This matters more now than ever. Our comprehension and capacity for deep thought are under assault. Not just by AI, but by the constant scroll, the algorithmic feeds, the manufactured outrage designed to keep us engaged but disconnected. Today, I see books is an act of resistance. It's a way to reclaim our attention, sharpen our minds, and remember that we can think for ourselves. It's a fundamentally human skill that no algorithm can replicate and no machine can automate.

The books I read this year reflect themes I care deeply about: who we are as people, how we connect authentically, how we lead consciously, how systems of power shape our reality, and how we might build something better together. All of them challenged me, inspired me, and helped me grow. Here are my favorites from 2025.

10. The Best Minds

I rarely pause for exceptional writing, but I continually remarked on it through The Best Minds. It was written in a way that my visual brain could picture the characters and the story itself. And the story. One of interest, hope, and tragedy of mental illness. I felt it all deeply. My one critique: it was a bit long. But perhaps necessary to paint a beautiful yet tragic picture.

09. Uncultured: A Memoir

I'd never heard of The Children of God (now The Family International), and within pages I understood why: this cult systematically abused (and perhaps still does?) children while hiding behind religion commune living. A story of darkness and abuse that somehow finds resiliency, hope, and success. My sense of wow was off the charts throughout.

08. Sociopath

The final memoir in my list offers a rare glimpse into the mind of a sociopath. Not as a villain, but through the author’s own journey to understand her condition in service of helping others. She reflects what it means to move through the world without typical emotional responses, exposing her inner world and impulses with open honesty. I learned so much about sociopathy from this book which softened my view on the condition, reminding me that even people we're taught to avoid (or fear) have their own struggle to be seen as human.

07. Talking to Strangers

Gladwell's exploration of why we so often misunderstand strangers hit me hard because it gets at the heart of why authentic connection is so difficult, and so important. Humans assume we can read people's emotions from their behavior. We can default to believing what others tell us, and we ignore the context that shapes how people show up in the world. These incorrect assumptions can cause massive problems in our lives, sometimes being deadly. This speaks to the work I do at Conscious Ground, bridging the gaps between people who see the world differently. This book reminded me that a first step in change is acknowledging that we don't know what we think we know about others. If we can approach strangers (or anyone) with curiosity instead of certainty, restraint instead of quick judgment, we create space for real understanding. That's the foundation of solidarity and collaboration.

06. There is No Place for Us

For a long time, I’ve rejected the idea homelessness is a problem of people not trying hard enough. This book shattered any remaining illusions I had about the "housing crisis" being a problem of work ethic. Goldstone details some brutal truths here: homelessness in America is a deliberate choice, engineered by private equity firms, corporate landlords, and policy loopholes designed to extract maximum profit from desperate families who work multiple jobs but can’t afford rent. This is manufactured disconnection at its most vicious: systems intentionally designed to keep people scrambling, isolated, and powerless. This book brings the receipts. It's essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what solidarity actually means: recognizing that if any of us have an enemy, it shoudn’t be each other. It's the systems profiting from our desperation.

05. Tiny Experiments

I found immediate agreement with this book’s premise: the way we measure goals increasingly creates anxiety, breeds toxic productivity, and traps us in a race toward destinations we never truly wanted. Tiny Experiments offers different approach: think like a scientist conducting experiments on your own life. Instead of fixating on an idealized end state (which you'll likely never reach anyway), find fulfillment in the learning itself: the exploration, the iterations, the discoveries in the space between where you are and where you think you should be. These ideas and frameworks became the foundation for much of my work in 2025. Shifting from outcome to process, from control to curiosity changed a lot for me. I’m not completely free of linear goals, but I look at most things quite differently now. I’ve also experienced the authors community work which is inspiring and supportive. Here’s to more experiments.

04. Red Helicopter

James Rhee did something radical when he took over bankrupt retailer Ashley Stewart: he led with kindness and math rather than traditional leadership norms. He brought heartwarming, intentional, forceful kindness that created goodwill, an asset never appears on finance records. His framework flipped conventional business wisdom: stop obsessing over the income statement and invest in a different balance sheet (relationships, trust, transparency). He made data accessible to everyone, rewarded collective ownership, and took better care of his employees while understanding and connecting with them. This one was so uplifting, reminding me that we can measure success differently. We can have human connection and collaboration that inspires while also being successful in business.

03. 1984

I've read 1984 previously, but it's never felt more powerful or urgent. In my opinion, it is well worth a re-read. Orwell warned us: "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." It feels like we’ve never been living this more than right now. Algorithms curate reality, surveillance tracks our every move, and truth is whatever those in power say it is. "War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength" sounds like it was taken from today, not 1948 when it was originally completed . Those in power in this book didn't just control what people did, it controlled what they thought, making independent thinking impossible. Orwell's message never felt more important: question everything and think independently. Because the moment we believe what we’re told without a second thought, we’ve lost. I truly believe we can learn to to that again. We need to start with awareness of the systems manipulation all around us.

02. Enshittification

This one hit home for me because it gave voice to so many things I felt in recent years . The apps, services and platforms we use every day are getting worse on purpose. It's the trend of deliberate extraction we seem to be seeing in almost all walks of life recently. Google makes results worse so you search more times and see more ads. Your car spies on you. Amazon buries better and cheaper products in favor of ad-supported ones. Your printer rejects third-party ink. Facebook is now an ad and surveillance engine. This is the new business model needed for growth at all costs: trap you with network effects, then squeeze until there's nothing left. Providing one of my favorite book themes, Doctorow doesn’t just call out the problem, he also brings solutions. Enshittification is a choice made by systems designed to concentrate wealth and control. Thus, we can choose differently. The platforms want us to believe there's no alternative, which is the lie we need to confront first.

01. Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired To Connect

Based on my love of understanding how humans connect with one another, Social quickly moved to the top of my list in 2025. Citing and leading multiple studies of how our brains react to social interactions, Lieberman painted a fascinating picture for me: our brains are wired for connection and collaboration from birth, spending every free moment thinking socially. Social pain activates the same neural circuits as physical pain. Rejection and isolation literally hurts. The data shows that our sense of identity evolved to serve group harmony, not individualism. The results of one study showed that social connection predicts happiness far better than money, yet we've built a society that ignores this fundamental truth. Another stat stayed with me: 25% of Americans now report having zero close friends, up from 10% in 1985 (and this book was released in 2013!). This information feels more important than ever and gave me hope that we can return to our human nature of helping each in life, and creating a better world.

In our current world of singles and streaming, I feel like it can be harder to keep track of music I love over time. So, I try to make sure to track my favorite albums that come out each year. I don’t always post about them, but this year I am (albeit a bit late). Here are my most favorite albums of 2024.

If you’d like a Spotify playlist including my favorite songs from all of these albums (including some other favorites), you can find it at the bottom of the post.

08. hella (˃̣̣̥╭╮˂̣̣̥) ✧ ♡ ‧º·˚ - 1999 Write the Future

The eras of hip-hop that I’ve always felt most connected with has been the 1990’s through the “oughts” as they’re called. Since the advent of trap music and subsequent genres, I’ve always yearned for hip-hop music that had some connection to my favorite eras. hella does just that. I love the vibe of this album and the quick shots of nostalgia that each short track brings.

07. Wall of Eyes - The Smile

The Smile, an offshoot of Radiohead’s Thom York and Johnny Greenwood, put out two albums in 2024. On my second listen of this one, I really connected with it and listened to it a lot through the beginning of the year. I did struggle a bit in including this one on my list after learning Thom Yorke’s reaction and stance on the genocide in Gaza, but have been doing my best in practicing being able to hold multiple points of views. On one hand, the creation of an ethereal album of beautiful, deep, and moving music, and on the other, the creator of that music who claims to be in favor of human rights while not using his voice to speak out against a major violation of human rights.

06. Chorus - Mildlife

I came across Mildlife maybe 6 or 7 years ago and caught them live a couple years later. I’m not sure how to describe their genre. They have elements of rock, folk()?, some elements of a jam band, and more. Chorus, in my opinion, has been their best album to date. Fitting for a road trip, hanging out with friends, or just vibing to this musical journey.

05. I Love You So F***ing Much - Glass Animals

I’ve loved following Glass Animal’s musical journey since I first heard Zaba, their debut album. Every album since has completely different than the next, with this band experimenting, evolving, and taking risks on new sounds. This album is no different. I honestly hated it on the first listen. But, it grew on me, and easily made it into this list after I listen to it most of the summer.

04. What’s Mine is Yours - YOURS

I found this album late in the year and it immediately hooked me. It brought me back to my era of house music, which I found, explored, and grew to love since my days of living in Boston in the early 2000’s through to today. Grooving beats, catchy vocals and hooks, and just an overall fun vibe had me listening to this one a ton late in the year.

03. No Name - Jack White

Jack White has been a machine the last few years. Two incredible albums in unique contrast in 2022, and after a short break, this rockin’ gem in 2024. This one was an immediate favorite on first listen. Heavy, fun at times, and with the flair only Jack White can bring, I’ll be listening to this one for years to come.

02. Ventas Rumba - Ezéchiel Pailhès

While I can easily get down with classical (sup Vivaldi??) and instrumental offshoots, they don’t usually make my favorite albums list. This one caught me right away though, and I found myself revisiting quite often. I’d never heard of Ezéchiel Pailhès before this album, but I became an instant fan. Clearly an incredible talent, Pailhès brings a modern and full sound on the piano that moved me and has continued to help me relax at times and help me focus on work at others.

01. Any Signs of Love - Crazy P

I’ve been a fan of Crazy P since I first heard them around 2010. I’m a huge fan of funk, disco, and house music, and Crazy P blends all three of these sounds so well in my opinion. Combine the music itself with the soulful lyrics of Danielle Moore, and it is all quite an amazing sound that I can dip into almost any time. I was so excited to for this album, and it immediately delivered on first listen, becoming my favorite Crazy P album by far.

Somehow, I missed the tragic news that Danielle passed away about a month before its release, making it so bittersweet and further cementing this album as my favorite of the year. I found something to love in every track on this one, even before hearing the tragic news. This one will no doubt be a favorite of this decade, and I hope the memory of Danielle will continue to live on through this perfect album and the rest of Crazy P’s catalogue.

As promised, here is a link my Best of 2024 Spotify playlist which includes my favorite songs from these albums, along with some other favorite tracks from 2024.

Thanks for reading (and listening if you do). For more posts like this as well as ways to connect, lead, and grow solidarity with others, you can sign up for my monthly newsletter.

But, what if the greatest crisis of our time was not these problems directly? What if the majority of these problems stem from one core issue? The issue? Increasing disconnection and division. 

What if the solution to our problems comes not from directly confronting them, but first from us re-learning how to connect with each other and work together? 

I believe one of our biggest crises today is a crisis of connection. I’m devoting 2025 to facing this problem head on, and I hope you’ll join me. 

A Crisis of Connection 

You’ve likely heard a similar statement over the past few years: In a time where humans are more connected than ever through the internet and other forms of technology, people are actually feeling more disconnected than ever. The “loneliness epidemic” is affecting people all over the world, and increasingly so. 

In the United States, we’ve increasingly prioritized individualism over collectivism. We’ve had political division for a long time, but it has grown worse in the past decade. Where we once were able to debate and speak through our differences, we now are seeing devastating division across our communities and within our families. People in traditional leadership positions are telling us that if someone disagrees with us, they should be our enemy.

In social media, hateful and divisive posts are prioritized over positive posts. Algorithms are controlling what we see, influencing our emotions, and prioritizing conflict over collaboration. Now, artificial intelligence is flooding every aspect of life. Combined with traditional algorithms, AI is contributing to a disconnection from our humanity and creativity in addition to being disconnected from other people.

Rather than sourcing our beliefs by forming them in our own hearts and minds, technology is leading us more into group think as we offload so much of our “thinking” and creativity to machines. I recently saw a compelling (and scary) video on the topic here. 

I’ve been calling all of this manufactured disconnection. Sure, disconnection can happen for many reasons, but never before have we seen such a deliberate focus on making sure we stay divided. This is only going to get a lot worse in 2025 as artificial intelligence pervades more of our lives, combining with our existing forms of disconnection.

But, it does not have to be this way. We have a choice in the matter, and I believe we can overcome this obstacle that lies at the heart of so many of the issues we face today.  

