Letters on Growth · Vol. 6 Valuing friction. Why some of what gets in our way might be keeping us honest. Hello there, I've been working on my website these past few weeks, and like many of us nowadays, I'm using AI to support the process. In many ways it's been really helpful, particularly in not getting stuck with writing as much as I once did. However, I've also noticed that if I'm not careful, AI will endlessly try to please me. It goes along with whatever I'm thinking, generating more...
24 days ago • 2 min read
Notes on Growth, Vol. 5 Hello there, A week ago I returned to New York from a trip home to see my parents and found that spring had arrived in my absence. The magnolias and pear trees along my street were dense with white blossoms. Inside my apartment, four of the five orchids I'd been tending through the winter had bloomed. I'm aware that spring is also a process happening within me. As the days warm, I find myself invited back into a sense of ease. I'm that guy smiling at other New Yorkers...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Bi-weekly reflections on aliveness Hello there, I’m just back from a trip to the West Coast (Palm Springs), which provided some much-needed sunny contrast to the snowy East Coast. While there, I was able to enjoy more time reading and resting. One of the books I started was called I’ve Got Time—a book on time management written by a Zen monk, Paul Loomans. In the book he describes principles for time management that allow us to “relax” into time, rather than attempting to control it, while...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Bi-weekly reflections on aliveness Hello there, This week I was thinking about two things that at first felt completely disconnected: love (Valentine’s Day) and our relationship to substances. And then it struck me: love is (often) a drug. It’s been almost exactly two years since I last had an alcoholic drink. One unexpected impact is that by not participating in the rituals of drinking, I’ve become more observant of how we culturally relate to substances in general. In particular, I notice...
4 months ago • 5 min read
Bi-weekly reflections on aliveness Hello again, It’s freezing here in NYC, and I hope you’re staying warm wherever you are. One theme I’ve been sitting with recently is the fear of being seen for who we truly are. I notice this in myself as something that wants me to stay hidden and out of view. From its perspective, I’m safer from the judgment of others if I remain invisible. It’s a subtle inner voice—one that advocates for staying quiet and even moralizes certain forms of expression. And...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Hello there, The start of 2026 has felt intense for many of us. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been stepping back and noticing how much clarity returns when I stop rushing and come back to what’s actually here. A few years ago, I began studying a presence-based approach to coaching. One of its grounding questions is: What if nothing is missing? It’s a simple question, yet it gently shifts how we relate to ourselves as living beings. Are we missing something fundamental, or do we already...
5 months ago • 2 min read