What if I were to throw away any notion that there is a “work life” version of myself that is somehow separate or different from a “non-work life” version, and instead choose to see all of my experiences—no matter what I’m doing—as opportunities to create the story of who I am by the quality of how I show up within each moment, starting now?

Stella has always given me the best advice, despite having been gone for quite a few years now, and despite the fact that she's a dog.

My dad loved to passionately debate politics with me, and I hated every minute. He’d get loud. He’d get aggressive. He’d ask questions only to interrupt before I had two words out in response. It super sucked and I left every one of those debates with something ugly vibrating in the middle of my stomach. How could a guy I knew to be so great and smart and loving turn into such a bully? It’s only years later that I can see that I never debated my dad — not even once. I debated his suffering.

A giant turtle, a steep cliff, a deadly road, and a gnawing question.

The broad strokes of the Buddha’s life story paint a series of events that are truly worthy of the great golden statues that commemorate him, but scratch the surface a little bit, and you may — like I did — risk finding gold paint on your thumbnail and questions about what it all might mean.

I took the above picture while on vacation with my family. A few short hours later, I was violently vomiting off the side of a boat.