The Opportunity Ahead

One of the great things about awareness is that once you have it, you can make change. I’ve been somewhat scattered in terms of what feels important to me in the past few years. 2024 was a year of learning and awareness for me, and I feel more confident than ever, not only in what feels important to me, but also in what we can do to address the problems we face. 

I do believe we can change course. We can make disconnection and systems that encourage disconnection our enemy, rather than people. I think this year will be pivotal when it comes to choosing connection over conflict. To that end, these are the areas I’ll be focusing on to try to make an impact against manufactured disconnection in 2025. 

Connection, Communication, and “Social Health”

I believe that before we can connect with others, we first have to learn to connect with ourselves. We have to dive deep into our own beliefs, views, and wants of the world. And, that we need to source these beliefs from within, not from what an algorithm feeds us. 

Once we’re better connected to ourselves, we can work to improve our connection with others. We can learn communication skills fit for our modern times and approach conflict with curiosity.  We can do this by practicing with others, lean into some of our fears rather than running from them, and simply by rejecting the idea that disagreement should equal disconnection. 

One of my favorite books of 2024 was “The Art and Science of Connection” by Kasley Killam. In it, the author describes how “social health”, our relationships and connection with other people, is equally as important as our physical and mental health. I 100% agree. This book put into words so much of what I’ve been feeling over the past few years. 

Not only can we solve problems through being more connected, we can literally live healthier and longer lives. If that is not a reason to put some work into being more connected with ourselves and others, I don’t know what is. 

Authentic and Conscious Leadership

I recently wrote that we are also dealing with a crisis of leadership in our society. Those in traditional leadership positions that are supposed to guide and inspire us are increasingly inauthentic and untrustworthy. People are craving trust and healthy guidance, but are getting a consistent stream of gaslighting and modeling of damaging and divisive behavior.

You’ve likely heard the phrase: “we are all leaders”. I genuinely believe this to be true. I believe that we all have unique traits that allow us to help others learn and grow, but are held back by the idea of what leadership “should” be. 

In a world where algorithms and AI are steering us towards how we should look, act, feel, buy, think, and more, it has never been more important to cultivate a practice of authenticity. From this place we can find our “zone of genius”, share our passions with the world, and guide others simply by modeling healthy behavior. Combine this with noticing and encouraging growth in the unique skills of others and you have an excellent recipe for leadership. 

From this foundation, cultivating more leadership skills that help people solve problems,collaborate, and innovate, are only a step away. 

Solidarity and Community 

I believe that underneath all of the culture war issues we are told to fight about, most human beings want similar, if not the same things. We want our families and friends to be healthy and strong, we want to live as comfortably as possible, and we want to see those that we love thrive.

With many of the forces on the planet telling us who we should hate and that disagreement equals disconnection, it is no wonder that we’ve forgotten all the areas where we agree. 

In addition to learning how to connect with and lead others, I believe that finding areas of solidarity will be crucial in reversing the negative trends we are facing. We need to learn to reconnect with our friends, family, and especially our neighbors.

We can use learnings from our work in authenticity and leadership as inspirations for forming and facilitating groups where we can learn from and inspire others. From here, we can also further tone our muscles of transforming conflict into collaboration. 

With this foundation, we can take action to solve problems and affect change. Change that has a bigger impact the more people we bring into our circles. It will be tough at times to gather with people that have vastly different beliefs but again, we need to remember that underneath it all, we highly likely want the same things. This is exactly what the systems of power in the world don’t want; people finding common ground and connecting for a shared purpose. 

How Do We Do It? The Path Forward 

In spending the last year researching connection and leadership, I’ve never felt more clear on my path around this. Throughout 2025, I’ll be sharing as much as I can to do my part in fighting manufactured disconnection and relearning some of our lost humanity. 

In case it was not clear my focuses of the year will be helping anyone to:

• Better communicate and connect with others

• Become a better leader in anything you do, build trust through authenticity

• Learn how to build groups and community 

In doing so I plan to offer:

• Live and virtual events every 1-2 months 

• Video and written resource guides 

• Links to resources and books that have inspired my own work

• On-demand courses (I’ll be experimenting with my first one in the first half of 2025) 

• A virtual community to better collaborate on all of these topics (this is a goal for the end of the year, or early 2026) 

Join Me on the Journey

The best way to stay up to date on my offerings is to join my monthly newsletter. 

In joining the newsletter you’ll get:

• Early notice of all my posts and events

• Quick tips and practices you can try in your day 

• Full access to the materials I release throughout the year

• Discounts on paid events and content

• Additional highlights of trends and inspirations I find relevant 

I have hope. I believe all of this is possible. It won’t be easy. But, I think we can change course from a path of division and disconnection to a place of collective progress. It will take time too. But, I’m committed to the cause, and I hope you’ll join me on the journey. 

Thanks for reading! 

Since I learned about speed reading a few years ago, I’ve been reading more books than ever. With new AI tools, it’s easier for me to gather highlights, delve into content, and spark creative ideas. This year, in a world that often encourages disconnection and blame, I turned to books on communication, connection, and leadership. Books have inspired my passions, guided my path, and motivated my actions more than ever this year. I’m thankful for the books that came my way in 2024, and you can see my eight most favorites below.

8. How to Know A Person by David Brooks

How to Know a Person examines ways to recognize others' humanity for deeper connection and understanding, especially in conflict. The author presents the “illuminator” concept—those who seek to identity and amplify the best parts of people instead of disconnecting during challenges. It offers insights on tough conversations, the power of storytelling, and the importance of listening and curiosity. A poignant chapter on the author's friend grappling with depression provided a profound glimpse into the experience of deep sadness, alongside other valuable lessons in the book.

7. ​Supercommunicators​ by Charles Duhigg

Supercommunicators explores why we struggle to connect, suggesting that conflict and bad conversations arise from misaligned kinds of conversations with differing expectations and needs. I appreciated the referenced research and the modern approach to identifying conversation with the goal of greater understanding and connection. In my opinion, one component reinterprets some of Marshall Rosenberg’s non-violent communication framework in a more accessible way. I’ve had success trying out some of the practices in this one and will absolutely be using some of the learnings in my future work.

6. ​Ask​ by Jeff Wetzler

The concept of curiosity and striving for understanding has been a core element of 2024. While Ask did not feel like “new” material for me, I loved the deep dive on how simply asking the right kinds of questions and the right time, along with creating environments where people feel comfortable in being open, can help us unlock the collective wisdom of humanity. I would recommend this one to anyone who wants to be a better leader or simply have better conversations anywhere.

5. The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker

Recognizing this year that it is something that I love, I studied a lot about facilitation and running groups while at the same time growing and creating some groups of my own. The Art of Gathering had countless moments that had me saying “Yes!” and taking a note for use in planning my next event. When you think about it, we spend much of our time meeting with people, whether at home, work, or in our community. So, why not put some intention into our gatherings to make them the best they can be; where you have people leaving inspired and excited from the interaction? This book gives you lots of suggestions on how to do just that.

4. The Art and Science of Connection​ by Kasley Killam, MD

This book spoke to me around the loneliness crisis, and the why and how we can live healthier and better lives through having strong social connections. Studies have shown that having little to no deep connections with others can be as bad for you as smoking! If you’re a person who loves statistics and data, you’ll love the wealth of scientific info and referenced studies in this one. After setting the stage, the author lays out her suggestions for identifying what kind of connection type you may have before offering suggestions on how to start, grow, and maintain connection and community in your life, no matter your means or schedule.

3. The Age of Insecurity by Astra Taylor

I’ve been thinking about The Age of Insecurity a lot since I read it early in the year. It put words to many thoughts I’ve had about American culture these days. The book discusses “manufactured insecurity” which creates a society of fear, individualism, and consumerism. Research posits that we buy more “stuff” when they’re feeling less secure. We also are less likely to speak up against injustices when we fear things like losing our jobs or public ridicule. This book has me thinking that not only do we have manufactured insecurity, but also manufactured disconnection, in our society. I highly recommend this book. I appreciate the authors way with words while weaving historical context, explaining how we got here, and what we can do about the problem.

2. The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

The Creative Act was popular in 2023. I had been meaning to read it for some time, it was worth the wait. As someone with an art background, I appreciate exploring creativity, and this book by a seasoned music producer and mindfulness advocate Rick Rubin deeply inspired me. I loved the perspectives and ideas in this book, especially that we can create “art” in any moment. You don't need formal training to express creativity; it can happen in conversations, meetings, gatherings, and in almost any moment. We all have a unique perspective and way of being in the world which is a form of creation itself. This book motivated me to embrace creativity and build in many ways in 2024, and I am truly grateful for it.

1. The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership

This book, combined with The Creative Act was a powerful combination for my personal and professional work this year. I could not put it down. There were so many moments that spoke to me as a resounding “hell yes!”, as I read through. While The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership was released around 2015, I believe that this framework was ahead of its time. As referenced in The Creative Act, we all have our own unique perspective of the world. Thus, we all have a unique way of modeling leadership. We can practice leadership in our own way, in all walks of life, whether that is at the office, at home, or in community. To me, conscious leadership is leadership that builds and strengthens relationships, and therefore can foster better collaboration and innovation, no matter what your “work” happens to be. This book inspired me to create my own thriving leadership group at work, while also contributing to me being able to speak at two public conferences this year. In a time where people in traditional leadership positions are failing us, I believe it is up to us to practice and model the leadership we want to see in the world. The 15 Commitments provides a roadmap and ways to practice what I see as transformational leadership. I cannot recommend this one enough.

Thanks so much for reading! What were your favorite books of the year? I’d love to hear your thoughts on these and anything else.

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When was the last time you truly trusted someone in a traditional position of leadership? Not just accepted their authority, but genuinely believed in their integrity and vision, and had a deep sense of trust with them? As I write this in the fall of 2024, authentic and congruent leadership seems more like a rare commodity than a common trait among those in positions of power and influence.

In wanting to grow my own leadership skills, I spent much of this year researching and practicing leadership, including different styles and frameworks within groups I run, and throughout my day to day life. What follows are some thoughts on where I see traditional leadership failing us, and how we might be able to make positive change through a leadership framework that most spoke to me during my research. 

Our Leadership Crisis 

I believe that we’re living in an era where positions of power are increasingly devoid of true leadership. The daily evidence is abundant: political figures who prioritize donor interests over the voice of the people, corporations that preach innovation while at the same time implementing practices that encourage fear and disconnection, and institutions that champion values they don't actually practice. This isn't just about individual failures – it's a systemic crisis where those in traditional leadership positions consistently choose hoarding of power and wealth, division over unity, and short-term gains over long-term societal wellbeing. 

The result? A deepening epidemic of mistrust that's eroding the foundations of our workplaces, institutions, and to the point where it is degrading even our personal relationships. As I write this in October of 2024, just days from the United States presidential election, a significant percentage of voters are voting for candidates not because they trust and believe in their values and positions, but simply because the other candidate is “worse”. Blame and gaslighting pervades this landscape instead of ownership and responsibility, where we increasingly fight amongst ourselves rather than the systems that perpetuate this dysfunction. 

As trust in leadership continues to plummet, we're left with a troubling question: How did we arrive at a place where those entrusted with guiding our society seem more interested in maintaining power than collaborating on solutions to the problems we face? And, what can we do about it? 

To address these challenges, we need to fundamentally reconsider what leadership means in today's world. The old definitions and frameworks clearly aren't serving us – so what should modern leadership look like?

Redefining Leadership 

In my opinion, traditional definitions of leadership have become outdated, clinging to structures and methods that no longer serve our modern needs. Dictionaries may define leadership as 'a person who guides or directs a group,' but this simplistic view fails to capture the complexity and responsibility true leadership demands in today's interconnected world. While conventional definitions focus on position and authority, they miss the essential elements that make leadership truly effective: authenticity, congruence, empathy, and the ability to create positive systemic change fostered by strong relationships grounded in connection and collaboration. 

Looking at conventional leadership frameworks reveals their limitations. Businesses and schools teach leadership as a set of management techniques. Political systems reduce it to the ability to win elections and maintain power. Corporate structures often equate it with climbing organizational ladders. Yet none of these approaches address what we desperately need from leadership today: the capacity to build deep trust, foster genuine connection through differences, and create environments where people and ideas can flourish. 

