I realize that some of my essays have gotten pretty grim as of late. My parents, who occasionally read my blog, are probably terrified to see me exploring such difficult themes. But what—as I increasingly find myself asking—am I supposed to write about, if not cancer...
The last few weeks of November have left me humbled. For the whole of October, I would get up at five, list the things I wanted to do that day, and get on with it; write my novel, run my business, organize weekly writing meetups, and care for my wife, who was then...
So, my life has been a bit much lately. Between changing careers, moving to Berlin right before the pandemic, not knowing anyone here, and my wife’s cancer returning just in time for the second wave, there haven’t been many opportunities to live a good life. But the...
When people think of writing a novel, they picture long, solitary evenings spent at their desks in near-total darkness, their faces lit up from below by the screen of their laptops, cupping a steaming mug of tea as they consider the elegance of the last passage...
Marcus Aurelius opens his Meditations by reflecting on the qualities he admires in others. It’s a Stoic technique for understanding your core values and cultivating behavior that will help you become the kind of person you aspire to be. I wanted to share this with you...
I recently developed a habit of taking cold showers in the morning. It didn’t seem that strange until I realized that cold showers make no sense as far as the science of habit formation goes. Typically, a habit forms when there’s a repeat cycle of cue, want, behavior,...
