Personal Journey

Forest Therapy

January 29, 2021

Last summer, a good friend and fellow forest steward James Yancey turned me onto a program that trains people as guides in the emerging field of Forest Therapy. As he described the idea behind the practice, I was instantly intrigued. We decided to go through the 6-month training program together, and thus began a journey that would change my life in significant ways.

The overall premise of Forest Therapy is that humans benefit from time spent outside among trees, provided we slow down and get in touch with our senses. There are physical as well as psychological benefits to be had by spending time in the forest, and we don’t have to go deep into a wilderness environment to enjoy them. It turns out that a couple of hours in a public park or pocket of trees in an urban environment can do the trick!

Shift Happens

March 26, 2020

(This post was originally written Feb. 19, 2020, prior to major COVID-19 action in the USA)

It’s funny how quickly life can turn based on a moment of awareness or a comment made in a seemingly mundane and unremarkable conversation. If you said to me 6 months ago that I was going to get a truck, learn the art of milling wood on a saw mill, and deliver firewood to friends and family, I would almost certainly have laughed it off. Yet, that’s exactly what happened.

Car-Free 2018 Recap

January 17, 2019

Last January, I gave up my car and went ‘car-free’ for the first time in 20 years (I lived in NYC in 1998-1999, which was the only other time I was without a car since turning 16). I’ll get to the reasons why in a minute, but the headline is that I saved over $10,000 in 2018 compared to 2017. Cool, right?!?!

Now for the breakdown on how that happened:

I was spending around $1,000/month on vehicle expenses when I had my car; occasionally more, but this is a reasonable baseline. This was mainly the lease payment and the insurance (which was getting out of control at $234/month). I didn’t drive that much, so fuel was never a big factor. So, a total of around $12,000/year to have a nice car that was parked the vast majority of the time. Continue Reading…

Finding and Expressing Inner Voice

July 18, 2014

I used to think my voice didn’t really matter. That I wasn’t smart enough, eloquent enough, educated enough, good enough, etc. It’s really quite ridiculous when I look at it now. Sure, some of my heroes had more resources, education, money, better looks, etc., but others were no more prepared to have a massive impact on the world than I am now.

Last week I was doing some research on a project I’m working on, and I came across the story of OutKast and their rise to the pinnacle of stardom from their humble roots in my home city of Atlanta. One part of their story really struck me, but I didn’t really know why at the time. Continue Reading…

Older Posts

Forest Therapy

Shift Happens

Car-Free 2018 Recap

Finding and Expressing Inner Voice

Running Around The World

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