Core Elements of Modern Leadership

In my own research and experience this year, I feel that effective leadership for the modern era needs to embody the following elements:

• Authenticity - Being true to one's own personality or character; presenting your true self to the world (as best you can, because 100% authenticity can be hard)

• Congruence - When your actions align with your thoughts or feelings, and especially, your words

• Responsibility - Taking full ownership of the things within your own control, rather than placing blame outside of yourself

• Connection and Relationships - Challenging yourself to prioritize relationships and connection, knowing that the best outcomes are generated when we are deeply connected and collaborating, especially through our disagreements

From here, it’s my view that when leaders prioritize trust and connection via these ways of being, traditional leadership tasks flow naturally. The collective wisdom and creativity of a united group consistently delivers stronger outcomes than individualistic directives alone.

Leadership As a Practice

One thing that I found interesting in my leadership research was that while there are countless ways that leadership is defined, and many different frameworks to learn, I continuously saw a gap in recommendations and methods to actually practice these concepts. Personally, I think it is critical to remember that leadership is not a destination. It's not about achieving a certain position or title – it's about consistently choosing to show up in ways that connect, inspire, and elevate others. I believe we need leadership that can be universally practiced and applied, whether that's at work, at home, or within the community. 

Leadership Of The Collective

The challenges we face today are too complex for the old model of the singular, all-knowing leader. Instead, we need a new understanding of leadership as a collective capacity, where different voices and perspectives come together to create solutions that draw from a wide range of diverse opinions. This collaborative approach to leadership doesn't diminish individual responsibility; rather, it enhances it by recognizing that true change comes from our ability to work together effectively and draw the best insights from our collective consciousness. 

Enter: Conscious Leadership

Of all the frameworks and methods that I came across during my research, the concept of conscious leadership was the one that spoke to me most as an answer to many of the problems I mentioned above. Conscious leadership represents a fundamental shift in how we approach ourselves, relationships, and collaboration with others. It's a practice that combines self-awareness, authentic connection, and bold mindset shifts to create leadership that serves rather than extracts, unifies rather than divides, and builds rather than depletes. To me, it addresses many of the roadblocks and energy drains that can come with being human and working together with others. 

Conscious leadership starts with a simple but profound premise: leaders must first lead themselves before they can effectively lead others. This means developing deep self-awareness, understanding our own triggers and biases, and consistently choosing to respond rather than react unconsciously. If you’re familiar with emotional intelligence (EQ), you’ll likely know that people who are in touch with their emotions and how to manage emotions that can arise from things like stress can be much more capable leaders. Conscious leadership takes emotional intelligence a step further in that it challenges us to use that intelligence and awareness to improve our relationships by providing tools that help us to manage difficult conversations and relationships for the sake of growth of all parties.   

Unlike traditional leadership models that focus primarily on external actions and outcomes, conscious leadership begins with internal work and radiates outward through intentional and authentic behaviors with the goal of improving connection and collaboration which, in turn, improves creativity and innovation. 

I was first introduced to conscious leadership when I found the book: The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership. This book spoke to me. I could not put it down. And, while I don’t agree with every suggestion in the pages, I found myself saying “Yes!” when reading through most of it. The practices and mindsets within spoke to so much of what we need from leaders at this moment in time.

Since I came across this leadership style, I’ve been using it at work, at home, in groups I run, with friends, and just about anywhere I can, because to me, it can be used almost anywhere. It has helped me improve communication with others, work through difficult conversations, and to make some big decisions. It is something where I feel a significant impact in myself and my interactions, so much so that I share and teach the practices whenever 

Key Elements of Conscious Leadership 

While there are many powerful elements and commitments within conscious leadership (too many to cover in one article), I want to share a few key concepts that particularly resonated with me. These aren't just theoretical frameworks – they're practical tools that have transformed how I approach leadership in both my professional and personal life. Consider these a 'taste' of what conscious leadership offers, followed by some info on how you can learn more:

• Awareness Using “The Line”: Conscious Leadership provides an incredible check-in tool called the line that can help us know how were showing up in any situation. You can either be above or below the line. When we are below the line, we are closed, defensive and committed to being right. When we are above the line, we are open, curious, and committed to learning

• Radical Responsibility: This concept has been a game changer for me. In a culture where blame pervades, this practice challenges us to understand what we can claim responsibility for in any given situation, rather than assigning blame to things or people. 

• Speaking with Candor: I feel like we’re encouraged to speak candidly quite often, but it can be hard to understand exactly how to do it. This practice, like many conscious leadership offers, gives specific guidance on how to have candid conversations in a healthy way, one that is in the best interest of everyone involved. 

Practicing Leadership in Your Own Way

Leadership is a core focus of mine these days, and I plan to write and share more about it in the future. I’m in the camp where all of us are leaders. All of us have unique skills and abilities that we can teach and share with others. We all have different ways we can inspire people and celebrate their best gifts. We can do all of this no matter if we’re in a position of leadership or not. In fact, I think we ourselves need to model the leadership we want to see if we are ever going to regain the trust of leaders in traditional systems of influence and power. 

In my opinion, conscious leadership is exactly what we need in these times of polarization and division. We need leadership for connection, collaboration, and creativity in a time where politicians and corporations are sowing disconnection and fear. We need leadership that challenges us to have hard and honest conversations in the interest of growth and success for our collectives and communities. We so very need to reject the trend that people who don’t 100% agree with us must be treated as enemies. 

Whether or not you choose conscious leadership as your vehicle to create this change, I want to remind anyone reading this that you have the ability to influence and inspire others, and that is all it takes to be a leader. In closing, here are some suggestions on how you can learn more and grow your own leadership skills. 

• Read The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: See if this sparks any inspiration. If not, there are lots of other leadership frameworks out there. 

• Make a list of people who you consider great leaders: Do a deep dive on them to understand how they built their own skills. 

• Get an accountability partner or team: If something inspires you, share the concept with a friend, colleague, or co-worker. Explain the concept and ask them if they wouldn’t mind providing feedback to you if they notice any changes as you practice. 

• Create a book club or local group: If you find a practice or framework that you like, try a book club or group where you can learn and practice skills together. This is one of the best ways to learn. 

I’ll be adding more practices and concepts to the resources section of my website as they become available that will provide more ideas on how you can practice and grow your own leadership skills. 

In these challenging times, the most powerful act of leadership might simply be this: choosing to lead consciously in our own unique way, knowing that each small act of authentic leadership ripples outward, gradually transforming our relationships, our communities, and ultimately, our world. 

Thanks so much for reading! If you liked this, you can sign up for my newsletter where I share similar thoughts and resources every few months.

How did we go from the ability to have balanced dialogue in the midst of disagreement to the point of not being able to disagree without intense arguing? How have we become increasingly desensitized to human suffering? Why do we actively separate and cut people out of our lives when we need connection and solidarity more than ever? In asking these questions and more, I’ve come to the realization that some of the most ancient and automatic tendencies of the human brain have been weaponized against us. This weaponization taps into our emotions and is used to keep us fighting for the very purpose of generating profits. Businesses and wealthy individuals are quite literally causing fractures and disconnection at massive scale in our society while making billions. This article aims to provide an understanding of othering, its modern manifestations and impacts, and strategies for progress. 

What Is Othering? 

Much of what is describe above, including many other areas of conflict in our daily lives has roots in the concept of “othering”. Othering is a naturally occurring process of grouping and categorization that evolved in early humans as a mechanism for safety. Over time, this process has been hijacked by social systems and businesses to incite fear and division while growing profits, power, and control. Today, the population remains splintered, fighting amongst itself over a multitude of conflicts rather than against the very systems that create and perpetuate those conflicts.

Othering has impacted massive historical events including genocide of indigenous cultures, slavery, violence against and control of women, the holocaust, and other events of ethnic cleansing. Even with this impact and its influence on the rising discrimination and hatred we see today, othering itself is not widely discussed in public discourse. Othering is the root cause of many forms of discrimination and conflict we see today. Not only does it divide us and enable forms of hatred and violence, it robs us of humanity's gifts of creativity and ingenuity through collaboration. Othering mires us in conflict and anger rather than using energy and talents to create solutions or fight in solidarity against institutions that aim to keep us disorganized and separate.

John A. Powell of the Othering and Belonging Institute has described othering as “a set of processes that consciously or unconsciously see a person or group as not belonging, different, and often less than in some important way”. We’ve certainly heard the terms racism, xenophobia, homophobia, dehumanization, polarization, and others in increasing frequency. Yet, these terms are often used arbitrarily while failing to identify the origins of these mindsets. The act of othering is the precursor to discrimination and hatred. Once we categorize someone or something as separate from us, they can more easily be treated as less-than, or even, an enemy worthy of mistreatment or harm. 

The Origins of Othering

In early development of the human brain, automatic grouping and categorization was required to understand the difference between like and unlike; what was safe and unsafe. One example might be in seeing an animal or another human, and needing to categorize them as a possible danger. This development occurred in the brain’s limbic system, which is known as the reptilian or autonomous part of the brain commonly associated with the flight of flight response. Over thousands of years our brains have evolved, yet this automatic function of our brains has remained, while at the same time being influenced by societal biases and discrimination that has occurred throughout history. What we have today is a very similar limbic system originally designed to keep us safe as hunter gatherers informed by thousands of years of grouping and separation due to factors such as race, religion, sexism.

We can see connections from the past and modern day, where in the past for example, human enslavement was justified by marking groups of people sub-human or animals, thus deserving of enslavement and horrific treatment. In present day as I write this, Palestinian civilians have been called barbaric animals worthy of bombardment and death at the hands of Israel and supported by money and weapons from the United States. This dehumanization begins with othering, with categorization and separation of entire groups, marking them as un-like the rest of us. When we other people, it disconnects them from us, making it easier to pass judgment on them as well as slow or stop feelings of empathy. What is most scary to me, though, is that these natural tendencies of our brains have been mechanized and monetized over many years to the point where othering is required to sustain profits, while at the same time exponentially worsening the its negative impacts.

Othering as A Business

As mentioned, othering has had a direct influence on many darker moments in humanity. Unfortunately, the limbic system that existed in the human brain during these darker moments is largely unchanged in humans today. This primitive brain function which evolved out of our need for safety is no match for modern technology, where companies employ data scientists and behaviorists use personal data and predictive algorithms to know exactly what content will keep our eyes glued to our screens. This practice has been described as “the race to the bottom of the brain stem” by Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, because businesses can now quite literally “hack” this old and susceptible part of our brains serving us content that targets our emotions. Our fears, insecurities, and anger can be used against us to drive profits, which in turn, drives othering. 

Sadly, studies have shown that content that stirs negative emotions is more engaging that content that is positive and uplifting. Companies like Meta have been well aware of this fact and actively promote negative content to drive engagement rather than building safety features to mitigate the spread or damage of harmful content that further polarizes us. But Meta is not alone. Here are just a few of the many ways othering is weaponized for the sake of profits. 

• Advertising - Advertising itself requires our attention in the form of views and clicks. When this entire business model requires a battle for attention, businesses don’t have much incentive other than doing whatever it takes to get and grow views. Thus, much advertising we see today is designed to make us feel separate, and, less than. This preys on our desires to succeed and to fit in. The “solution”: buying the next product to make us look nicer, have a higher status, or simply to look like we are “keeping up”. This has many negative effects that drive profits.

  • Media - Traditional media profits primarily come from ads. When They need on ads to make money and drive profits, so inflammatory stories with little depth are broadcast to shock and draw in, rather than providing informative and balanced news coverage. Most news outlets today are either conservative leaning or progressively leaning making much of their content focusing on othering those who fall into the opposite group rather than the news itself.

• Retail “therapy” - Making purchases to help fill a void or make us feel like we fit in. This is a constant cycle and assault on our brains telling us that we might feel better by buying a shiny new thing. This instant gratification that does not last long, and the calls to buy and upgrade continue perpetually.

• “Doomscrolling” - Living through others or “escaping” into social feeds where ads and content we see are served from an algorithm that actively serves us inflammatory posts.

• In these scenarios and more, ads are being placed directly against content designed to make us feel separate, as well as against viral content that engages us on an emotional level, generating revenue while dividing us.

• War - War and conflict require a consistent stream of othering. Considering war itself is a business, with weapons companies able to make profits from conflicts as well as being publicly traded on the stock market, these companies have incentives for a perpetual line of enemies that must be defeated. Othering is in full swing here, in defense of continuing global conflict of defeating a never-ending line of  enemies, as well as in defense of senseless civilian casualties.

