Eighteen essays about addiction, masculinity, creativity, and intuition

As well as anxiety, fitness, sobriety, self-discipline, purpose, love, adventure, pain yoga, intuition, the collective unconscious, psychedelics, masculine archetypes, and being a child-free man.

I recently divided my stack into sections—memoir, essays, mediations, and perhaps soon more—and in doing so I was reminded that I’ve put out no fewer than eighteen long form essays so far here, on topics ranging across anxiety, fitness, creativity, sobriety, self-discipline, purpose, love, adventure, sciatica, pain, AI, intuition, the collective unconscious, psychedelics, masculine archetypes, and being a child-free man, as well as how bringing certain chapters of life to an end consciously can bring about a unique form of pleasure.

If any of these topics sound interesting, I encourage you to dive in and enjoy some of the back catalog. Don’t forget to let me know if you enjoyed a piece by clicking the little heart 🤍 at the bottom of the essay—and, someone else comes to mind who would enjoy one of these—or all of them, please share!

Alcohol, addiction and sobriety

Change of Heart — A short version of how—and why—I changed my relationship with alcohol.

Why I Don't Use Psychedelics—I'm a supporter, and I've been there, but now I find drugs to be kindof boring.

A Five-Minute Love Affair With Natural Wine — I still love wine... I just don't drink it any longer.

Five Years Sober* — The reciprocal triangle of anger, addiction and depression—and anger as creative energy.

Sex is Better Sober ...and 23 other reasons why Alcohol is Obsolete — From depression and alcohol to spontaneous sobriety

Masculinity

The Man Pays — On not being a father, missing the boy who never was—and the bittersweet joy of being child-free.

The Truth About Love — What we know as love often leaves out the truth—and what men can bring to love.

Less Warrior, More Clown — Resistance, slaying dragons, eating shame, the false Grail, bus work, and Jackass S03E01.

Anxious Masculinity — Deconstructing the habit of anxiety—and "failing" as a man to make space for something new.

No, It Is Not a Struggle to Find Good Male Role Models — and, it’s time we got our heads screwed on straight about the so-called ”patriarchy.”

Purpose, Discipline and Creativity

The False Grail — The myth of purpose, Robert Johnson, John Paul Brammer, Toko-Pa Turner, John Daniel, Connor Beaton, and how we can move towards purpose with intuition, connection, and adventure.

Someone Else's Discipline is just... Bullshit — Redefining “discipline” as self-discipline.

Fitness and Creativity — How physical fitness at age 53 supports my creativity and my work as a writer—with pilates, body weight conditioning, calisthenics, trail running, and...paragliding.

Happy Music Makes Me Angry — …and angry music makes me happy

Intuition

What is Intuition? A Whole and Open Mind — An inner voice, tutor, guardian within, embodied cognition, pattern recognition, knowing without knowing how, understanding through the experience of the senses, bone knowledge, wayfinding–and satori.

AI, Intuition and the Collective Unconscious — Why there's a "6" on my palm, the meaning of Decide Nothing, symbols, cave art, rescuing myself from having to decide, AI-assisted inner work, DALL-E, Captain Rob, and raypunk intuition machines.

What Keeps Me From Fucking Up My Life? — 21 ways to get better at intuitive decision making, and avoid unnecessary anxiety, painful decisions, and errors worth regretting.

Sport

The Last Time — Extreme sports, sailing, intuition, fear, closing chapters consciously, and creating a relationship with death

Screaming in Pain—and Laughing in Wonder — Sciatica, synthetic opioids, mind over matter, Maia Szalavitz, Holly Whitaker, Joan Didion, pain yoga, and Dakini Bliss.

Adventure Doesn't Happen by Accident — Don't leap—practice at the edges

Why I No Longer Cringe at Being Called a "Kitesurfer" — ...and how I've gotten to be OK with playing outdoors.

I’d love to hear from you

Thank you for reading and for being part of the community here.

I’d love to hear from you if one of these really rings your bells, and/or if you’d like to see more on a particular subject. Leave a comment, share with someone you love, and if you’d like to see more of my work, consider becoming a paying subscriber. For only the cost of a latte a month, you’ll know that you’re giving me an extra push to keep kicking out the jams here.