Tag: self
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Where Are We Going Next?
I’ve always been a dreamer. The funny thing about dreams, though, is that nobody really tells you what happens when one of them actually comes true. For years, the dream was simple: Write a book. Not talk about writing one. Not have half a novel sitting forgotten in a folder somewhere. Not tell people, “Yeah,…
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Life, Apparently
You know the thing about living? It’s a lot like a roller coaster. And I realize that’s probably one of the oldest clichés in the book, but clichés become clichés because some poor bastard said something painfully accurate and the rest of us kept repeating it. So, yeah. A roller coaster. There are ups and…
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We Were Here
There are far too many people taking selfies, but there are also far too few people taking selfies. I know. You’re probably thinking, What the heck does that mean? Bear with me. First, you need to understand the basic premise of the selfie. At its worst, the selfie is an act of selfishness and vanity.…
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The Monkeys Got to the Caffeine Again
There are certain things about yourself that you can spend years misunderstanding. You know something is different. You can feel it. You see the evidence scattered around your life like breadcrumbs, but you don’t always understand what they are pointing toward. For me, ADHD has been one of those things. I’ve known for a long…
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The Persistence of Character
There are some people you encounter after years apart and think, Oh, how nice. I wonder how they’ve been. And then there are people you encounter and immediately realize that, despite the passage of time, the universe has apparently made no meaningful attempt to alter the trajectory of their existence. Recently, during district-wide professional development,…
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Conflicting Operating Protocols
I can’t sleep… and I know virtually everyone on this planet at some point in their existence experiences this. Many will see this as a recurring event. For me? It is an existential truth. There is an interesting moment each night for me—the point where my neurodivergent brain meets the absolute absence of energy left…
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Pass the Brown Bean Juice.
If someone were tasked with writing my owner’s manual, the first page would contain one very important warning: Do not operate before coffee. I’ve learned a few things about myself over the years. Some are admirable. Some… not so much. But one truth has become impossible to ignore. I don’t ask for much from life.…
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A Manual Selfie of Sorts
Self-portraits… a manual selfie of sorts. When the world gets quiet, my thoughts usually don’t. Today, they settled on the only subject I know from the inside out: me, and the journey that’s brought me to this moment on the third rock from the sun. No what-ifs. No forecasts. No reinventions. Just who I am…
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The Discipline of Presence
I said this to a group of colleagues the other day. We were talking about the apparent apathy we see in students—and in many adults. “Failing to show up is giving the world your consent to move on without you.” Their response was thoughtful. They said the line had weight—but maybe it was too harsh.…
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Mirror, Mirror on My Desk…
We spend a lot of time looking outward. At expectations. At what other people are doing, saying, or thinking. We compare, we react, we adjust. Most of our day is shaped by everything happening around us. But we rarely stop and look inward. There aren’t many moments in the day where it’s just you and…
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Life Is A Notebook
I came across this idea the other day, and it stayed with me longer than I expected— the kind of thought that doesn’t just pass through, but settles in. Maybe it’s the way we hold onto moments—like scraps of paper, like old notebooks tucked away in drawers. Every now and then, something reminds you that…
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Mariachi Me… Same Traje, Different Mileage
Being a Mariachi isn’t just about the music. It’s about what you carry before you ever play a note. The traje—sharp, tailored, unmistakable—has a way of teaching you that. At first, it feels like a costume. Something you put on to look the part. The shine, the stitching, the silver botonadura, the way it commands…
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Little-Known Facts About Me
If you look back long enough, you start to notice the strange little things that were always there. Not the big milestones. Not the obvious moments. The quieter details— the ones that didn’t make sense at the time, but somehow explain everything now. I don’t usually sit around listing facts about myself. Feels a little…
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Like Buttered Toast With Jelly and Coffee In The Morning
Sometimes, in my early morning musing with my coffee, I get philosophical. That sometimes makes me want to kick my own ass. I mean, why am I complicating a beautiful quiet morning with deep thoughts? That guy in the mirror is still half asleep and wont listen anyway. Funny how we wake up, sit down…
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The Making of the Self – Layer by Layer
It doesn’t begin with clarity. It begins in fragments.A shadow here.A rough line there.An outline that almost feels like you—but not quite. You step back.Tilt your head.Erase a little.Darken something you were afraid to see. And slowly… it starts to emerge.Not the version you imagined—but the one that’s honest. The lines aren’t perfect.They’re restless.Smudged in…