• Politics - The US political system, which includes a massive industry of lobbyists to influence corporate interests, as well as PACs which serve as funding mechanisms, thrives on othering. Politicians and supporters from both sides other each other on a daily basis. Gridlock is the norm where culture wars take precedence over actionable policies, all while corporations grow wealth and power exponentially.

Far Reaching Impacts

I consider the above systems and others make up what I consider a giant “othering machine”. This machine is designed to make us feel more separate than we are alike. To give us a false sense of where our problems originate and to fight with each other rather than the true source of the many problems that exist for us today. If we are fighting with each other, we are sufficiently distracted and divided so that we won’t be able to organize in the solidarity and numbers required to make lasting change.

To me, the impacts are clear and they are many. First, this othering machine will continue to and grow in intensity unless something is done to stop or reverse the process. If allowed to progress, we will see continuing divides and inability to find common ground on most of the areas of conflict we face. Below is a short and non-exhaustive list of long term impacts of this perpetual othering machine.

• Breakdown of trust in institutions and people themselves - This othering machine which thrives on inflammatory information and hate, is incentivized to exponentially spread false or misleading information. This generates confusion and mistrust of institutions that we have typically relied on for grounded information and trust. The further our trust is eroded, the more split we become. The proliferation of othering fractures our communities and groups that were once a place of belonging and safety. We’ve already been living in the era of “fake news”for years, and I can only imagine what our society will look like if we progress further down this path.

• Group think, echo chambers, and confirmation bias - The continual breakdown of trust leads to the creation of groups and echo chambers where dissent or opposing views are not allowed or accepted. These groups perpetuate their own ideas and values while othering people and groups that disagree with them. Some groups coming to mind here are incel and flat-eathers, as well as left-leaning cancel culture groups. No matter what side of the political or social aisle these groups land or the beliefs they hold, when we other them we only reinforce the echo chamber.

• Stifling of creativity and innovation - When we spend much of our time arguing and othering rather than on collaboration, we are wasting some of our best human gifts. Imagine the things we could accomplish if we were united for positive change against the othering machine. The further we grow apart, the more we lose out on the possibilities of innovation that come from working together towards common goals.

• Loneliness and suicide - The more we fracture our communities and social groups, the more likely we are to lose out on human connection and belonging, which are crucial to human survival. It is no wonder that suicide rates have steadily increased over the years, which larger jumps in recent years. Othering is creating a culture of loneliness, which is leading to more suicide. The othering machine is continually reducing the number of possible connections and support we could get from community and family in times we need it most.

Strategies For Progress

How can we possibly reverse this cycle? In my initial research on the concept of othering, I’ve seen a trend in recommended solutions. Several studies and articles I’ve read call for inclusion and belongingness to help bring us back together. While I agree that inclusion and belongingness are crucial to human connection, the sources I’ve read don’t have suggestions on exactly how we get there. I believe it will take a lot of work, but I think we can get there. Here are some of my personal beliefs on how we can start to turn this around.

• Bring awareness to systems - We must continually remind ourselves that there are systems that require othering to exist to make profits. These systems which thrive on our separation are our true enemies, not the people that hold differing beliefs than us.

• Work on our own awareness - Knowing that the othering machine preys on our emotions, one thing we can do to fight it is get better in touch with them. Being able to notice when we’re angry or our emotions have taken over can make a massive difference when conversations get heated or helping us notice when it is time to leave a situation that is damaging to us. Meditation is one way I’ve been able to better notice my emotions as well as maintain calm in particular situations. Movement practices such as yoga, tai chi, and dance are other examples that come to mind.

• Recognizing humanity in others - Through it all, as hard as it may be when coming into contact with someone who has beliefs that seem maddening, again, know that systems had a part in these beliefs. Underneath these beliefs, it is incredibly likely that most people have similar desires such as wanting to live a comfortable, healthy, and enjoyable life. Common ground can be found there and in many other areas.

• Be a beacon of change - I’ve been thinking about this one a lot. I see so much fighting and arguing in public spaces and social media especially. I often just watch, and what I see are two groups of people arguing over a particular topic, each group very set and steadfast in their beliefs. All the yelling and insulting is not getting anywhere. It certainly is rarely changing either groups beliefs. Rather than getting deep into these arguments, I suggest using whatever method that feels best to you to respectfully speak your mind and try to find common ground with others. Keep in mind the above points, be prepared to get uncomfortable at times, and set boundaries that allow you to know when to disengage when needed.

I believe one final area we need to consider is holding in our minds that this is actually possible. Don’t get me wrong, I think this is going to be really hard, but I think it can be done. I think we can fight this othering machine, reverse its effects, and rebuild some of the connections we’ve lost. It will take lots of patience, dedication, and reflection, but I truly believe it is possible.

Thanks as always for reading. If you liked this and want to hear more, you can sign up for my monthly newsletter to keep up with my posts.

If you have any feedback or comments, I’d love to hear. Don’t hesitate to reach out on social media in the footer below. Thanks again, and good luck out there.

This following is a modified transcript of the above video.

Hey everybody, I hope you're doing as well as you can be, and thanks so much for reading. Today I'd like to talk about the concept of having an enemy and with everything going on in the world, all of the conflicts, the front and center right now, as I'm recording. this, being what's happening in Palestine.

I recently talked about what it means to me to be anti-war, and today I want wanted to get into this idea of there always being an enemy out there. We, (and when I say we, I mean the US, but I'm sure this is the case across many parts of the world) have always been told; had bashed into our brains that there is some kind of enemy out there. There is someone, something, or some group that is bad, that is evil, that we need to stop or we need to destroy. While in some cases I think that that might be possible, we're now told and made to believe that almost anyone can be an enemy. It can be our family. It can be our friends. It can be our neighbors. Anybody who disagrees with us can be an enemy. Anyone can be a scapegoat for our problems, and I wanted to get a little bit more into this because I've thought about it and I actually do have enemies myself. I am an anti-war person. I'm an anti-violence person. But I do in fact have some enemies and I wanted to discuss who they are and who they are not.

The War Machine

So, to start it off, front and center because it's super relevant as I record this today, and I think will be relevant for me for years to come; the war machine is my enemy. My enemy is the system that has told me that specific entire countries and the people within them are my enemy; that they're bad and that they need to be stopped. The ones that have told me that entire groups of people are bad. My enemy is the one who tells me that we have to murder children to get our goals accomplished. That tells me and has so many people believing that it is okay to bomb thousands of civilians under the guise of killing a few enemies. My enemy is a system that never looks for a peaceful solution, that only ramps things up, that tells us that we always need to be at war, and that there is always an enemy out there. That is my enemy. The one that tells me we need to spend far more on weapons and death and murder and destruction than we do on anything else in our society. If you watched my previous post, my enemy is a system that allows people to get rich off all of this killing.

A Corrupt Political System

My enemy is also a political system that is incentivized by donations and bribes and corruption. One that does not truly speak or fight for the people that they are supposed to represent, but rather rally for war and for corporate power to stay strong. This might not be super relevant to everything on this list, but this is super relevant to me in this moment. It's a system that tells millions of people that they can't be paid a living wage, that forces more and more people into poverty, into homelessness, every day. To have to make the most dire decisions to be able to live and to have a home. All the while so many are making billions every day with this wealth gap growing bigger.

The Media

Next, I would say the media is my enemy. A media that lies, manipulates, and convinces us into fighting more with each other than actually telling us the truth of what is going on. A system that gets millions to believe parrot their own narrative instead of reality. This system is definitely my enemy.

The Pharmaceutical and Medical Insurance Industry

This one might not fit into all of what I'm talking about today, but it's definitely been on my mind lately and.., and I would say the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry is also my enemy. My enemy is a system who has the means and the abilities and the science to cure. many diseases, but chooses to not. That chooses to keep people... just so healthy that they need to keep coming back and be on medications, but never really truly being fully healthy. My enemy is the same system that charges thousands of dollars a month for a new computer. of percent markup on medicines that people need to survive when they cost barely anything to make in the desire for profits, charging much, much more than their cost of making a drug just to help shareholders get rich. A system that is so... costly, in America specifically, that people avoid going to the doctor, that avoid going to the emergency room. they're sick or injured, because they are scared of how much it will cost. system in which, while all of this is happening, people are getting rich. and growing their wealth beyond what I would say is their, is the... their true means or needs. I would say that.

Big Tech and Social Media

Next up, big tech is my enemy and This category could go pretty deep, but what's coming to me right now and lately is about... I would probably call social media tech, where we are on platforms that spread. and make money off of hatred, knowingly so, that amplify hatred to make more money. to sell more ads, while at the very same time censoring and silencing true and and legitimate dissent or questions or concerns, silencing people that are calling out the things that are happening in the world. That system is also my enemy.

You Are Not My Enemy

It feels crazy to have to say this, but my enemy is not people of color. It's not gay people, it's not trans people, it's not homeless people. it's not immigrants. I could go on and on. My enemy is the ones and the system who tells me that these people should be my enemy, that these people should somehow be the cause my problems. It's not those people. It's the people that tell me that I should be somehow against anyone. My enemy is not my neighbor. My enemy is not you. If you're reading this, even if you happen to disagree with me. You're not my enemy, and it's likely that we're being told that we need to be enemies because we need to disagree. If you disagree with me, that is fine. You're still not my enemy. And I hope we could talk about this fact and find some common ground that I know we have.

My Ultimate Enemy

I would say to close it out, under all of these terms, this the number one thing that is my enemy is greed. Greed that says: we need to take everything we can at the cost of all else and all others. That we need to fight and kill for land and money and power, that there is not enough for all of us. Greed, that pushes people to take and take and take even when they are living well beyond what anyone might need to live in multiple lifetimes. Feeding the idea that we need to look and feel like we're ahead of everyone else, and, yeah, just a system that keeps us needing more, needing to buy, needing to achieve, everyone else at all costs. Greed, I think, is the cause of of everything I have talked about today and I would say greed is my ultimate enemy.

So, thank you again for reading and as always, I am open to and love your feedback. If you have any comments on this, whether you want to put it in the comments or contact me directly, do you agree? Do you have an enemy? Do you think it is right to have a specific enemy or places or anything truly consider an enemy? I, with no judgment, would want to hear you and have a conversation.

Thank you again I'll see you next time. Have a good one for now.

This is a modified transcript of the above video.

Hey everyone, I hope you're doing as well as you can be and thanks so much for reading. Today, I want to talk about the idea of war and what it means to be anti-war. As I write this on October 31st, 2023, of course there is the front and center conflict happening in Palestine along with the existing wars we already have going on. And, ever since I've known the true cost of war and learned more about the impacts and implications, I have considered myself anti-war. But, with all of this going on, I've been wondering: what does being anti-war actually mean to me?

I’ve thought about this in depth as well as gotten some feedback from others. Below you’ll find where I stand at the moment, but I imagine these will evolve over time. Here are eight areas that fall into my anti-war stance.

Treat All Life As Sacred

The first thing to me when it comes to being anti-war would be to treat human life as sacred. And that means all human life. That especially means civilians; innocent people who have no direct impact on a war or a conflict itself. This is paramount to me. With this comes the acknowledgment of life and loss equally. In the most recent conflict, I see the acknowledgement of one atrocity in one place in the loss of life Israelis on the attacks of October 7th, but not the acknowledgement of the now tens of thousands of mostly civilian lives lost on the Palestinian side. If we're going to acknowledge one, how can we not acknowledge the other? We’ve been programmed that it is ok for one side to be annihilated and not the other.

We need to honor and keep sacred human life, especially people that are innocent, that can't protect themselves, children, the elderly, the disabled. And it's just awful what we're seeing right now. It's happening before our eyes. And I hope as we go along, more people will speak out against this. And that's what I'm trying to do here and in other places.

There Is Nuance In Almost Every Situation

We’re often told that things are black and white when this is almost always not the case. There is nuance in almost every situation that we need to identify and acknowledge.

It is rarely one side good, the other evil. There is rarely one bad party in all of this. I think we need to consistently work to slow down, understand, and acknowledge that nuance exists, because it is almost never black and white. We are told to believe it is but we need to resist that notion.

Understand the Horrors and Lasting Effects of War

Next, in being anti-war, and especially for those calling for more war, I think we have to understand and really know the horrors war brings. If you’ve looked online, I’m sure you're seeing a lot of people cavalierly call for war and more destruction.

