đź‘Ł Step 36: Why Are You Here? I read The Cafe on the Edge of the World this past weekend (I implore everyone to read it. I'll even buy you your copy. I'm not kidding), and it's core purpose is stated in the subtitled: "A Story About the Meaning of Life" While I'll leave the general story ambiguous so you can experience it yourself, I do want to focus on one of the three core questions discussed: "Why are you here?" Read differently, to yourself: "Why am I here?" It's a heavy question. Crazy...
8 days ago • 2 min read
👣 Step 35: We're So Lucky Some of our the705 Board after our meeting at Tampico's New naming convention I'm trying out! 👣 = The Step Up. Step = volume. I saw this montage of people from around the world enjoying life to the audio of a woman singing - each line ending in “I’m so lucky.” Afterward, I found myself singing off countless things I’m lucky for to that same melody. My fiancé. My family, friends, and Pluto. A quiet, clean apartment. Bluetooth headphones. A job I love. Iced coffee. My...
15 days ago • 1 min read
Vol. 34: Deep Work Sat at last weekend's Farmer's Market and just thought about life while appreciating our culture and music I’ve been on a Cal Newport binge this week (author, professor, and thought leader - check him out if you haven’t. This newsletter is even named after his bestselling book Deep Work). I watched his recent video on strengthening your mental capacity (i.e. reversing brain rot) and his episode on Chris Williamson’s Modern Wisdom podcast. I’ve been trying to use this...
22 days ago • 2 min read
Vol. 33: Memento Mori. Memento Vivere. Pa and I celebrating our birthday in 2017 I've been grappling with this topic a lot the past few days, and I aimed to word it in the most loving, genuine, yet honest way possible. I hope it's helpful. This past week has been a whirlwind of emotions in Lafayette. Festival International’s 40th anniversary. The senseless murder of a high school senior on her Senior Skip Day. Renowned food critic Keith Lee visiting town and spurring new life into local...
29 days ago • 2 min read
Vol. 32: I Observe Ashley and I walking in Moncus in January (sadly didn't take any pics last weekend) Ashley and I walked around Moncus Park last weekend to soak up the cold front, as that’ll probably be the last time we have 70 degree weather until November (thanks, Louisiana!). As we walked, I brought up a video I recently saw of a mid-20's guy saying his friend group uses the term “going 90s” to refer to social outings or activities where they leave their phones behind. It's that simple....
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Vol. 31: Diversity and Challenge Networks My Goodwill Senior Leader Program kicked off this week, and our cohort group is truly phenomenal and diverse. 22 people from so many different backgrounds. White. Black. Latina. Native American. Gay. Straight. Lesbian. PhDs. Masters. Non-college grads. Social workers. Higher-Ed professionals. Military vets. Catholics. Protestants. Non-Christians. A Canadian. An ex-Yugoslavian war refugee. A Finn who lives 100 miles from the Russia/Ukraine war. A...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Vol. 30: Do Something That Humbles You Last Saturday I ran the Crescent City Classic 10K in New Orleans. ~20,000 runners, a beautiful race course, and I was out there with a ton of friends. It was a phenomenal experience! And also the worst running performance I've ever had. Ever. (I had multiple 13+ minute miles) Needless to say, it was humbling. I reflected on that experience. That specific experience, but also my entire experience so far with running. It's been fun, but man, it's been...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Vol. 29: Live, Truly Live Q1 was the busiest season of my life, by far. Major Goodwill projects like a ribbon cutting and community partnership efforts. Ensuring a strong start to 2026 for the705 and planning 20 Under 40. Planning a Europe trip and a surprise proposal. Half-marathon training. Travel. Even more things not coming to mind right now. It's been very busy. A good busy, but busy. And I've still got about 2 weeks to go before I get out of the forest and into the clearing. I'm almost...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Vol. 28: Do It Scared Last Thursday, I proposed to the love of my life in front of the Eiffel Tower, and she said yes! We're extremely excited for this new season of life, and we're deeply grateful and humbled by all of the support we've received. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. I've been thinking about what got me to this moment. What got me to the man you see in that picture in front of the Eiffel Tower, asking the woman of his dreams to be his wife. None of this would've happened...
2 months ago • 2 min read