I have a busy week coming up. If you are reading this in somewhat real-time then we are about a week away from Easter. I am the Messaging Director at a church so Easter week is… kind of busy and important. Today is my day off and the start of my weekend. I have been so tired lately that I have not had a productive Friday in a while. Be...

I am trying to grow new roots in 2021. What have I learned about growing roots this year? Growing roots takes time! On top of that time, there is the reality that no one else can see those roots growing. There is a drive to create content and put that content into the world, but that is not sustainable if you don't have roots. So, I am...

I just got the first round of the Covid-19 vaccine! It has been right around a year since the world shut down for the biggest global pandemic in a decade began and so much has changed in the world. Businesses have closed, lives were lost, and our world has changed forever. I contracted Covid-19 in October 2020 along with my wife and ki...

There is a tendency as we build out projects to add more and more to the scope of a project. You start brainstorming what needs to happen and then you realize all that needs to be added to make the effort a success. There is value in considering all that you need to accomplish in a project, but with that expansion of focus there is als...

Steve Jobs famously said that “real artists ship.” That phrase has really stuck with me over the last few years as I have put some of my work into the public. It is easy to hide behind an idea; it’s harder to actually put something into the world. A few years ago I decided to write a novel during National Novel Writing Month. I had not...

What brings you joy? I want to share about 2 things that bring me joy. Neither of these are earth-shattering or important in the grand scheme of the universe, but they matter to me and that’s all that matters. Number 1 - Coffee. Drinking good coffee brings me joy. I love making pour over coffee at home with fresh roasted coffee from di...

My wife and I had kids when we were pretty young. My son was born when I was 24 and my daughter was born when I was 25. Yes... they are about 13 months apart in age. We went from 2 people (my wife and I) to 2 kids and 2 dogs in the span of just a few years. It was chaos but it was a fun and wild ride. Now that my children are getting s...

Wants vs needs: A few thoughts on needs in 2021. There are some core needs that will probably always exist. Food, water, shelter are probably not stepping down from the top spots in the category of need. But other needs come and go with the time we live in. Electricity has not always been a need. There was a time when it was… not anyth...

Have you ever been bitter? There was a time in my life when I was bitter and it was incredibly destructive to myself and those who were around me. I was in a place of leadership and was part of a group making decisions about a large event. Some of the choices we made hurt some of my friends’ feelings and they felt like they were not he...

Here is a truth that I have been learning (and mostly embracing) this year. You need to keep track of your ideas. Ideas are fleeting. I will hear a melody for a song or think of a string of words and in that moment it might feel like I’ll never forget it, but the reality is that if I don’t capture that idea it will spill out of my head...

I love watching videos of people share about their process of creation. I will watch videos anytime about someone making a new desk setup for their computer. I have a playlist saved on YouTube filled with videos about how people create different sounds and effects as they create music. I will watch almost any video online of something ...

They say that laughter is the best medicine. As someone with Type 1 Diabetes, I would say that my insulin is probably the best medicine for me.... but maybe laughter is a close second? I don’t know of the actual validity of the efficacy of laughter, but I do know that when I have a chance to connect with others and have have a good lau...

Automate your Tasks A few months ago I redid my whole digital setup when it comes to apps and programs that I use to get work done. I reset my note-taking system, my journaling system, and my task lists. I have used all the task manager apps; from OmniFocus to ToDoist, I have tried them all. But instead of just changing that system for...

I feel like I am writing about 2020 in most of my posts lately. I think that is because these next few days mark when things really took a turn in America and we started to realize what might be coming. As a think back over the last year and what has changed for me personally, for our country, and then entire world I come back to sever...

Looking forward to something that is coming up soon makes the time pass. I remember being a kid waiting for my grandparents to arrive at our house. I would sit at the window for hours waiting for their car to pull in. Even when my parents reminded me that they were driving to Tennessee from Kentucky and it would be 6 hours before they ...

Confession. I have ultimate buyers remorse. In fact, I sometimes feel sad after I purchase something. There is a thrill of the chase when it comes to finding the perfect bag, keyboard, accessory, shirt, or pair of shoes. I LOVE the feeling of researching and hunting for something and then finding the perfect item. But at times I find m...

Have you ever been totally shocked? Like, floored and unsure what just happened? I felt this way a few years ago on my 30th birthday. My wife made an elaborate rouse that involved multiple surprises that led to a full-on surprise party with with about 30 of my friends for a Mexican feast. It all started with an hour-long massage, which...

Another one of my goals this year is to read more often. I used to make goals to read a certain number of books a year. As a surprise to no one... I usually failed. Most years I would start strong and then fade over the spring or would get busy and that time I spent reading would go to something else (looking at you, Twitter). This yea...

Here a free tech tip for you: Hide your social media apps that you don’t want to see! A few months ago, I put the Facebook app into the App Library and took it away from any Siri suggestions. If I want to get on Facebook, I have to search for it or find it in the App Library. That little bit of friction means that I don’t check it near...

Doing something (with proficiency) that others do not understand feels like magic. I have watched some people on TikTok do slight-of-hand magic. The thing that you learn when they show you a trick with a slightly different camera angle is that the trick falls apart unless you are looking exactly where the magicians wants you to look. C...

I remember being a college student with all the ideas in the world. I was learning so much about media, technology, and theology and I was pretty confident in my abilities. I am not faulting my younger self for what I did not know; I was doing the best I could with what I had. I was in school learning about different subjects and reall...

Confession. I really enjoy watching TV shows and movies. It is something that I find myself reaching for when I want to be entertained, engaged, or inspired. It’s something that my wife and I do together with some shows and then separately as well (we have different tastes with regards to some genres). One of our favorite things to do ...

Mic Check 1,2. Is this thing on?