Here in the U.S., we don't often see the direct impact of war. But war has a long and deep impact. And I believe it has an impact across the globe, even if it doesn't directly touch us. For those that are in favor of war, do you understand the long-term costs, the effects of entire generations, upon entire countries? In thinking of Ukraine at the moment which has been devastated by bombs. It has been laid to waste. Entire generations of youth, tens of thousands of people have been lost. So many cheer on the need for this war to continue rather than consider some kind of diplomacy to end the destruction. Ukraine will take decades to rebuild its society and for what? Was this all worth it? I don’t think so.

We've been in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen. Can you speak to any true victories in these long, 20 years long, trillion dollar wars? Is there any actual victory? Are we actually safer? When you say you're going to annihilate a terrorist organization, can you really do that? Are we creating more allies or more enemies? I believe the latter. Increased violence and aggression breeds more of the same. Do you think a Palestinian child who is experiencing death and destruction is saved by countries that decide to band together to stop further bloodshed grows up with more hate? Conversely, what about the child who has had much of their family killed because nobody did anything to stop the ongoing bombing. Do you think that person's going to grow up wanting to be kind and wanting to be compassionate or or with hate and vengeance in their heart? Which one is better for the world and especially the child?

We unfortunately live in a consistent war mindset, and it trickles down in ways we can't directly comprehend. Look to our everyday society. We're warring with each other, we're using black and white thinking, we're looking at people as our enemy over simple disagreements.

I don't think people consider that when they think of war, but that does trickle down in that way. Whether it's thousands of miles away or not, this will affect us. It will affect us socially, it will affect us economically, and there's just so many ways that often people don't even comprehend when they cavalierly call for war.

Question What You Hear And Read

Next, I would say being anti-war means questioning what you hear, not being a mouthpiece. This is probably one of the harder ones in this list with misinformation the way it is these days. When you hear something, right, do we often look to verify this, but where things come

at us, we're emotional, and we turn around and we share that information, right? Most information from mainstream media, I consider to have a narrative, to tell us things, to put us in that black and white thinking, to say, hey, they're an enemy. We need to defeat that enemy, where again, there is nuance, and again, there is a narrative. There is a bias, and these entities want us to believe a certain thing. They're not trying to give us news, and the same goes across social media, and the same goes across the ability for content to just be fake to these days. But I think one of the biggest things here is not only kind of questioning what we hear,

but also interrupting our kind of information loop, where we receive something and we just turn around and maybe reshare it or believe it without kind of stopping and pausing and taking a moment to actually see how we feel about it. Not only that, doing the research and maybe trying to verify, but also sitting down and just taking a moment and feeling into how something affects you. And I think, yes, with our information age and things flying around so fast, it's hard to slow down and do those things, but I feel like we absolutely have to do that. We have to question the information we're getting. We have to try to validate it, and we have to really feel into how it affects us and see what we believe, not to believe something that's coming at us.

Know That War Is a Business

War is a business, and we are partially funding it. There is a revolving door of government officials moving from working to weapons manufacturers, to government roles that have direct influence on foreign affairs, and back.

And so an example that comes to mind right now that has been in my head a lot lately, the U.S. Secretary of Defense; his name is Lloyd Austin. He came into this position in the Biden administration. Where was he before that? He was at Raytheon, one of the world's biggest weapons manufacturers, making millions of dollars working in a senior role.

He we from Raytheon, one of the biggest weapons manufacturers, to a role in the United States that has a direct impact on war. So my question is, do you think this person cut all ties with Raytheon? Do you think they’re not talking to him, that he's not benefiting from this relationship in some way in overseeing war efforts? Do you think this person's trying to de-escalate situations or listening to Raytheon and just trying to decide where to send the next warheads? There are many examples of this.

When war can generate money and profits, there will always need to be war. These weapons manufacturers depend on war. It is their whole reason for existence in most cases.

We need to to call these things out. We need to try to build a world where money cannot be made off of war. People cannot be made rich from war. Our tax dollars are literally going into a war machine that is committing murder right now, in my opinion. And on top of that, people are getting rich through all this destruction.

Call For De-Escalation & Diplomacy

Next, I would add in the idea of leading with de-escalation. And this speaks to my previous point. When money can be made off of war, why would we ever lead with de-escalation and diplomacy? In so many cases, I think in most cases, there are opportunities for diplomacy, for trying to work something out, for instead of ramping things up, say, hey, let's cease fire, let's talk, and try to find a middle ground. And speaking of ceasefire, I do believe we need a ceasefire right now in Palestine, and I'm glad people are calling for that. But fighting for and leading with de-escalation.

You may not have seen this because it wouldn't be covered in the mainstream news, but in the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, Russia came forward with a diplomatic offer in which they would pull out from Ukraine and specific areas as long as their borders were no longer encroached by NATO. The United States, I believe England and other European powers came in and fought to deny that offer. And here we are years later in war that has no end in sight. Corporations are making money and profiting of the carnage and continued destruction of Ukraine.

I believe our world would love very different if we led with de-escalation.

Return To Humanity

Lastly I return to our humanity. We need to get out of the one side is evil mindset. There is always nuance. There is always a narrative that others in power want us to believe, stripping us of opportunities for empathy. I am so surprised that some of the things I'm seeing online, where people are calling for war, destruction, and death of civilians that have families. We all have families. And just the simple idea of trying to look at our families and imagine them in a war zone. Imagine our families getting wiped out. Imagine having to decide whether your family should huddle in one room so you all die in a bomb strike, or separating in hopes that some of the family will survive. Imagine having to make that decision.

People are not even considering this. And it just, it's really saddening to me. I'm hoping the more people that speak out and the more people that bring these things to light might change a few people in the right direction. Put yourself in others' shoes. Just look at the people you love and imagine the worst things that are happening in other places happening to them. T

his is what I have for now. Again, I think this list might evolve over time. It might change, but I really wanted to think through what being anti-war means to me.

I would love your thoughts. Do you consider yourself anti-war? If no, with no judgment, I'd be curious why. I would genuinely appreciate to hear from you and hear why.

If yes, do you agree with my views? Do you have your own? Do you have anything you would add?

You can reach out to me on social media, via email if you like. And if you've made it this far, thanks so much for reading. I really appreciate that. And I will catch you again in the next one. Thanks again.

First, let’s get review a few specific items that flat earthers believe. What is interesting in my experience is that not all flat earthers believe exactly the same things, but there does seem to be agreement in several areas.

1. The earth is not a sphere but rather a flat plane or disc.

2. The earth, not the sun, is the center of our universe.

3. Antarctica is not a continent as we know it, but an ice wall surrounding the edges of the earth. This ice wall cannot be visited because global militaries and NASA guard it and do not allow access to it.

4. Flat earthers often cite biblical passages such as the reference to "the firmament" in the book of genesis as evidence that the sky is depicted as a solid dome overlying a flat earth.

5. There is no concept of space or leaving the earths atmosphere. Thus, things like the moon landing, satellites, anything to do with NASA, SpaceX or other space programs or any photos or videos from space, are all fabricated in some way.

   1. In this same vein, NASA, related scientific and non-scientific communities (astronomers, geologists, surveyors, pilots etc.), and all world governments and space agencies are either part of a conspiracy to hide the fact that the earth is flat from all humanity, or, are unknowing participants that have been indoctrinated into the lie.

6. The above lies and conspiracies are carried out by an elite group of wealthy individuals. Free Masons and The Rothchilds came up a lot in my research, but they aren’t the only ones.

7. The reason for the alleged coverup that all parties mentioned above take part in is for the elite to hide the true “truth” from the masses: that the earth is flat and that are known universe was created by god. Flat earthers believe that if the masses knew this truth, that these wealthy elites would no longer be able to control us. We would be “free”. Thus, they fight to keep alive the lie that we live on a globe, not a flat plane or disc covered by a dome that is the center of the known universe.

Trust me, there is a lot more than just that, but I tried to distill what I believe to be some of the biggest and most "important" beliefs, according to my research. There is something about flat-earthism that feels like one of the biggest rabbit holes I have ever experienced. There are myriad talking points and different takes on "evidence" constantly being analyzed and rehashed constantly in places like Twitter/X and Youtube. It’s wild out there folks! I felt at times I was being sucked into this world, and I can see why people can easily get swept up in it all. More on that in a moment.

Strong Convictions & Lots of Time Spent

To be clear, I do not believe the earth is flat. However, there was an incredibly short moment or two where they had me wondering (yes it is true). That is because I do agree with them on one critical point. I think this is one of the primary reasons flat earthism is alive and well today, and from what I can see, continues to grow. Simply put, many people believe they are being lied to, and these days it is often hard to believe what is real or not. In my opinion, living in a world that you can’t have much trust in makes lots of things seem more possible.

It was in this belief that I was able to actually connect with the person who told me their flat earth theory, rather than immediately laughing them off as I’ve seen many people do. Because I do believe all parties in governments lie to us (often), I do believe that corporations deeply influence most governments in order maximize profits, maintain control, and drive narratives. And, I do believe that there is near zero media organizations that tell what is actually going on in the world and instead feed a corporately driven agenda that they want people to hear.

I think that as people become aware of this manipulation and as overall trust in manipulations weakens, anyone can become more open to conspiracy theories. I’m not knocking conspiracy theories either. For one, I’m a person who believes the United States was directly involved in 9/11 (and happy to discuss if you’d like to). But, as people lose more trust in the world I think we’ll see not only more conspiracies, but conspiracies that seem farther from reality, or, from what we can prove with science or math.

As you might imagine, this is an extremely polarizing topic. Many in the scientific community are downright insulted by flat earthers because their beliefs against much of what they have spent their lives studying: looking at data, testing and proving theories through calculations on physics etc,; things that flat earthers rarely take part in. I see the polarization as deeply unfortunate because we are polarized on so many other areas such as race, sex, transsexuality, war, political parties, guns, abortion, homelessness, and the list goes on. I see too much time being spent on this topic, both from flat earthers going to the ends of the earth (sorry) to find evidence that proves their beliefs, to those that spend countless hours trying to debunk flat earth. It is just such another huge time suck that divides many people while actual elites work to gain more power and wealth.

But, I simply wonder: what do we expect? Is this all really that crazy to see happening? To me, it isn’t. For many, the world is getting harder, more divided, more “us against them”. Institutions are failing us and lying to us. People have less sturdy foundations and the idea of thriving in life seems out of reach. For people that don’t know what to believe in anymore, people that might be down, lost, or lonely, flat earthism offers a group of energized people that have a purpose and provide connection. It is a place where there is shared belief, a lot of enthusiasm, something that can be fought for, and a large group of people to fight against. It is a place I’m sure many feel special and alive.

I’ve recently talked about articles mentioning male suicide rates, a declining number of men finishing high school and college, and becoming more isolated. I haven’t been able to find any numbers, but from what I’ve seen online and in some documentaries, the ratio of men to women in flat earth spaces is stark. I see a connection between these phenomena. Add social media and the ability to make money from clicks and views of these arguments, and you’ve got a recipe for proliferation of flat earth believers and a lot of wasted time on both sides of the argument.

Advice For An Encounter With A Flat Earther

So what can we do? If you encounter a flat earther in the near future, what could you say to them? I think it is worth trying to have an actual conversation and doing your best to connect with them. What they believe might feel maddening, especially if you’re a scientist or someone who works in a field where you must account for the earth being a sphere and having curvature, but I truly believe underneath these beliefs, we want many of the same things.

I present to you my final suggestions on how to approach a conversation with a flat earther as well as some of my favorite content speaking to proof that the earth is a globe.

Conversation Suggestions

• Be aware that flat earthers seem to have an answer for everything. You could have many points and beliefs on the topic and I assure you they’ll likely have a retort for each one. Consider this before and during going into a conversation.

• It is your choice to entertain a conversation or not. If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. You can always respectfully state your beliefs and that you’d rather not talk about the subject.

• Know that a person might have these beliefs for much of the same reasons you are upset with the bad things that are happening in the world. This is an opportunity for connection. I believe that even if we have major differences, there are lots of places we can agree. I hope that we can all work towards moments of connection rather than immediately battling.

• A great way to end things is saying that you simply don’t agree. Another thing I believe is that even if there were some universe where the earth was in fact flat, there are still a lot more important things going on in the world that I want to focus my attention. As hard as it might be to do, you also let the person know you honor where they are coming from and their right to believe what they want. I know this might sound like a really tough thing to do, but if we don’t start practicing connection in these moments, our divides will continue to grow.

