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Category: mental health

Deep Okayness

Deep Okayness

Like so many others, I've found that writing that could be categorized as self-help, spiritual, or new-age can make one numb with it's blandness.  While this type of writing can be powerful for people who are down in the dumps or otherwise looking for motivation, 90% of the the category strikes an inarticulate chord with me. As an engineer, words like "energy flow" and "cosmic" become a turn-off Read the article >>
Fabulous Yellow Roman Candles

Fabulous Yellow Roman Candles

I've always loved this quote from Jack Kerouac's "On the Road": The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight Read the article >>
Dee Hock on Leadership

Dee Hock on Leadership

I've been reading Birth of the Chaordic Age by Dee Hock.  It was recommended to me by Jud Valeski, whom we interviewed on StartupCTO.io a few months ago. The following passage spoke to something I've been trying to articulate about leadership since starting my startup journey a decade ago.   It's a 5 minute read, but is worth it: Leader presumes follower. Follower presumes choice. One who is Read the article >>
As a Software Engineer, I want to get rid of lower back pain, so I can focus on what else in my life is important.

As a Software Engineer, I want to get rid of lower back pain, so I can focus on what else in my life is important.

Since 2013, I've had problems with lower back pain.  As a software engineer, and not one with great posture, I spend 6 - 10 hours per day at a desk slinging code, and it's begun to take it's toll on my mood & wellbeing.  Over the summer of 2016, I decided I'm not doing myself any favors by ignoring the problem and that living with this pain was affecting my quality of life. I decided to take Read the article >>
Digital Resources for Suicide Survivors

Digital Resources for Suicide Survivors

For my survivor story, click here. I spent a copious amount of time over the past several months preparing my Ignite Boulder talk on Suicide Stigma; both as a means of meticulously preparing for speaking to a large audience, but also a cathartic way of making sense of my own survivor story. I actually found it pretty hard to find good information online about the epidemic of suicide.  I'm Read the article >>
Ignite Boulder — End Suicide Stigma

Ignite Boulder — End Suicide Stigma

I gave a talk at Ignite Boulder 26 -- The subject of my talk was the stigma of suicide and of mental health  -- This was my first time speaking  in front of 1400 people, much less about suicide.  Here is a video of the talk: I've attached a transcript of my talk below:   In 2010, I met my family met me for lunch in Manhattan. 4 of them visited but actually only *3* of them were Read the article >>