Emotions as a sine wave

Published on 2023-03-08

My mental model for thinking about emotional states, and the effects of medication and mindfulness on them.

Don't Forget to Eat

Published on 2022-07-24

The past two weeks have been about me reconnecting with my body in various ways. I started a new workout routine and have been trying to intentionally build lean mass for the first time in my life. Most of my exercise and diet has been about losing weight or building up cardio, not really strength training of any kind. So, while I have experience watching what I eat, I don’t have any experience being so deliberate about my macro nutrients. I don’t count the ketogenic diet, since tracking your macros was pretty simple once you wrapped your head around it. I thought it would be the same with building lean mass---just add more protein to what you’re doing, and you’ll be fine.

What is Meditation?

Published on 2022-07-16

For the last 472 days, I’ve meditated on average for 15 minutes. I’m not saying this to proclaim expertise. In fact, I’m using that number to speak to the fact that I’m still *very, very new* to meditation. I suspect there is no such thing as general expertise in meditation, either. Since it’s such a personal experience, you can maybe only gain expertise in your own way of being.

3 Reactions To Thought

Published on 2022-07-07

Over the last few days, I’ve been thinking about thinking. During a meditation session, it dawned on me that there are 3 main reactions to thoughts. Which reaction is chosen will likely dictate the physiological response to it. Because of this, I’ve been trying to unpack the lead-up to those reactions, and understand how, if possible, to harness or influence the selection process.

Recognizing my triggers

Published on 2022-06-17

I've been recovering from a bad burnout. One that led me to developing a panic disorder, and has left me with a good amount of physical response trauma to the feelings of anxiety. But, I've finally started to understand some of my mental triggers.

Forget Linear

Published on 2022-05-28

Give yourself permission to do things out of order. Especially when it comes to learning something new. Even though it's more comfortable to follow a linear pattern, is it really the best way?

Understanding Flow

Published on 2022-05-03

After a day of productivity guilt and anxiety, I tried to understand how Flow works for me.

Choosing what to read

Published on 2022-04-02

Finding the right non-fiction is a challenge for me, and with my backlog of books overflowing, it's a little overwhelming.

I suck at inbound

Published on 2022-03-22

I’m not someone who’s great at dealing with a lot of inbound communication. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself the past few years, it’s that I really like to control where my time goes and what occupies my brain space. This became really apparent when we pivoted Firstbloom to be a service-based business. The fact that I was responding to questions as people were brewing their coffee and attempting to troubleshoot on the fly gave me this real deep sense of anxiety.

Curiosity vs Confusion

Published on 2022-03-21

During our user observations, I started noticing a pattern between the build up to curiosity and confusion. I noticed how they often share the same beginnings, but it's the combination of the expectations going into the situation and the immediate path afterwards that determines whether or not they'll feel curious or confused.

Eating Shit

Published on 2022-02-26

We’ve been doing a lot of user observations and testing at Fluent this past month and it's reminded us of an important lesson in product. You need to eat shit. Every. Day.

How I use Notion to manage my life

Published on 2022-02-20

I set out to create something simple that works well enough for me, without over complicating my life with layers of processes I won’t stick to. It started with me trying to clearly define my intentions, and the guardrails I need in place for myself to succeed.

On Creating and Catastrophizing

Published on 2022-01-30

A personal journal entry turned public. Filled with musings on creating, the paradox of not doing and dealing with an anxious mind catastrophizing before starting to make.

4 Categories of improvement

Published on 2021-12-19

After a tough year, I'm finally finding a sense of clarity for what I want to do, who I want to become and how I want to do it.

52 Weeks of Creation

Published on 2021-12-19

Part of my resolutions for the new year is to nourish my spirit by creating more, and consuming less.

The future of coffee

Published on 2019-12-31

More than ever before, people care about where their food is coming from and who was behind producing it.

Going long

Published on 2019-12-29

With the end of the decade quickly approaching, I’ve spent some time reflecting on the last 10 years. It stunned me just how transformative and important it’s been on a personal level.

Can you really think for yourself?

Published on 2019-12-27

Reading Paul Graham’s essay on accidental moderates made me wonder: can anyone truly think for themselves?