September Springtime

I’m still disoriented by the seasons in the Southern Hemisphere. September is the start of Spring in New Zealand, and after the long winter, I’m enjoying the warmer days and brighter skies.

We Sprang Forward at the beginning of the month, while my North American friends will Fall Back 4 weeks later.

So our time difference has temporarily shortened from 5 hours difference PT / 8 hours difference ET. Right now it is 4 / 7 hours off, and next month it will be 3 hrs / 6 hrs difference. Thank goodness for Calendly keeping all my appointments and time zones coordinated – managing my schedule would be its own part-time job otherwise. ‬

Springtime growth can be chaotic and happenstance. It’s a nice piece of symmetry that my career is sprouting into all sorts of interesting directions, as well.

Before I tell you all about those evolutions, I’d like to share the biggest victory I’ve earned this month: I learned what caused me to fall ill last year. It was a restaurant called Pita Pit.

For a couple of months, I had been without the bloody symptoms of fatigue that confined me to my bed for most of my waking hours last year. Then I had a recurrence of my symptoms, with only one common variable: I had eaten at Pita Pit the day before.

This made me realize: when I had been at the worst of my illness, I was also eating at Pita Pit 2-3 times per week.

It was, I thought, the healthy option when I was working downtown full-time, and commuting 1.5 hours daily, and working on my business 20 hours every week on top of that. I thought my symptoms and illness were due to stress and overwork, but now I see that this stress only exacerbated whatever reaction I was having to the food I was eating at Pita Pit.

It’s only a guess, but I think they probably use some sort of petroleum-based accelerant on their grill. When I lived in the US, my family and I rarely went out to eat, since we were trying to live GMO-free as best we could. This encouraged us to prepare our own food at home for most meals.

Moving to New Zealand, I left that habit behind, and started eating out more. It’s ironic that I fell into the exact health trap I had spent years trying to avoid in the US.

The good news is, my cure is simple: don’t eat at Pita Pit.

I’m healing one more time, drinking cabbage juice and eating liver, and this should be the last of my illness; with luck, and some intentional cooking, I’ll continue to stay healthy.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The adventures this month were fun and fulfilling. I spent time with some amazing thought leaders, and spent time at the beach with my family.

One of my favourite moments of the month was when we were having a picnic feast, as my wife and I said farewell to food for three days, so we could take a quarterly fast. My daughter and I were crossing a park with a big picnic basket, and as I asked her to carry things with me, she exclaimed, “I’ve got books and a dog and a picnic, I’m living my best life!”

I snapped the picture of her above, along with some photos of my boys and their sticks.

I Booked My First Paid Speaking Gig

I’ll be speaking at the 7in7 conference later this month. It’s one of 7 digital nomad conferences over 7 years on 7 continents. Year 4 is in Wellington, and I’ll be presenting my new keynote: ‘Questions That Collect Referrals and Testimonials.’

I’ve been speaking as an amateur for a number of years, but this is the first time I’m getting paid for it. When I presented at Stages PDX in 2016, it was my first time on stage with a slide deck. But a decade spent onstage when I was young has given me a confidence and a comfort in the spotlight.

I’ve written on this blog about how the spotlight makes me feel, and I’ve had plenty of indications that it’s a natural home for my skills.