Explorations of Conscious Reality Creation, Mindfulness, Nontoxic Positivity, and More
Failing and positivity are not as removed as you might think. I’m currently reading a truly fascinating book about the many nuances of failure. It’s called Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well by Amy C. Edmondson. I’m less than halfway through this book, but it’s already opened some interesting channels in my mind. Modern society tends to look at failure as a negative. To fail is to screw up, be lesser, look bad, and the like. Most
A schedule is about more than time management; it’s also about balance. There’s a lot on my mind today. As I sit here and ponder it, I realize there are three levels to my thinking. The first is global. What in the actual hell is going on out there? Like, how did we get here? Why are those who have the power to fix it unwilling to? How can there be so much shortsightedness to it all? But, of course,
The positivity in being here now is huge. I used to give way, way too much attention to the past and the future. Frequently, I’d look back at all the things I did, the choices I did and didn’t make, and the mistakes along the way. While this often colored new choices and decisions, it more often created paralysis, leaving me standing at this crossroads or that, unmoving, not choosing. Similarly, I used to fret about the future. What if
Spoiler Alert: They’re all within you. For the most part, control is an illusion. Yet many people strive for it, demand it, push it, force it, and worse. Whether it’s something tangible or intangible, lots of people have issues with control. Some control outside of yourself is genuine. If you’re behind the wheel of a car, you’re controlling it. Holding a gun, sword, bow, spoon – you’re controlling what it does. Notice what these both have in common – you
Nontoxic positivity is the other side of the coin. Sometimes it feels like everywhere you turn there’s something negative that comes up. It feels like it’s all too easy to find things that make you angry, annoyed, scared, flustered, and downright unhappy. Life is never going to be all sunshine, lollipops, joy, and rainbow sprinkles. Shit happens. We all have negativity rear its ugly head. Someone does something upsetting, the government fails to protect the people, you wake up with
An important truth about the choices and decisions we make. There is a major false narrative that dominates many aspects of modern society. It’s this: Lack, scarcity, and insufficiency. The entire MAGA movement is based on this. Those who buy it believe that many of the basic elements of life are in short supply, and if you don’t grab yours, someone else will. There’s not enough for everyone, which is why the gays/immigrants/liberals/communists/socialists and whatnot must be stopped. The reality
Even when it seems impossible, you can find and/or create nontoxic positivity. Travel can be a real mixed bag. On the one hand, it provides many new opportunities to see and explore unfamiliar places and have new experiences. But then, on the other hand, it can be full of hassles, craziness, and unexpected headaches. Because of this truth, travel can be an experience that invokes both positivity and negativity. When you’re far from home and it all seems to be
Action can move you through and beyond your comfort zone in amazing ways. I’ve been fighting a mental block for a while now. Said block has been holding me back, keeping me from taking steps that will get me to the next level I seek to reach in my life. This block has led me to do more with my meditation and mindfulness practices, into therapy again, and to do more to work out how I got here and what
Seeing this for yourself takes work, however. I began writing about positivity one Monday some 12.6 years ago. It was in reaction to endless negative posts on Facebook. It was as if everyone I knew, and even people I didn’t really know, had nothing good to say or share. Over the years, I’ve refined my definition and approach to positivity. It became apparent that much of the positivity out there, though well-meaning, is toxic. On the surface, great idea; in
If your life ended today, what would you regret? I’ve had a desire to cross the ocean and visit Europe for decades. Since my teens. In 2025, my wife and some friends and I started planning a trip to Italy. This was going to be a small group trip. The number varied, but we decided in 2025 to put it off until 2026. We were getting it all together, but unfortunately, we still couldn’t coordinate it. So we are delaying
