I covered my ears between bites of pancakes, bacon, and drip coffee. Understanding everything, from the TV in the background to the Ray Ramano impression four tables away, was overwhelming. Background noise brings funny moments though. The barista who has “totally got [me] if you’re hungry, bro” or the jock telling his airport pickup “just …
Category Archives: Self Improvement
On Fate
One of my favorite students is a dreamer, an artist. He began last class by telling a story about something that recently changed his life. The story ended with him finding a new community of friends, shifting his outlook on life, and a newfound sense of spirituality. He believes the entire experience was fated to …
My Degree
Most life long decisions seem to happen in coffee shops. The first tattoo I got took me 15 minutes after an Americano, moving to Peru took an hour. The largest shift in my life happened because of a chance encounter with an ASU alum at a Starbucks. Someone who, if sitting right in front of …
Learning Tiers
Quickly, this idea has been gestating for a week now! Some people have cocaine and hookers, others horse racing and poker. For me, my vice lies in a single, lame, oddly capitalized word: YouTube. My excuse for watching is consistent no matter the situation. I’m learning something new, being exposed to new ideas, using my …
The Long Haul
I’m starting to think that Peace is a mental runner’s high. When you run, there’s a point of maximum resistance. Your mind is yelling, “FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, STOP AND CATCH YOUR BREATH.” Something has to overwhelm that desire, be it determination or a bear chasing you. Then, the endorphins hit. …
Debate v. Do
As I mentioned, the struggle with debating v. doing is something persistent in all parts of my life. Efforts to make it better usually involve a lot of debating and little doing, immediately undermining any ideas produced. One of my professors suggested saying, “Do it now” five time in a row, three times a day. …
Freedom!
There’s an idea of freedom as the ability to anything you want. That idea falls flat when it meets reality. In a reality where you have infinite resources, where time is spent as you wish, you are not free. There are the laws that govern our realities: gravity, nuclear forces, electromagnetism. If I were free …
Judgement: The New Executioner
The Fear of Judgement has been amplified by one simple idea: everyone can have an opinion. It seems to be an unchecked, ever growing reason we don’t do things we want. The solution preached by many is simply “don’t care about other people’s opinions.” Which… no shit, Sherlock. That would be great. But growing to …
Year Long Realization
A year ago today, a friend of mine left Peru. As is tradition with most travelers, she gifted all the things too cumbersome to bring along. I ended up with a yoga mat, a bottle of wine, and an child’s orange notebook. “Chaq Chao’s Balcony @ Sunset 8/28/18” is three pages long. After that is …
Paper to People
Lunches in high school were an hour long. My senior year, every one of them was spent arguing with friends about dumb things. Would aliens be friendly? What’s the best animal to have as a pet? Is Miley Cyrus cool or a mess? Eventually, we got backlogged – an hour at lunch wasn’t long enough …
A Fresh Sip 