Flat Earth Debunking Content

I watched a good amount of video during my research on flat earth. While there are many things that point to actual evidence that the earth is round that you can speak to should you ever need, these are some of my favorites channels and videos.

Professor Dave Explains

Professor Dave is a scientist who has lots of content on his channel and a section on flat earth. He takes an aggressive and often insulting stance against flat earthers in his videos. While I disagree with that approach, his videos are quite informative. Here are some favorites.

• The Earth Is Definitely Not Flat

• Destroying Flat Earth Without Using Science - Part 1: The Moon

• Destroying Flat Earth Without Using Science - Part 4: The Conspiracy

Dave McKeegan

Dave goes deep on debunking flat earth claims and goes to a great level of detail in short segments while not being overly insulting which I appreciate. I also enjoy listening to his accent.

• Farewell Flat Earth - Ultimate photographic proof?

• Flat Earthers absolutely HATE this video - Comparing ISS timelapse to weather records

This was one of my longer articles so, if you made it to the end, thank you! I love conversation on all topics so if you have any feedback don’t hesitate to reach out via socials found in my footer or my contact page.

If you liked this you can always sign up for my newsletter and get a monthly message from me discussing topics like this and more. Thanks again!

The book I read was Limitless by Jim Kwik and while the book is not about speed reading itself, it focuses on the fact that while we were taught many things in school, most of us were not taught how our brains work and how to best utilize them for learning and remembering information. Reading is absolutely one of those areas. Were you taught to read like I was? As in you learned how to look at letters to form words, sound them out aloud or in your head, and then use those words to string together sentences? While it works, it turns out that it is incredibly inefficient and does not take advantage of our brain’s full potential.

Our brain is arguably the best supercomputer on the planet, processing incredible amounts of information from our senses in real time, and making the decision of what information is, and is, not important. And it does all this automatically without us having to think about much at all. That is one of many things to consider when it comes to tuning our brains for reading.

I’ll likely expand on this more in the future, but today I’d like to highlight my favorite basic concepts that helped me learn to break some old habits and more that double my reading speed.

1 Mindset

Know that you can improve your reading speed! As mentioned above, our brains are incredibly powerful and we aren’t taught to harness its ability to take in information. If the interest is there along with some willingness to practice just a little bit, I believe anyone can noticeably boost their reading speed.

2 Preparations

There are a few items as you lead into your speed reading journey that I think are crucial to understand before you begin.

1. Learn how to calculate your reading speed - You need to be an able to measure your progress and that starts with getting a baseline of your current reading speed and then checking it periodically when practicing. I’ve got a basic tutorial here.

2. Why? - This is something you can ponder before you read anything. What are you trying to get out of what you’re about to read? Why are you reading it? Is it to learn something new? Is it to enjoy yourself and open your imagination? Asking yourself why before starting any kind of reading will engage your brain and evoke questions. When we ask why and ponder questions, the brain will be looking for answers. This will help not only in being more engaged in what you read but also in retaining information.

3. Use a pointer - A pointer can be anything from a pen or pencil to your finger that you’ll use to follow along in your reading. A pointer is important because it helps keep your eyes and brain more focused on what you’re reading as well as keeping up a pace. It also helps reduce regression which is when you look back at something you’ve already read. It might seem strange to read this way but if you’re truly interested in reading faster, a pointer is an easy way to increase speed.

3 Initial Concepts

Skimming - This is one that I admit I don’t do as often as I could, but when I do, I see a noticeable difference. Skimming is something to do before you do your actual reading. The idea is to very quickly skim through what you’re about to read. In doing so, your brain will pick up on particular words and phrases and essentially prime your brain for what you’re about to read. Skimming also can help to fill in your “why’s” and some of the questions that will help in understanding and retaining what you’re reading.

Chunking - Much of speed reading is learning how to visualize more groups words at a time. The more your eyes can take in for your brain to process at one time, the faster you’ll be able to read. A simple example of chunking is to imagine breaking what you’re reading into sections and as you read, attempting to read each line in “chunks”. Some of the fastest readers can see and process nearly whole pages at a time. In practicing chunking you can learn to see and process more.

04 Subvocalization Elimination

This the one I have to consistently work at and speaks to breaking habits we’ve learned when we were first taught to read. Remember learning to form words from letters, sounding them out loud or in your head, and then the same when reading sentences? Sounding things out in our heads is called subvocalization. While this helps when we’re first learning to read, subvocalization actually holds us back from reading quickly. This is because our eyes and brain can process information much faster that we can speak. Working on eliminating subvocalization is key to reaching new heights in your reading speed. This one takes continued work for me but I notice the differences. Here are some tips that can help reduce or eliminate your internal talk.

• Listen to music - Music can help distract from reading inside your head. In my opinion, it is one of the easiest things to try. In my explorations of speed reading and learning, baroque music has come up in recommendations. If you use Spotify, here is a playlist I often use.

• Chew gum - I’ve tried this and I found it helpful, but I don’t like chewing gum much. If it works for you, great.

• Hum to yourself - This could get annoying if you’re around others, but it will definitely reduce subvocalization.

• Count in your head - This one has been a bit tougher for me to practice, but there is no way you can vocalize words in your head if you’re already occupying it with counting. I’ve seen it recommended to simply count 1, 2, 3 over and over again.

• Go fast - This one is my hands down favorite. One of the best ways to stop vocalizing in your head as you read is to read faster than you can speak. It takes time to build up to these speeds and as you’re doing so you’ll be sacrificing some comprehension. However once you’ve broken old habits and practiced using some speed drills (my favorite one being 4321 drill listed below), you’ll likely be reaching speeds where counting in your head or chewing gum won’t matter much.

05 A Practice to Build Speed

There are lots of drills you can practice to increase your reading speed. Perhaps I’ll delve a bit more into these in a later post, but if I can leave you with one drill to work on that is effective and only takes a few minutes, it would be the 4321 drill.

1. Pick something to read that is on the lighter side; nothing too technical or deep. Fiction often works here because it can be imagined and visualized.

2. Set a timer for four minutes. Read at a normal pace and mark your stopping point when the timer goes off.

3. Set a timer for three minutes. You’re trying to get to the same stopping point, so you’ll need to go a little faster. You may get the hint of where this is going.

4. Set a timer for two minutes. Yes, you’ll need to get to the same stopping point in half the time.

5. Set your timer for one minute with the goal of reaching the the same stopping point. It will likely not feel like you’re reading at all but you must make it to the end.

As mentioned, at the faster speeds, it likely won’t feel like you’re reading at all. You probably won’t be able to comprehend anything because you’re going to fast. While there are lots of exercises you can work on to build your reading speed, this one has been the most powerful for me. This is because it breaks the old reading habits you may have learned when you first learned to read. You are going so fast that you can’t speed the words in your head. You’re training your eyes and brain to take in the information visually and at high speeds. Practicing this drill several times as week is what helped my maximize my speeds.

06 Make Reading a Routine

Likely where I see this post going is expanding to it’s own page on my website which can be expanded upon later with more tips and practices that I’ve found helpful in my reading journey. But the last one I’ll leave you with today is to build reading into your daily routine, and if you can, some of the tips I’ve laid out here. As part of my own morning routine I read for at least 20 minutes before starting my work day and more during breaks when I can. I practice drills every few weeks which helps keep my speeds up, but the one thing that helps me maintain my speed is reading every day.

Here’s hoping that if you found any of these tips helpful you might be able to read more of what you love in less time, or at the very least have a little extra time in your day because you can read faster.

If you made it this far, thanks so much! It means a lot that you’d spend your time reading this when there are so many other things out there to read.

If you’d like you can sign up for my newsletter and get my posts delivered to your inbox once a month. If you’d like to chat you can email me or find me on Threads.

Over the last few years I’ve become more and more aware of the attempts and intent of many entities to inform our thinking. In my opinion, much of the media and news that exist today tell a narrative, not objective news. Many tech companies employ psychologists to influence the use of their technology which has an impact on what we watch and consume. Algorithms serve us specific content and impacts what we see when we search the internet. Narratives and algorithims can go a long way in influencing what we actually believe. These days, so much content is convincing; the more you get fed similar information the more it can influence us.

This effect bleeds into daily life where family and friends or loved ones might also be relaying information to us. The people I love and think highly of can relay something they read or saw online and since I have respect and trust in them, I notice myself having a higher likelihood of taking on their position on the matter. Between social media, technology, traditional media, and word of mouth information from friends and family I feel as though I’ve been taking on certain beliefs (or sometimes denying them) without truly thinking about it through first. I also know that at my core I have a have a desire to connect with people and be liked which can influence and immediate agreement to statements or beliefs shared by others.

I believe this problem is exacerbated by the speed of life. Things move increasingly fast, and the same technology I mentioned above adds to distraction, mindless thinking, and falling into the trap of our beliefs being influenced by outside forces. In my opinion, things like meditation help slow things down but I also think more is needed.

Last year I read a book called Limitless by Jim Kwik. Kwik calls himself a brain coach where his work focuses on his belief that the human brain is a powerful super computer and learning device. He teaches how the brain works and the best ways to learn based on how the brain processes information. As I’ve explored his content I’ve been able to double my reading speed, have better memory, and have an improved mindset on learning in general.

One thing I’ve been practicing based on his work is simply setting aside time to think. This practice has helped me retain more information, assisted in making decisions, and given me clarity on what I truly believe on a number of topics. I also believe the practice has helped me in conversations with others in the understanding that we all think differently, we can all be have our beliefs influcnesd, and to convey my process on thinking which involves intentional thinking before agreeing with a belief or concept.

The process is not overly involved and can look something like this

1. Commit to setting aside some time each day (or maybe several times a week to start) strictly for thinking.

2. Think about something you’d like to think about. You can certainly think of something on the fly, but I’ve found it is more impactful to plan what I’m going to think about. I have a list of thinking topics I add to when they come up

3. Find a quiet place to think and that will reduce distractions

4. Leave all technology behind (phones, tablets etc). If you journal, it can be helpful to bring that along.

5. Think about your topic for 15 mins or so. You can do less, but another thing I’ve found is my mind doesn’t really get going with less time

Additional thoughts and tips

• “Can I think about it"?” - These sessions can be perfect for situations where you’re asked how you feel about something, take on a new project at work, or are asked a question that feels tough. Don’t forget that we don’t have to answer every question right away and a thinking session can be a fantastic time to ponder these things.

• Along with having a specific topic to think about, it can also help to have a goal or intention. What outcome would you hope for in the thinking process?

• If you can, try to feel your body as you think about things. Try to notice what comes up and what you notice. This can help inform thoughts and potential decisions.

• Ideas or additional thoughts can come up through the process, so I would once again recommend a journal or any method to capture ideas.

• Thinking while walking can help stimulate the mind to help in the thinking process, just be sure to avoid distractions and try not to bring any devices with you.

• When it comes to decision making, there are many methods out there that can be used to help guide you. I’ll share these in a later post but also remember this process can be helpful in much more than decision making.

Thanks for reading. I hope these suggestions inspire you to give this a try. I’ve found intentional thinking time has been incredibly helpful for me in gaining clarity on how I feel on topics and discussions that go on in my life, generating ideas, solidifying my own views and beliefs, making decisions, and more.

If you’d like to chat on this topic you can get in touch with me on Threads or email me.

I also invite you to sign up for my newsletter which I put out about once a month.

Thanks again,

~Matty

How can I write about art and technology, or something I’m really inspired by when there is so much suffering in the world? Multiple wars, poverty, homelessness. The fact that corporations control most governments, that greed drives so many decisions, and that more and more people are moving backwards rather than towards comfortable, thriving lives. I think about all this and it just feels wrong to talk about much of anything else.

This post is an attempt to shake this off. To get it out there that I want to talk about the above, as well as the things that inspire me. I believe we can talk about things that we enjoy and love while at the same time calling out the suffering and injustices of the world in hopes to make things better for everyone.

Here’s hoping this breaks through some of the blockage. I’d love to write and speak more. I’m hoping making this intention public will help. And I hope if you’re reading this (thank you) and have been held back by something similar, know that we don’t always have to hold back our own joy because of the bad things happening in the world. Both can exist.

