clothed (touch). I shut the door and pressed the knob - lights out (sight). As soon as I laid back on the water I was floating do to the buoyancy effects of the salt. The air temperature was the same temperature as the water, it was hard to tell the difference once I got comfortable. There was no sound with my earplugs in, no taste in my mouth, and no smell in the air. I was blocked. What happened over the next 90 minutes was a real treat. An induced meditation. A relaxation unlike any I'd experienced before. From my best recollection I went through 3 phases while in the tank. Although I can't recall the time allocation to each phase I can recall my thoug...

Every since I discovered it, Quantum Entanglement has baffled my mind. In short, quantum entanglement is a phenomenon that occurs when two particles are generated or begin to interact, and then at the quantum level they become linked. The quantum state of one of the particles cannot be described independently of the other. Their actions and properties become linked by an inanimate bond that is observable but immeasurable. If you perturb one of the particles, the other will react and change instantaneously. This included the spin of the particles, polarization, and position in space. And the entanglement exists regardless of distance.  Einstein described it as "spooky action at a distance." There is no mechanism for explaining the entanglement at extraordinary distances but it has been measured. Understanding this crazy notion of an immeasurable link that knows no boundaries, no distances, and no restraints, we shift our thinking to the possibility of other immeasurable phen...

This month, as one of the most influential evangelists in history has passed, his legacy and his life leave us with much to learn. The late Reverend Billy Graham was endearingly described by his son Reverend Franklin Graham at the funeral procession as being, "FAT". Faithful. Available. Teachable. These three descriptions say so much about a person's character. Whatever context we chose to give flesh to these qualities, I believe they are nonetheless extraordinary and yet simple to embody. Faithful. To be faithful is to have conviction. But it doesn't stop there. To be faithful to an idea, to a mission, to a person, takes a second step. Commitment . Have the base conviction and then commit to it. It is impossible to ask of any person, that they be unwavering, unshakable, or unquestioning. It is the nature of humanity to be cautious and curious. But we can make one simple adjustment that makes all the difference. Have faith. Raise up a conviction about the world....

President Franklin Roosevelt famously said, "We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future."  I truly feel that this quote is the cornerstone of what it means to be part of a society that puts their best effort forth in raising the next generation. The future is uncertain. It is now, always has been, and always will be. But we as individuals and as a collective society have one powerful tool for achieving Roosevelt's vision; engagement . As I prepare to step into the next phase in my life I'm constantly reflecting on how I got here, slowly piecing together the people, places, things, and circumstances that drove me to this point. With a profound sense of gratitude I think I've arrived at a powerful realization about my own upbringing, and something I'm sure most individuals can agree was incredibly influential in their lives as well. I'll boil it down to this: people, everywhere, in contexts small or large, wh...

Humans are forward looking. Sometimes it's good and other times it's bad. Often times it's a great quality we possess. We write exhilarating and thought provoking science fiction. Our imaginations are wild. Our ideas are bold. We take action to achieve fantastic feats. And our vision for the future  can  be extraordinary.  But many times, our forward looking nature can make us short sighted. We forget history. Even our own history. We think the grass is always greener somewhere else, when in reality we just need to take a second to stop and water our own grass. Sometimes we forget to live in the present because of how much we're looking toward the future. And sometimes we forget how far we've come.  I recently came across a video on what we've achieved in the last 45 or so years of human history. I found this refreshing because we often get caught up in the negativity that exists today, but the truth is, we've accomplished so, so much. So let's spread t...

What is it about humans that causes us to have a love-hate relationship with pain? We seek it. For those of us who've experienced it, we have Stockholm Syndrome and often yearn for it. As if it's become a part of us. We are self destructive. We do drugs, drink toxins, eat carcinogens, stay up too late, get up too early, and turn child's electrolyte drinks into hangover cures. We want to know what it's like to "be without", when most of live "with". Maybe it's our desire to embrace primitive instincts at a subconscious level. At one point in our primal history we had to suffer, to fight, to endure, and to survive in order to make it another day. Perhaps there is an innate drive deep within us that seeks to recreate those physical and mental effects. However, not all pain is derived from negative situations. Some of the most satisfying and growth provoking activities boast their single most important byproduct as pain. For some its a grueling 10 ...

There's a quote. It's one of my favorite people's favorite quote's. It goes like this. "Be the change you wish to see in the world." It's simple. Bold. Profound. It's a call to action and yet also an assurance that action is possible. Change comes in many forms, good and bad. But everyone can progress humanity forward, doing their part to solve problems, fix the broken, heal the sick, and contribute to a better tomorrow. The marketing analyst is just as much a part of this cycle as the philanthropist. The common denominator? Mentality. If we have the mentality of creating a better, more positive tomorrow then we can find ourselves a part of Ghandi's vision. This complex setup we call life on Earth is really just the sum of its parts. And if we individually strive to be better, more purpose driven, more helpful, more contributory, bigger picture thinking, positive outcome focused parts of this whole, then the whole will improve. It will grow. It ...

They say it takes a village. For me it was a Shining City on a Hill . I hope that Reagan Era reference fully reflects the gratitude to my village. The village that raised me. I've found as I get older, learn more, and accumulate life experience, I sit in disbelief from time to time, at how much I was given. How fortunate I am. How much gratitude I'm filled with. And how much enlightenment, how much purpose I've found in the realization of that blessing. Not everyone was as fortunate as I was, to grow up where I did, with who I did, doing what I did. It's something you realize as you interact with people, as you explore the world, and as you take a step back. So we ask ourselves in reflection, as an individuals who were fortunate, three questions. 1. How does our upbringing influence who we are? What did our circumstances do for us, and what did they lack? 2. How can we continue the cycle in our lives, for the people we will bring into existence? 3. And finally, how...

Just what is out there? Indeed, when we look up at the night sky we observe and are captivated by the distant specks of light that scatter the dark canvas. But what else is out there? And what even is "out there"? I talk of this natural progression of curiosity. The way our brains discover and ask, discover and ask again, and the cycle continues. We aren't satisfied. It seems the universe has an equal incline. Every time we think we've figured something out, about the going-on's of the cosmos, a new event or strange arrangement of matter appear within our reach, almost as if to say, "are you sure, you've got me pinned?" This is why I fell in love with astronomy, cosmology, and quantum physics. It is everything. It is nothing. One could spend a lifetime studying a singular conundrum such as a quasar, and die mostly ignorant. How daunting a task, and how beautiful. This essay is a dissemination of my thoughts on the subject of the cosmos. A humble ap...

Since we were children we've been forewarned by teachers, doctors, family members, and society, what negative effects, doing negative things can have on our bodies.  Smoking causes lung disease.  Sugar causes diabetes (not according to the widely controversial "What the Health" documentary). The Sun's rays cause cancer.  Lack of sleep causes your immune system to weaken and cognition to slow. The vast amount of effort spent in medicine has been spent on what makes us sick.  In fact, we've spent so much time on this as a scientific community that we've been able to physically quantify the effects of negativity in the form of stress.  Stress actually unravels the protective casing on the end of our chromosomes, called Telomeres, which causes premature cellular aging, and damages our DNA.  http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/10/chronic-stress.aspx Stress and negativity in our mentality results in physical changes to our health . It can change ho...