We were recently having dinner with friends when a (highly intelligent) friend said, "All I want to do is chop wood in the forest." It immediately reminded me of the simple—yet profound—quote below. So, I did some homework on it. Here's … [Read more...]
A “Short” Summary of Everything I Learned in 2018 from Sloww’s First 100 Posts
“Learning without doing is wasted.” — Derek Sivers Sloww just recently crossed the 100-post mark. Cue: celebratory music! As the sun sets on the year, it's a good reminder to pause—take a look in the rear-view mirror and reflect. This post is … [Read more...]
3 Profound Life Lessons from “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace
In 2005, David Foster Wallace delivered the "This is Water" commencement speech at Kenyon College. I've studied and written about the most viewed commencement speeches in the past, but this one is special. In just over 20 minutes, he covers the … [Read more...]
Slow Down & Set Perspective with Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot”
I've been doing a bunch of research for my first eBook on the topic of life purpose. A few times during the research process, I came across Carl Sagan's timeless Pale Blue Dot speech. I always stop what I'm doing to take a few minutes to read or … [Read more...]
Edit Your Purpose: The Story of the Cracked Pot
I wish I could find the origin of this story. Some say it's Chinese, but the majority say it's Indian folklore. As far as I can tell, the author is unknown. I initially came across this story on Quora and decided to do some quick research. The … [Read more...]
Mindful at Mealtime: The Zen Buddhism Five Reflections
I first read about the Zen Buddhism Five Reflections in the book Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki. This post highlights three different translations. Choose your favorite! The Zen Buddhism Five Reflections … [Read more...]
“Maybe.” A Simple Story about Non-Judgement
Don't be so quick to judge. Better yet, try not to judge at all. This is a short story about non-judgement. I've heard iterations of this story, but I most recently came across it in Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth. A Simple Story … [Read more...]
The Secret of Productivity is a VERY BIG Waste Paper Basket
A True Essentialist • I recently finished Greg McKeown's book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (Essentialism book summary here). Like most great books, I have a ton of underlines, highlights, and notes. However, there are usually one … [Read more...]
“Then what?” The Story of the Tourist and the Fisherman
The Origin of the Fisherman Story • After reading the story of "The Mexican Fisherman" in Erin Loechner's book Chasing Slow, I did some quick Google searching to try to find the author and when it was originally published. Interestingly, it … [Read more...]
