For some time, I’ve contemplated moving all my blog writing to Substack—and I’ve finally decided to do so. In these dark times, which so easily beset us with anxiety and despair, I’m making a practice of gradually writing myself alive. What you’ll find on my blog "fishing the universe" is art: selected writings I’ve chosen to share wit...

My birthday last October was a significant one, though thirty-five might not receive the kind of acclaim reserved for other birthday milestones. It's no sweet sixteen, doesn't hold the keys to driving or drinking, can't compete with the fun of a dirty thirty, the presumable aches and pains and jests of arriving "over the hill," or the ...

All around you and me in this very moment is more aliveness than either of us could possibly conceive. When I was a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh, I stumbled upon writing. A depressed kid who felt like a mere number among 40,000 students, I had no idea what kind of life I wanted to create for myself. I threw a hoodie on and ...

"In this world you will have trouble." Today, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president of the United States for a second time after a pregnant four-year pause. He has successfully, despite robust counter-initiatives from opposition, returned to power. And this time, he reportedly brings into his cabinet an unprecedented thirteen b...

In a dark room, I have just lit a candle to welcome Sabbath. As I lowered the match to the wick, I spoke aloud, "A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." I notice how these words feel more purposeful to me now than ever before as we enter into new leadership in the US during a time when much is at stake. S...

Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjold once said "to have humility is to experience reality." The last eighteen months of my life have been a trying lesson in humility—a great unlearning of what I thought I knew, so that I might become more grounded in 'now'. Divorce, identity crisis, and job loss are a few of the challenges I've navigated....

I always wanted to be one of those guys who hiked up rocky mountains, camped by nightfall next to flickering fires, caught fish with his bare hands. But domesticated rhythms of work and life meant I never gave myself permission to try. Then I burned out. Left my corporate job. My marriage ended. And I moved from the States to Spain to ...

The other day I caught up with my colleague Chris and he told me about a new service he was developing for fathers and sons on male initiation. ‘Male initiation’. I’d never heard of it. So I asked him what it was all about. He described it as a rite of passage where a boy performed a set of rituals or moved through a series of tests to...

Since losing my position as a facilitator with MIT India due to a budget cut a month ago, I’ve made a practice of witnessing and observing the future that wants to happen, as opposed to forcing one into existence. It is hard to be patient in the midst of uncertainty. Interestingly enough, the role with MIT India has found its way back ...

The girl next door (but not as you think) The other day, I found myself lost in a mean-spirited fantasy about my neighbor, who had been complaining that my dog was barking too much. (The audacity! For Coco can do no wrong.) While I worked out a solution to help Coco with her barking, I couldn't shake the feeling that my neighbor was be...

Earlier this week I lost my job as Course Leader of the MIT xPRO India Post Graduate Certificate in Technology Leadership and Innovation. (For those of you in India who are my current students, I will continue working with you through the end of the course.) The company I am contracted through ultimately decided they could hire another...

Going West "Go West, young man" is a phrase that’s been credited to the American journalist and activist Horace Greeley, who penned the words in the New-York Daily Tribune in 1865. And while I may not be as young as I once was, a few weeks ago I went West. I gathered my belongings, my dog Coco, loaded my Jeep Wrangler, and—accompanied ...

A tough year, foreshadowed If you've been following my journey for a while, you might recall that at the end of 2022 I ran a full marathon while battling a sinus infection. After, I wrote a LinkedIn post where I reflected that "I can do really hard things, but I would be a fool to think I can do them alone." On the day of the run, mile...