NEWSLETTER - JULY 2025 Hello Reader, For most of my 20’s and 30’s, my primary occupation and identity was that of musician/songwriter. As such, one part of my mind was always scanning my surroundings for clever phrases or potential song titles. Every once in awhile I would feel a big ol’ lightbulb go off and the idea would nestle itself into my creative psyche. Most of my best songs came about in this way. About 9 months ago, I was reading David Hawkins Power vs. Force, and in one section he...
2 months ago • 2 min read
NEWSLETTER - JUNE 2025 Hello Reader, A phrase I often heard my teacher, Steve Flynn, use was “become a clearing.” He would say it with a deep, expansive resonance. I heard the words, but more importantly, I felt the words. This past week, my family and I spent the week at Ruby Retreats in Wimberley, TX, house-sitting for some dear friends. One of our daily tasks was to take their two pups on long morning walks around the 100-acre property, visiting the cow pasture and the grotto and through...
3 months ago • 2 min read
NEWSLETTER - MAY 2025 Hello Reader, One of the practices that has become central to my daily routine is that of meditative walking. Like any modality, there are many variations - but the essential idea is to slow down and bring mindful attention to each step, instead of hurrying from one thing to the next. A few nights ago, I received a rare gift of free evening time; my wife and son had gone to bed early and it was still light out. I started with some good ol’ phone-scrolling, a short...
4 months ago • 1 min read
NEWSLETTER - April 2025 Hello Reader, I used to have an almost constant dialogue of “beating myself up” going on inside. It was so pervasive, I didn’t even notice it - as if my system had just sort of accepted it as the default setting. Positive affirmations, mantras, self-help books - these were all just surface attempts to combat the inner narrative of unworthiness, with temporary results at best. As long as things in my life were “going well” - it stayed at a low hum. But the minute things...
5 months ago • 2 min read
NEWSLETTER - MARCH 2025 Hello Reader, My family lives in a bustling South Austin neighborhood increasingly full of strollers and other young families. Our evening walks are often peppered with friendly faces, impromptu frontyard playdates and “guess who I ran into” synchronicities. After a recent neighborhood playdate, we arrive home to realize that one of my sons toys - a bright blue bouncy ball, had been left behind. C’est la vie. These things happen. I make peace with the fact that we will...
6 months ago • 2 min read
NEWSLETTER - JANUARY 2025 Hello Reader, This past weekend I had the honor of leading a group workshop for a women’s retreat at the beautiful Camp Lucy in the Hill Country. Before we started, I asked everyone to take a “snapshot” of how they are feeling internally, as well as a “snapshot” of the group energy - the “WE” space. Some of the group knew each other, but for the most part we were all strangers - so there was some nervous energy in the space and a general sense of needing to have...
8 months ago • 2 min read
NEWSLETTER - DEC 2024 Dear Reader, For so many of us, 2024 has been a year of heartbreak. Perhaps not in the traditional sense of a lost Shakespearean romance (although it was undoubtedly this for some) - but as we step into the new - there is often an unmentioned aching for all that is being left behind. “God speaks to us in the events of each day, and his message is written out for each of us.” -Frederick Buechner Last week, I was driving through South Austin on a Craiglist treasure hunt (a...
9 months ago • 2 min read
NEWSLETTER - NOVEMBER 2024 Hello Reader, Do you have a favorite nature spot? When I need my outdoor fix, my default here in Austin is the Greenbelt trail by Mopac/360 - mostly because it is easy to access and usually not too busy. Over the years I’ve come to love this trail - but one of my major complaints is that due to it’s proximity to the highway, there never seems to be much wildlife, and I want the feeling of being IMMERSED in nature. Last week I found myself on the trail on the first...
10 months ago • 2 min read
NEWSLETTER - OCTOBER 2024 Hello Reader, My wife Meg and I are both in the habit of self-observation (tracking our inner thoughts and inner experience) throughout the day—so oftentimes our evening conversations involve sharing a nugget or two of observed inner “triggers” - where someone or some situation really got us all stirred up inside. Sometimes we try and unpack the cause of it and glean what the lesson is for us, other times we just share and hopefully laugh at our folly. Gurdjieff...
11 months ago • 3 min read