I’ve changed in many ways since those years. I still go to yoga but barely as much. I still meditate but not every day, and definitely not the 20-30 mins I used to spend in each session! Still, I do my best to keep up a practice and keep learning. I have explored different kinds of breathing such as Breathwork, a phrase that can mean many things depending on where you are in the world and who you’re talking to. I’ve tried Wim Hoff breathing and several others, and I’m always interested in how we can work on our bodies, emotions, and awareness through things like movement and breath. I looked, and I even did a post about breathing a few years back.

Why Does Our Body Breathe?

I hadn’t heard of “Breath” until it was gifted to me and as I started reading I was immediately fascinated. Through my own experiences I’m aware of the power of breathing, but this book by James Nestor who is a journalist and writer, was eye opening. Nestor claims that over the years humans have devolved to breathe poorly, and he backs up this statement and many others by providing a lot of historical data and references.

Nestor speaks not only of monks and yogis who can use breath to warm their bodies or put themselves into hyper-relaxed states such that their heart rates look unhealthy, but also athletic coaches who spur on their teams to win gold medals in the olympics as well as doctors who helped cure people of asthma and many other diseases, all from practicing what scientists might call unconventional breathing techniques.

I appreciated the thorough research that was put into this book that also called out times when documented breathing techniques that showed clear trends in helping people improve their lives and health were rejected by the scientific community because there was no way to prove out the scientific cause of the improvements. We are finally getting to a point where breathing is being studied more, but I have to think part of the reason a lot of early work and research has been “forgotten”, or in my thinking, suppressed is obvious: there is no money to be made in people improving their lives through breathing better. Capitalism says we need another pill or procedure, not improved breathing, healthy exercise, and good food.

I’m glad this book exists and hope many people read it to learn about how our breathing has changed over the years as well as many practices and techniques that can be tried easily at home to improve health, clarity of mind and awareness, and life overall. Here are a few of the things I found most fascinating about this book.

7 - In most cases, breathing through your mouth is terrible for you - I remember the term “mouth breather” being popular a few years back. Turns out breathing through the mouth has well documented negative impacts to your overall health. This book claims you get 18% more oxygen when breathing through the nose along with a ton of other benefits.

6 - Multiple Indigenous tribes of North America (50+) were documented to believe that breathing was an important aspect of life force, specifically breathing through the nose, and were known to hold the lips of sleeping babies when they noticed them breathing through their mouths; training them to breathe only through the nose.

5 - The inside the nose is made up of erectile tissue, the same kind of erectile tissue found in the penis and clitoris, and is controlled by the nervous system.

4 - Resting heart rate in some studies has shown to be a factor in life expectancy in most mammals. The lower the resting heart rate, the longer the life expectancy. And what is one of the better ways to lower your resting heart rate? Breathing properly and breathing well.

3 - Part of the reason breathing problems have increased for many people is because the food we eat has gotten progressively softer since the industrial age which has caused the size of our faces to get smaller, causing restricted breathing. There are doctors and orthodontists starting to explore how to expand our jaw and face, but Nestor suggests more practical steps like seeking out heartier foods and doing things like chewing dense gum to get your jaw working more to keep things open.

2 - Apparently we only expel a small amount of the air we take in, leaving a lot of stale air in our lungs. Several breathing researchers claim that one of the keys to health and lung capacity is learning how to fully exhale. A doctor named Carl Stough was able to help emphysema patients who had been suffering for years to find relief in the power of fully exhaling.

1 - Nestor (and several other breath researchers ) claim the optimal way to breathe for efficiency and health is to inhale for 5.5 seconds and exhale for 5.5 seconds, which naturally equates to 5.5 breaths a minute, and roughly 5.5 liters of air. This one is fascinating to me and I’m hoping to explore and practice this a bit.

At the end of the book Nestor highlights all the breath practices he tried while working on the book. While I’ve tried many in the past, several were new to me and I plan to give them a try to see if they might fit as regular practices.

If you got this far, thanks as always for reading! You can purchase the book here.

]]>Breath: The New Science of A Lost ArtartMatty StevensonThu, 12 Jan 2023 06:38:21 +0000https://www.mattystevenson.com/blog/macro-photography-through-the-years638f1451c6e7a94dd364a80e:63aac13b590d6528d2eb7360:63b22f2d2e27ec58db681cb8I’ve been curious about photography since my grandfather showed me what I recall to be a Nikon camera when I was a child. I took a few photo classes as I got older, learned to develop film (film!) in a dark room which I very much enjoyed. The fascination reached its height in the early 2010’s when I got a Canon camera and several lenses and decided to do a 365 project, to shoot a photo a day for a whole year to help improve my photography.

This is also when I grew fascinated to macro photography; the super close up images of very small things. I just loved the entire worlds and detail that existed on such a small scale that it was hard to appreciate with our human eyes. While I got a macro lens for my large Canon camera, it was bulky and I didn’t always have it with me. So I searched around and found a macro lens system that would attach to the camera on my cellphone. It was called the Olloclip and I immediately fell in love with it. It was a piece of tech that allowed the creation of new art, my wheelhouse.

Recently, when I got a new phone after many years I looked to get a new Olloclip and found that they shut down the business. It must be so incredibly hard to keep up with the tech cycle of new devices every year, each with changes and upgrades to the camera system, where millimeters of changes meant a lens would not fit and thus not produce a quality image. I’ve heard of another mobile macro system called Moment which I might try, but I’m feeling some reluctance around the quality. There’s also an app I’m trying called Halide which has a macro mode, but I’m can’t see how it would match up to a true macro lens. Maybe some day phone cameras will be so advanced we won’t need lenses for shots like these.

For now, here’s some of my favorite macro shots over the years. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did in revisiting them for this post. These were all taken on Instagram, so if you’re feeling inclined, click through any of these images to say hi.

If you made it all the way down here, thanks for reading and taking a look at my photos. Do you happen to do macro photography on your phone? If so I’d love to see your photos as well as what you use for a lens. Thanks again and see you soon.

For a final little bonus, here is video using a macro lens showing how a snail explores exiting and entering its shell.

]]>Missing the Olloclip: Mobile Macro Photography Over the YearstechnologyMatty StevensonWed, 04 Jan 2023 05:17:53 +0000https://www.mattystevenson.com/blog/2023-tech-trends638f1451c6e7a94dd364a80e:63aac13b590d6528d2eb7360:63ac74dffad5391edb993eeaDisclaimer & Transparent Disclosure: I work for AWS, a subsidiary of Amazon. Any views and opinions expressed in this blog post that could potentially be related to Amazon or AWS technology are solely mine, and do not reflect any official policy or position of the company.

It’s been quite a while since I did one of these. And, just like reviewing some of my favorite music of the year, thinking about what I believe to be some of the top tech trends (or non-trends) of 2023 has been fun. I’m always curious to chat on just about any topic, so if there’s something you feel is a huge miss here or that you agree with and want to discuss, feel free to contact me via one of my social channels found on this site. On to the list.

7 - The Metaverse - Nope, Not This Year (and Not for A While)

There were lots of stories about the “metaverse” in 2022, namely because Facebook (now Meta) changed their name and mission towards a future where people would spend much of their time donning a VR headset and interacting in a virtual world. While I do think this will happen at some point in the future, 2023 won’t be the year. Most virtual worlds just suck right now, with no compelling reason to come back after trying once. Many of these worlds came online in 2022 simply to try to take advantage of the crypto boom. Now that the bubble has burst, worlds based on Web3 and NFT’s are hurting. VR tech, while improving a lot, still isn’t awesome and there’s not a lot of content backing it up.

I believe we’re looking at 7+ years before virtual reality and the metaverse concept takes off in a real way.

6 - Digital Twins & Simulation Technology - Heating Up

A digital twin refers to a synchronized virtual copy of something in the physical world which allows testing and understanding of real time changes of the physical object. Along with (and combined with) AI, this concept will drastically accelerate many industries as we collect more detailed data and use the ever expanding intelligence of AI and machine learning to make and refine predictions on that data.

Imagine the possibilities of being able to model changes to something in real-time, whether it be changes to a field of crops, how efficient a power plant is, or the effectiveness of robotics, and then taking that information and running it through AIML algorithms to predict and test the most efficient options. This, and simulation tech in general, is coming up fast. I see this technology as significantly improving how we create and build, and I am excited to see what we see here in 2023.

5 - Blockchain - Damage Done by Crypto, But Not Going Away

Bitcoin got on my radar back in early 2013 and I’ve been following crypto from a distance since. The last few years have been filled with incredible hype with the launch of thousands of cryptocurrencies, NFT’s, and talk of Web3 and the (see above) metaverse. 2022 was a terrible year for crypto with two major events causing major market crashes: the fall of Luna and “stablecoin” Celsius, and the soon to be documented in countless documentaries in Fyre Festival style collapse of the FTX crypto market due to the fraud of it’s founder. Billions gone in minutes. Many people lost their life savings this year because of greed. Awful to hear.

While it’s a terrible story with the entire market tanking and the likely start of more government regulation to stop events like this from happening in the future, crypto is not dead and more specifically neither is blockchain. We have to remember that crypto is not in itself blockchain. Blockchain is the technology that makes crypto possible and there are a lot of uses for blockchain outside of crypto, such as in the supply chain, medical records, traditional finance and record keeping, and more. I do believe we’ll see an increase in the use of blockchain outside of crypto in 2023 along with crypto regaining some lost ground.

4 - Automation - Still on the Path of Replacing Humans

I feel like it was 4-5 years ago when there was a lot of talk about how automation was coming and that very soon lots of workers would be out of a job. This spurred on conversations around how we have to plan around the coming wave of tech so we don’t have major impacts to the economy. Universal Basic Income was a big topic during several of our last elections but are not spoken of much in between. Obviously, automation hasn’t taken over in a big way, but improvements of both the physical and software variety have marched forward since. With what we’ve seen in 2022 I’m guessing we’ll see a big ramp in mechanical and AI driven automation that will bring us a lot closer to previous conversations about human jobs being replaced at scale. And we really need to be aware of and talk about this. Due to the nature of capitalism, the worlds largest corporations have to care more about profits than their workers. As soon as a worker can be replaced, they will be. With other advancements in tech this year, the pace of change will only speed up. While we can’t stop it, we can keep talking about the impact and demand changes that will protect workers and create new jobs in an automated world.

Significant automation announcements this year:

• Tesla starts delivering the first automated semi trucks

• McDonalds continues testing automated restaurants with less workers

• Amazon, after many years, starts drone delivery in two states

• AI improvements, which will soon impact administrative jobs such as telemarketing, finance, marketing, and more

• Manufacturing, delivery, and logistics heavily investing in automation & robotics; the term “cobots” becoming mainstream

3 - Augmented Reality - Takes Off Before Virtual Reality

With all the talk of the metaverse I feel like we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves. Meta, and many other companies are trying to build up to an inflection point where the masses will want to spend a lot of time doing business and gaming in virtual worlds. I see augmented reality, or the overlaying of digital objects onto our existing field of view will take off first. While Google was many years too early with Google Glass, I think we’ll see something like it get more mainstream over the next few years, with 2023 being a starting point

To me, it is too far a leap to jump directly to a fully virtual world. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve played some VR games and they were super fun, but for big adoption of tech it typically needs to solve a major problem before taking off, and I’m not seeing that in VR at the moment. AR has more possibilities for adoption in the near term which I believe will create the bridge to bigger adoption of VR. Companies like Niantic have a vision here and Apple’s rumored headset is expected to have AR focused capabilities. I’ll bet we’ll see a some motion on this here in 2023.

2 - AI

How could this be a tech post without mentioning the hottest topic in tech for the last few months? With Midjourney and OpenAI’s DALL-E image generation tools we can quite literally anything that comes to our imagination. I see ChatGPT from OpenAI as a new search engine on steroids that sometimes gets things wrong but can be used to inspire ideas, all without forcing us to consume what Google wants us to see. These are some of the most exciting things I’ve seen in tech in years, where we can learn, create and think differently with imagination. Not only will this change so much about how we access information and create, but it will be getting exponentially better over time. There are some things we need to be considerate of like ethics, ownership, and making sure we don’t create Skynet (which I think this is something we may get close to in our lifetime). I hope we can do that all that, but we’ll see. It will be tough when profits are the motive for most tech. Still, this advancement is a is a game changer that we’ll be talking about a lot this year and years to come.

