before my coffee gets cold
Inspired by the 2015 novel by Japanese author Toshikazu Kawaguchi, this series features observations, reflections, and stories told from the chairs of my favorite coffee shops. Each one is written, edited, and finalized — all before my coffee gets cold.
“Thank you, I made it!”
About ten years ago, I stopped arguing with people when they complimented me.
I don’t know what to write today.
This has happened before — but usually, once I really lock in, I find something…
I make people feel things!
A few weeks ago, I opened my laptop, leg bouncing in anticipation. The feedback from my most recent short story competition had just been posted…
Sometimes it feels like people say it because they think they’re supposed to.
You ever notice how, when you ask people their values, just about everyone says “honesty”?
You should be having regular relationship check-ins.
When it comes to wellbeing content, I tend to be very sparse with directives…
A dialogue between me and the Universe
That night, I lay in bed, grieving the loss of something that mattered to me. I cried the sort of tears that fall slowly, one by one, like the beautiful women do in the movies…
You tell ‘em, Nietzsche.
Is wanting a symptom of unhappiness?
I’ve been asking myself this question since I finished my latest binge-read, The Midnight Library…
Purpose, Part II: Authorship
“I don’t know how to capture why,” one subscriber wrote, “but it still feels like you hold back.”
Purpose, Part I: Actions for Change
Last week, inspired by a conversation with a friend, I asked my subscribers their thoughts on the “purpose” of my newsletter. (To my delight, many of you replied!)
Happy birthday to me :)
Every year, on September 9th, I look around and take stock of my life.
It was nothing short of magic
Mammoth, California. Sierra Nevada Mountains.
It was our first night out on the trail. We’d had an early start to the day, meaning we reached our campsite with plenty of daylight left.
“Now hold the fuck up.”
This morning started like most of my mornings do: walking to the local coffee shop.
“All I can remember is Sunshine”
And so I did what any delightfully curious (and maybe slightly shameless) person would do — I approached them.
It was, in the eternal words of HUNTR/X, golden.
This week, my job wasn’t to be a data cruncher or strategist: this week, my job was to be a community facilitator. A builder of connections. The bridge between what we’re doing, and why we’re doing it.
Not every spark deserves a fire.
I had a moment this week.
There were several moments, actually, but the one that comes to mind is the moment in which I lay at the bottom of the shower, the pelting water the only thing capable of quieting my racing mind…
“Do you always have to be winning?”
A few weeks ago, I was lying in bed, speaking aloud my latest musings on the way my brain works.
Yes, this is something I do frequently…
The world might respond in ways that surprise you.
This past week, I was sitting on a work call with my boss, getting my midyear review. It was, I’m proud to say, nothing short of glowing…
PRIDE 2025: Part III, Honesty
I sat down today with the intention of posting a different story — but something was bubbling in my chest, and it only felt right to see where it took me.
I sit here, at this very moment, deeply aware of the secrets I keep for myself. There aren’t that many, truly, and fewer than there used to be…