This may be controversial but, I do not think asymmetry and balance are contradictory. Quite the opposite: I need both for a meaningful life. unlikely animal friends - ambition and balance :) The tension between working ambitiously and with more balance is a constant companion of mine. I recently listened to a podcast that challenged me to really think about this, hard. The guest, Graham Weaver, had a life philosophy grounded in his lived experience as a private equity investor that on the...
6 months ago • 3 min read
Look out the bathroom window This is actually a tip someone gave me before I left for Nepal: make sure you look out the outhouse window. This led to a photo series my 7-year-old son is most excited about: the 10 most pretty potty-views of Nepal.😝 One of my favorite bathroom breaks... ...the view out the window As well as an aha moment for me: finding beauty in unexpected places is an important source of daily wonder for me. Rediscovering daily wonder It’s so easy to get caught up in life’s...
6 months ago • 4 min read
"The best journeys in life are the ones that answer questions you never thought to ask." - Rick Ridgeway A week after my first multi-day trekking adventure and I'm still sitting with the liminal space it opened up in me. It most definitely will not be my last. Walking along Khopra Ridge at dawn Part of what made this such a liminal experience has to do with the nature of this particular trek. It was only opened in the last few years with the intention of supporting more equitable, sustainable...
7 months ago • 5 min read
Day 2: Into the mountains 4:45 am - Wake up (jet lag again!) to a lovely clear day. Morning chill, meditation, walk, swim, and/or run (depending on who you are). Bridget and I wander and explore some other lakeside parks before the humidity and dust fill our pores and lungs. 8 am - Our eyes pop and stomachs growl when we return, and we pile plates high at our 5-star, multi-national breakfast buffet spread: made to order fresh-pressed juices, eggs, waffles, pancakes, 4 kinds of specialty water...
7 months ago • 5 min read
Day 1: Kathmandu to Pokhara 5 am: Wake up (jet lag!) Actually, this is just when I finally GET up. Early morning market 6-7:30 am: Explore twisting, narrow streets of the Thamel neighborhood around our hotel: which before the streets are crowded with motor bikes feels like we’ve been transported back to the 18th century. This is what I wanted China to look like, but mostly didn’t, thanks to the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s that destroyed most of the weathered, beautifully carved wooden...
7 months ago • 4 min read
Namaste! or, Hello, in Nepalese. Annapurna South (right peak), is 23,684 feet tall, while Annapurna I (left peak) is actually 26,545 ft! I just spent the last 2 weeks on the other side of the world, trekking among the world's tallest mountains, on an epic trip unlike any other I've had before. One of my best friends bought me hiking boots for Hannukah this year and so I proposed a trip to break them in: Nepal - a place I've long dreamed of visiting. Before leaving I deeply wanted - needed -...
7 months ago • 3 min read
Confession: I have a fear of ocean waves. I've had recurring nightmares of tsunamis all my life and spent too long caught in the under toe of a big wave while boogie boarding as a kid. So I NEVER had any intention of surfing. Sure, others may find that thrilling, but definitely not in my wheelhouse of fun! Until I decided to push my own boundary. Maybe it was to model doing something that scared me to my kids - to show them it's possible to be scared of something, and do it anyways. healthy...
8 months ago • 3 min read
Let's talk about slow productivity. Last spring JR and I drove up and across Vancouver Island, a huge, sparsely populated island off the coast of British Columbia, to spend a long weekend in a profoundly beautiful coastal village called Tofino. Between hikes in hold growth forests and log-strewn beaches, we listened to a book on the concept of slow productivity. The idea that there was a "lost art to accomplishment without burnout" intrigued me, as I'd been grappling with the idea of balanced...
8 months ago • 4 min read
Hey friend, This week was hard. I think I'm withdrawal. 😣 It was the first week I didn't get to escape to the pottery studio in two years (excluding session breaks) - and I have another 10 weeks to go!! Before you roll your eyes at me, hear me out. last look at the kiln room.... the trap The world is always telling you to focus and narrow your goals, strive harder - this is the key to success. It's easy to take this at surface value and deprioritize everything that doesn't directly benefit...
9 months ago • 5 min read