One of the coolest things I’ve seen using AI - A fake conversation between Steve Jobs and Joe Rogan

1 - Quantum Computing

While AI might be on many people’s list as the top technology to watch in 2023 and the coming years, I believe the one to watch is the one that have a big impact on AI capabilities and many of the other technologies mentioned in this list. Quantum computing has been really hard for me to understand, but the more I research it, the more I am blown away by how it works and what possibilities it brings. This technology, per its name, lives in the quantum realm. The realm of electrons and photons; an entire world around us that we can’t see. A realm energy can exist in multiple states at the same time rather than the binary 1’s and 0’s of traditional computing. This allows quantum computers to process particular kinds of data much faster than traditional computers.

These kinds of computers are few in existence right now, and this kind of computing won’t replace the computers we use today by any means, but it will drastically speed up the computations of many kinds of large sets of data and answers that have multiple possible outcomes; thing like searching a massive database, trying to predict the efficacy of treatments and drugs in healthcare, the training of AI tools, trend analysis for just about any industry that predicts trends (weather, stock market, energy sector). We’re just scratching the surface on this one and I believe quantum computing will have a massive impact across much of tech. I’ll be doing a follow up post covering quantum computing at a high level, so be on the lookout for that.

If' you’ve gotten this far, thanks so much for reading! As always I’m curious to connect and discuss all these topics and more. Feel free to reach out on any of the social links you can find on this site to start a chat. Thanks and see you next time.

]]>Tech Trends for 2023artMatty StevensonThu, 29 Dec 2022 04:47:59 +0000https://www.mattystevenson.com/blog/top-albums-of-2022638f1451c6e7a94dd364a80e:63aac13b590d6528d2eb7360:63ab3df89ba9695a7db7578bI have made a top albums list on and off over the years. It’s helped me better connect with the music and it has been fantastic to look back on some of my favorites of the past (2012 was a fun one to revisit!). While there was a lot of music made during COVID pandemic, I feel like this year gave us a lot of music that was created out of some of the feelings and emotions that COVID brought upon us followed by subsequent feeling of freedom that came after restrictions began to loosen. I’m amazed at the amount of music that comes out each year but this year had a ton of quality music, including some awesome stuff from some artists that wouldn’t typically be in my heavy rotation. I’ve also been fascinated with the concept of music genres lately and how the number of unique genres continues to grow at what feels like an exponential pace. This year you’ll see what Spotify lists as the genre for an artist as part of a longer project I’m working on which I’ll share in the future. Alright, let’s get to it!

Greentea Peng - GREENZONE 108

Genre(s): Alternative r&b, indie r&b, indie soul, uk alternative hip hop, uk contemporary r&b

 

 

A good friend turned me on to Greentea Peng last year and I’ve been a fan ever since. Greentea Peng and “GREEZONE 108” seems to draw from a lot of inspirations. I hear jazz and reggae influences in addition to the genres that Spotify lists above and this is a chill out album I can throw on just about any time.

Favorite Tracks: Lose My Mind, Look to Him, Top Steppa

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Jack White - Entering Heaven Alive

Genre(s): Garage rock revival, garage rock, punk blues, modern blues rock, rock, blues rock, alternative rock, modern rock

 

 

Jack White put out two entire albums in 2022 and both were strong enough to make it onto my favorites list. As you might imagine, each album is quite different from the other with “Entering Heaven Alive” bringing a more folk and acoustic sound topped with lyrics and fantastic production that I’ve come to expect from Jack White.

Favorite Tracks: I’ve Got You Surrounded (With My Love), Queen of the Bees, Man from Manhattan

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Bonobo - Fragments

Genre(s): electronica, downtempo, jazztronica, ninja, trip hop, nu jazz

 

 

I’ve been a fan of Bonobo, aka Simon Green, since I first discovered his music in the early 2000’s with the release of his first album “Animal Magic”. He’s put out some of my favorite music for chilling and relaxing out of any artist out there and has continued to evolve his sound over the years. While I have a particular nostalgia for his older music, “Fragments” is a fantastic journey through many different soundscapes and I’ve listened to it a ton this year.

Favorite Tracks: Shadows, Age of Phase, Otomo

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Stavroz

Genre(s): organic electronic, organic house

 

 

I’ve been listening to Stavroz for a few years since finding them on a Youtube mix. I’ve never heard of the genre’s “organic electronic”, or “organic house” before, but I think “organic electronic” describes their sound well. While it sounds like electronic music, it has a more earthy sound that is soulful, deep, and dark (while also being bright if that makes sense). Love, love love, this sound and hoping I can see them live in the near future.

Favorite Tracks: In Mindibu, Jabrama, Nobody Around

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Beyoncé - Renaissance

Genre(s): Dance pop, pop, r&b

 

 

While I can absolutely appreciate what Beyoncé has done in the industry as well as having a lot of songs I’ve enjoyed over the years, I never thought I would have one of her albums as one of my favorites of the year. Her music is great, but not something I would typically be drawn to pull up for a listening session. I listened to “Renaissance” once when it came first came out and wasn’t wowed, but when I listened to it a second time I was blown away and have been revisiting it a lot since. There are so many influences here from pop and r&b to Caribbean, to house, to reggae, and the production on the album was off the charts for me. Throw on some headphones and give this one a listen.

Favorite Tracks: ENERGY, ALIEN SUPERSTAR, PURE/HONEY

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Jack White - Fear of the Dawn

Genre(s): Garage rock revival, garage rock, punk blues, modern blues rock, rock, blues rock, alternative rock, modern rock

 

 

Louder, heavier, and the in-your-face sibling to the aforementioned “Entering Heaven Alive”, Jack White’s first album of 2022 quickly went to the top of my list. I love a great rock album and there is so much in “Fear of the Dawn”. It’s all over the place in the best Jack White way and I’ve gone back to it a ton this year. I struggled to think of how to describe this album for a while and in the end we’ll just have to go with Pitchfork’s description, which to me, is perfect:

On his first of two solo albums planned for this year, Jack White earns his eccentricity. An illogical fusion of blues-rock and carnival prog, this music is genuinely, imaginatively weird.

Favorite Tracks: Hi-De-Ho, Fear of the Dawn, What’s the Trick?

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Charlotte Audigery & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer

Genre(s): belgian electronic, belgian indie, chamber psych, electronica

 

 

Talk about unique, different, out-there, and sometimes strange, “Topical" Dancer” is right at home next to Jack White. I have never in my life heard an album like this which unapologetic and sarcastic lyrics Charlotte Audigery that add commentary around endless thoughts as well as race and misogyny. These lyrics pair perfectly to music by Bolis Pupil complementing the themes of this album so well. I listened to this album a ton this year and still think “wow” every time I listen to it. I’m listening to it as I write this, and, “wow”.

Favorite Tracks: Ceci n’est pas un clicé, Mantra, Thank You

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Florence + The Machine - Dance Fever

Genre(s): baroque pop, pop, uk alternative pop

 

 

I had my first experience with Florence + the Machine at a festival called Governors Ball in 2015. There were a lot of great artists at the event and I didn’t intend to go see Florence, but I was walking across the festival grounds to see a band and was overtaken by the sound coming from one of the main stages. I had to go listen to this music. As I got closer I Florence had a leg in a cast who was still somehow running and hopping across the stage absolutely rocking out. I was blown away by the show and have been a fan since.

There is so much depth to this album. It is dark, it is bright, it is sad, it is happy, it is soulful, it is tribal. I could go on and on. This album is a journey, and just rocks. If you’re a Florence fan you’ve likely already listened to it and I’d love to hear what you think of it. If you’ve never listened to Florence + The Machine there are many places to start but if you were asking me, I’d point you to “Dance Fever” first. I know some people would aggressively disagree with me but I believe this is her best album to date in a catalogue of incredible albums. Bravo to this gem. And, if you ever have the chance to see her live I would so strongly suggest you take the opportunity.

Favorite Tracks: Dream Girl Evil, My Love, Free, King

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If you’ve made it this far thanks for exploring some of my favorite music of the year. I’m always game to hear about new music so feel free to contact me if you might feel like sharing some of your own favorites. Lastly, I’ve put together my favorite tracks of the year from the above albums along with a few other tracks I loved from 2022. Happy new year all and see you in 2023! ~Matty

   ]]>Top Albums of 2022arttechnologythe human experienceMatty StevensonWed, 14 Dec 2022 03:16:00 +0000https://www.mattystevenson.com/blog/its-been-a-while-again638f1451c6e7a94dd364a80e:63aac13b590d6528d2eb7360:63ab3c3fdaba3e15132335faI haven’t checked, but I think I might have had three “It’s Been A While” posts on this blog since I started writing it in early 2012 (and before that on Tumblr I believe). I’ve written here and fell out of inspiration and come back many times, usually each time changing what I wrote about along with how I myself had changed. My last update to this site was almost three years ago. I looked at this website recently and thought: “Why do I have this?”, and “What purpose does it serve?”, along with “Do I even want to keep this going?”.

I’ve thought about it over the last few months and I’ve gotten answers for most of these questions. I’ve always liked connecting with people, I’ve always loved to learn and experiment, and I’ve always loved sharing things that have helped me better understand myself and the world around me. And I would like to keep doing that. So here I am (again).

I can’t say how long this run will go but I can say that I’m still very much passionate about art and music, technology and its exponential evolution, and trying to understand myself, others, and how we all fit into this universe. I’ll use this space to speak on that when I can. Hope to chat with you about it here or elsewhere, until my next “It’s Been A While” post.

~Matty

 

 ]]>It’s Been a While (Again)politicsMatty StevensonThu, 30 Apr 2020 03:35:57 +0000https://www.mattystevenson.com/blog/2020/4/28/what-do-you-want638f1451c6e7a94dd364a80e:63aac13b590d6528d2eb7360:63aac13d73fa20232a44feecThis is a lighthearted post focused on politics

I don’t plan to talk about politics too much on this site but I do think politics is one place where we can find places to grow. Since the political world is so polarizing, i think it is likely that many of us have experienced a situation in which we got angry or distressed over someone else’s political point of view.

These are great places to understand things about ourselves. Do you notice someone’s views makes you angry or upset? Are you fully in touch with your own views? I realized that up until recently I thought I had an idea of the things I most wanted out of government, but when I really thought about it, I couldn’t name more than a couple.

It was helpful for me to sit down and think about what is important to me when it comes to what I want from our government and our elected officials. I in no way have it all figured out and some of my items shift, but nw when I am speaking to someone or thinking about a political point of view I can look at it from my lens of what is important to me. What do you want? What do you want from our government and for us to look like as a nation? What do you want our politicians to fight for? I would love to hear and discuss your thoughts wherever you might want to share them.

My Twitter - https://twitter.com/mattystevenson

My Twitter just for Politics - https://twitter.com/peaceinpols

]]>What Do You Want?Matty StevensonThu, 23 Apr 2020 04:31:41 +0000https://www.mattystevenson.com/blog/2020/4/23/orqydg42uf5hlan3nzhj3pladwwc57638f1451c6e7a94dd364a80e:63aac13b590d6528d2eb7360:63aac13f801699639f403073As the post says: Another year, another thank you to our home, and another hope that we start to take better care of her.

It is still so interesting to me that there is even a debate about climate change. One thing I always like to ask is: Whether or not you believe in climate change, don’t you think it is a good idea to take care of the planet? To keep it healthy and beautiful? To keep it a place that provides and inspires? The earth seems more than ever to be under attack by hose that think resources are limitless and by corporate interests that will do anything for a profit.

We can make change. We need to make sure we’re aware of what is going on and willing to fight to make sure our home is protected and thriving.

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This is not just our home. It is the place where we are all born. Where our species first formed. It is the place that sustains and nourishes us. Everything single thing we create would not be possible without the resources and materials come from all parts of our planet. Another year, another thank you to our home, and another hope that we start to take better care of her. #earthday

A post shared by Matty Stevenson (@mattystevenson) on Apr 22, 2020 at 9:10pm PDT

]]>Happy Earth Day #50Matty StevensonWed, 11 Mar 2020 03:27:03 +0000https://www.mattystevenson.com/blog/2020/3/10/whoa-its-2020638f1451c6e7a94dd364a80e:63aac13b590d6528d2eb7360:63aac14048e0f746a82859c3It’s been so long. No updates to the site since early 2018. Maintaining a site with information and content isn’t easy. I am feeling inspired again and feeling the need to talk about some things. We’ll see how it goes. Maybe it will be another two years before another post. Writing to write and talking to talk. Walk with me if you like.

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