It is April of 2015, in the days leading up to a 2,650-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail, when something called Vipassana is brought to my attention by my college fraternity brother and soon-to-be hiking partner, Bradley. He begins to explain these ten-day meditation retreats. My eyebrow raises. I think of meditation as a … Read more
I first came across Spiral Dynamics during a late-night YouTube binge, thanks to my friend Bradley. The video entitled The Grand Model of Psychological Evolution ran an hour and twenty-six minutes long and I just so happened to have that kind of time on my hands because sometimes it’s late, I can’t sleep and okay, … Read more
In the Buddhist teaching, there are three primary characteristics of existence: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and no-self. I’ve experienced these characteristics to varying depths and degrees in my practice of Vipassana, a body-scanning meditation technique and a Pali word meaning “to see clearly,” but no-self is far and away the most elusive insight of the bunch. No-self … Read more
I had the wonderful opportunity to share yesterday evening with this book club of lovable ladies who have successfully read one book every month for the last twenty-five years, except November, and months when the book failed to meet their high standards. 🙂 I enjoyed laughing, listening and answering questions about trail life, the inner-journey … Read more
The day I received the first copy of a book that took me three years to write, I cried. But I didn’t cry from first glimpsing the book. Instead, I was brought to tears by writing this reflection. Writing this piece reminded me of where I came from, what it took to write this book, … Read more
Alrighty! I’m so excited to announce that my new book, The Trail Provides: A Boy’s Memoir of Thru-Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, is now available for purchase on Amazon in both digital and paperback formats! 05.01.19 Edit: The audiobook is now live too! It’s the story of my hike of the PCT back in 2015 and the … Read more
Dearest Friend, I hope you’re well today. I have a special update for you among other things… So…firstly, I’m excited to announce that I’ve decided to launch the book on 10/17/18. It’s called The Trail Provides: A Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hiking Memoir, and it’ll be filled with stories, pictures, and lessons learned along the way. If you … Read more
The whistle’s blow pierces the cool spring air as we return to the field for the second half of play. Darkness shrouds everything beyond the bright tower lights surrounding the field’s perimeter. Everything is hushed because there is no good reason for any audience to attend a co-ed soccer team’s rec league game. Tired but … Read more
My Minimalism Story After college, I lived in an office room. My bed filled nearly the entire space and since there wasn’t any left for a closet, my clothes hung from a rack at the foot of my bed. This we called my external closet. Despite my cramped living quarters, my tiny room gave me … Read more
Part I: Started From the Bottom When I first landed in Austin, TX, I pursued my passion for writing, but it didn’t pay anything. I earned my living thanks to random gigs and freelance jobs, but the search for each individual project was time-consuming and draining me of all emotional energy to even think about … Read more