Getting Your Life Figured Out Doesn't Mean Your Life Will Be Easy...

I'll let you in on a little secret I have figured out over the years: The happiest people I know are also the people who continually evolve. I'll let you in on another secret: The most boring people I have ever met are those who are continually trying to be "comfortable". One thing that isn't a secret...

What Two Years Of Being Sober Is Like...

A few months before I hit the one year mark of sobriety last year, I wrote a blog about the reality of my experience up to that point.  That post (which you can find here) was my most read and circulated piece for the next few months until the infamous "Explorer" article went viral and changed my world...

The Truth About Buying Locally...

I'll be honest with you and say that a few years ago my first thought whenever I would hear the term "buy local" wasn't ever a positive one.  I envisioned that guy who fueled his Whole Foods trips via a trust fund at nearly thirty years old and wouldn't know a struggle if it were to manifest itself as...

Honestly Though - Sit Down For A Minute And Let's Be Real...

In the summer of 2004, my friend shoved me into the basement of an abandoned elementary school in the north Atlanta suburbs after yanking the flashlight out of my hands and proceeding to hold the door shut.  We were in there because that's the sort of thing stupid teenagers do - try to place themselves...

Dream Chasing and Fleabag Dogs...

My friend made a smiley face with a straw wrapper and my keychain.  She does things like that. "So, what do you do?" Outside of the most common question in America of "How are you?" (which most people really don't care about) this is probably the most prevalent icebreaker for people who have just...

Don't Let Your Heart Grow Cold In The Winter...

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about what happiness really means and how you go about finding it.  That's a pretty loaded question and carries all sorts of weird dynamics into all sorts of depth.  I believe we're all in a constant pursuit of either happiness or misery and seeking out...

You're Tired Of All The Things You Did. You'll Work It Out...

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a friend about how people who boast about confidence tend to have the least amount of it because they have confused confidence with acting like a brat.  You know these people - those who always have to talk about what they're spending their (or someone else's) money...

Growing Can Be Painful, But It Doesn't Require Drama...

You face those hard moments of reality sometimes when something you've tried so hard to maintain just doesn't work out anymore. My grandfather had this old Ford truck that he sort of pieced together from a junk yard because that was all he could afford at the time.  Someone had used that truck,  appreciated...

How Focusing On The Good Things Could Ruin Your Life...

About a dozen years ago, someone told me that if you spend most of your time talking, you won't ever know anything, but if you spend most of your time listening, you will notice things that most others never will.  Hearing that made more of an impact on me than it probably should have and for the longest...

Who You Shouldn't Believe... Oh, And Angels Aren't People...

What is it that you're trying to get out of life exactly and what steps should you take to get there? Everything seems to follow a process with us as a generation, even if that same system has failed to work and carries a much proven track record.  Certain aspects of our lives and the way we live...

Your Version Of Reality Is Probably Wrong...

So, what are you looking for exactly? I really hope you have an answer and I really hope that answer doesn't involve emulating the lifestyle of some privileged idiot on Instagram or Twitter.  I'm sure some of those people are as humble as someone who spends every other weekend on vacation can be, but...

This Is Why I Won't Be Doing The Ice Bucket Challenge...

I try to be humble because I believe with every bit of myself that having a strong sense of humility and personal reserve is a very important character trait.  This is why the blogs I have written in the past are careful not to mention that anyone should ever take anything I do as a "lead by example"...