I read in a book recently that an experiment was done that showed that unfinished projects take up more mental bandwidth than finished projects. The scientists tested this by allowing their subjects to finish some puzzles but not others in a certain allotment of time. The subjects continued to think about the unfinished puzzles afterwards. In some ways this mental attention to unfinished … [Read more...]

Yes, martial arts are supposed to be about self defense or combat. Injure, maim, and take out the threat. But there's a difference between training and applying the arts in real life. One of the aspects of martial arts where people struggle with is their ego and their desire to win. This is rampant in the martial arts and I too struggle with the desire to win or beat my opponent and … [Read more...]

“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.” -Henry David Thoreau … [Read more...]

Up here in Northern California, we've been under a cloud of smoke for a week from the fires in Napa and Sonoma. Horridly beautiful colors in the sky. Ash descending on our cars. Burning in the back of our throats. I am miles away and outside of the reach of the fire itself, but the smoke and ash fill my days now. Nothing pithy to say about all this but a general recognition about … [Read more...]

Not really. Maybe not yet. Though I've got a really good idea for a lifestyle brand that does sell hats. I've got a lot of good ideas. Just as I'm sure you do. So how come those ideas never materialize? Was it just a bad idea? Can an idea be good or bad? Until it becomes something real (whatever real is these days), can it have a positive or negative value? And how do we define a … [Read more...]

A jacket is a jacket. A hat is a hat. You choose how to wear it. That person yelling at you is that person yelling at you. The deadline is the deadline. How do you wear those? Your life won't last forever. Wear it well. … [Read more...]