10 Books That Changed My Life
I’m going to tell you about 10 books that changed my life, which is tricky for me, right now. Most of the books that changed my life are not currently in my possession. My library is in storage in the United States, the last 1000 books I could not bear to part with when we moved to New Zealand, so the interesting part of this exercise is — I have to see what really sticks. In selecting my top 10, I want to scan my eyes lovingly over my bookshelves, [...]
Natural Healing Remedies
As it turns out, working 60 hours a week for 9 months is not good for the body. I developed some startling symptoms recently, right about the same time I resigned from my day job, and decided to go back to running my business full time. To cure my symptoms, I used the natural healing remedies that have worked best for me: Qi GongNutritionBaths and SweatPositive ThinkingLaughter TherapyGratitude PracticesThe Naturopathic Principles The Healing Art of Qi Gong Qi Gong is an ancient Chinese moving meditation, and it has been used [...]
One year in New Zealand
I've been extraordinarily busy over the past year. Today is the one-year anniversary of putting in our 30-day notice on the house we were renting in Portland. Within the past year, the Huntress Clan has: Packed all of our worldly possessions into a storage unit Moved temporarily into my father-in-law's house Planted the Fairy Godmother, a dogwood tree that has the placentas of all three of my children in its roots Separated for 2 months while I came to New Zealand to search for a job Attained a full-time job [...]
10 Daily Tools For Positive Thinking
By nature, I am not a positive thinker. I have to work at it. Positive thinking will not do anything by itself, but as Zig Ziglar said, “Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” The success or failure of many things you do in life depends on how well you do those things - and if a few simple tricks can put you in a positive frame of mind, it can increase your effectiveness, as well as amplify your enjoyment of life. “We do not [...]
My favourite quote of all time is a misattribution.
When I was a young scholar, my life changed when I read this quote: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” I thought that Aristotle said this. For years, I ended my newsletters with this marvellous line, attributing it to the Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist. For a time, I even titled my newsletter ‘Habits of Excellence.’ I’ve been championing this quote because I admire both the content, and the poetic cadence, of the words. It was this very cadence should have [...]
My First Trip to New Zealand
It all started with LookSee Wellington. This program offered all-expense-paid trips for 100 people working in the Tech industry to come and visit Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. 48,000 people applied. Only 0.2% of those who applied were invited, and I was not one of them. Still, applying for a trip to New Zealand got us thinking about that place. And right now, the country I am in is a mess. We had some family members interested in leaving the US, and since the Huntress Clan has expatriated before, we [...]
Ten Things I Really Miss About Living In Costa Rica
It’s been more than a year since I left tropical paradise, and wrote about the Ten Things I Will Not Miss About Living In Costa Rica. As absence makes the heart grow fonder, now I’m homesick for that wonderful place. Here are the ten things that I miss the most. 1. Wearing Tank Tops All The Time It’s sunny and bright in Costa Rica before 2pm nearly every day of the year. If it happens to be the rainy season, you might get a downpour for a couple of hours [...]
The Breath of the Neutral Mask
Who are we before we become the character? That is the question that the Neutral Mask seeks to answer. "There are three masks: the one we think we are, the one we really are, and the one we have in common." - Jacques Lecoq It has been years since I have studied the deep and subtle foundations of the theatrical art, and returning to its arcane depths has given me a creative revitalization that I desperately needed. Last week I went to a Neutral Mask workshop, taught by Sarah Liane [...]
10 Lessons From 10 Years of Marriage
My wife and I formalized our fairy tale romance and married each other ten years ago, on a Tuesday morning. There was no one else present; we rented a penthouse suite in downtown Portland, dressed in our sacred garb, and at the appointed hour, friends and family around the globe lit the candles we had sent to them, and wished us well as we said our vows to each other in solitude. From that day to this, over the past ten years, I have enjoyed a deep and meaningful connection with [...]
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The 2 Types of Attention: Deep and Shallow
When the psychoanalyst Carl Jung was challenging the philosophy of Sigmund Freud, he needed complete focus. Freud had become the leading voice in psychiatry, and Jung supported him early in his career, because of their shared interest in the subconscious mind. But as Jung grew older, and saw more patients in his Zurich office, he found flaws with Freud’s approach that did not align with what he saw in his patients. When Jung publicly challenged the Oedipus complex, a cornerstone [...]
Play is a practice, and practice is how you improve what you play
When I spent a year attending the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, we spent a lot of time working hard on our ability to play. Class of 2001 The program was intense. Dozens of students from all around the world came together in a small town in Northern California, high up in the Redwood forest, and met in a renovated Odd Fellow’s Hall. (It’s sort of like a Masonic Hall, but for weirdos.) We studied and practiced and [...]
What is Web3? Here is a simple explanation.
I spend a lot of my time beyond the cutting edge. If the Early Adopters in the 'Diffusion of Innovation' theory of Everett Rogers are the ones on the Cutting Edge, the Innovators are on the Bleeding Edge. 'Diffusion of Innovation' image by Wikipedia Web3 is on the bleeding edge right now. It's messy. It's new. It's the butt of a lot of jokes, because it's built on the blockchain, and cryptocurrency has a bad reputation at [...]
Practice doesn’t make perfect – practice makes permanent.
I play guitar with my thumbs. Not just my right thumb - it’s normal to use both the thumb and fingers when you are picking the strings - but my left thumb, too. On the frets of a guitar, you use the fingers of your non-dominant hand to hold down some of the six strings, at precise positions, to play different notes. To play a chord, a guitarist presses a number of different strings on different frets with one hand, [...]
Make a 3-Month Marketing Plan with ChatGPT
Marketing your business can distract you from doing your best work. The best marketing you can do gets you the most amount of leads in the least amount of time. But if you've been doing something that isn't working, when will you have the time or the dollars to invest in doing something different? Marketing can feel like you're pumping cash into slot machines. You just throw money at your marketing, and hope for some results. There is an easy solution: Dedicating one day [...]
You Don’t Get To Pick Your Positioning
Positioning is how you show up in the world, but it’s not defined by you. It’s defined by your audience. How others see you, and what they think of you, is what makes your positioning. You can influence what others think about you, through the content you publish and the messages you share. But ultimately, your positioning is up to your audience. You can't just tell them how you are positioned, you have to influence how they think of you. Polymath Problems For [...]
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