I'd forgotten this night. My plane touched down in Denver a little past ten, a direct flight from Orange County. I’d watched Southwest’s in-flight entertainment for the duration, seeking decompression. My day had been a long one. Leaving for vacation was always difficult, but this day was particularly arduous. With five minutes to spare, I’d … Continue reading A Lit Match Away from Internal Combustion
In The Elements of Style, E.B. White writes, "... the true writer always plays to an audience of one." This, I believe, is the only viable way to keep our aliveness. For the year or so before I left medicine, I thought daily about quitting. When I gave it serious thought, I felt guilt. How … Continue reading Newsletter #57: Playing to an Audience of One
The only way to live a life without regret is to have regret. Regret is only the beginning of our story.
The hardest aspect of going to the gym isn't lifting. It's not the stairmaster. It's not the pain. The hardest part is picking up the damn weight and getting under the damn bar. And Friday workouts suck the most. My last lift of the week is dumbbell lunges and I hate lunges. Right before those … Continue reading Newsletter #56: Pick Up the Weight
“Isn’t this world a mysterious place?” I nodded, smiling back at her in agreement. Just an hour earlier, I sold a dresser to this kind woman, and while I was situating her newly acquired centerpiece into her dining room, she asked if I did restoration work for hire. That I did, I told her. She … Continue reading Humbled by an Afternoon of Mystery
Working on furniture has done more good for my perfectionism than anything else, aside from therapy. Every afternoon, rain or shine, whether I have the necessary supplies or not, I have to figure out the next step. I must get the piece to market. It would appear that I work on furniture. But at any … Continue reading Newsletter #54: Earning Your Answers
At recess, I didn’t like the jungle gym or its imaginary castle games. The monkey bars were boring. I could always get down with the swings—everyone loves the swings—but the jungle gym wasn’t my scene. So, every day, when a ball was available, I played kickball. By the time I left grade school, I graduated … Continue reading Wield the Power of No
The nearest surf spot to our house in Santa Barbara was a point break called Leadbetter. That place terrified me. In South Orange County, I'd surfed sandbar beach breaks, which accommodated my falls with minor inconvenience. At Leadbetter, my skull could crack open on its rocky bottom. And of course, as always, there were rumors … Continue reading Newsletter #53: Do Not Disturb the Great Whites
Watching sunlight spread slowly over my yard’s newly green grass, I accompanied the morning from my porch. It’s a simple, majestic experience, usually. Sometimes I’m lost in thought, worried about this or that, and I miss it; but today, I was there. I closed my eyes and sensed the sun’s warmth on my face, identifying … Continue reading The Cost of Admission
“Fighty, we’re all on the long road back to who we were in high school.” I’ve been sixteen, a football player that blasted rap music from his truck with twenty-inch rims. I’ve been twenty-four, a health teacher and vegan evangelist that ran 5Ks every weekend. I’ve been twenty-seven, a medical student that survived on his … Continue reading Before I Learned How Much I Needed to Change
