Hi, and welcome to my site! It’s a blog about personal finance and careers, told through the lens of my search for happiness and mindfulness in life. Why those things? Well, because most people view them as a necessarily evil to use in their pursuit of happiness in life… and I think they can be more than that!

29Mar2019
Karate
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March 29, 2019
As I walk into the dojo, I hear unfamiliar voices. There are students from other dojos here to attend today’s seminar on Iaido and Aikido. Exciting stuff; this seminar is one we’ve been anticipating for a while now, and I’m pumped it’s finally here. I set my bag down in the change room and start changing into my gi.
22Mar2019
Karate
March 22, 2019
After the conclusion of last night’s karate class, my sensei gave us a basic primer on Iaido and Aikido in preparation for an upcoming seminar some of us black belts would be attending. In doing so, he opened our eyes to a fact that I think often gets neglected in many other schools: that Japanese martial arts don’t exist in a vacuum. They were created to work with, against, and in response to other arts that were practiced at the time of their creation, and understanding these relationships can help you understand your own art more deeply.
8Mar2019
Painting, The Arts
March 8, 2019 /
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I eagerly unpack the bag of art supplies I just bought at the store. It has all the basics I need to start painting: brushes, paints, canvas paper and disposable palettes. I arrange them all out on the table, then jokingly tell my wife not to interrupt me for the next 30 minutes, because a genius is at work. Today, first the first time in over seven years, I am going to paint.
1Mar2019
General
March 1, 2019
I read a great short story by an anonymous author today that had some important lessons built into it. It was a story about a man who passed by some elephants. As he passed by, he noticed that they were all bound together by a thin rope – nothing else. It was clear that they could have broken free any time they wanted.
22Feb2019
General
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February 22, 2019
I’m fairly new to meditation; I originally started it as a way to try to become more mindful and aware in the moment. That said, people choose meditation for a whole bunch of different reasons; it helps reduce stress and anxiety; improves blood flow to the brain and makes it age more slowly; it can help improve your relationships with the people around you; and it can even help you sleep more soundly.
15Feb2019
Personal Finance
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February 15, 2019
A while back, I posted an update on my student debt situation, and I realized that the post was over a year old. Since then, a lot has happened (including a complete basement renovation), and I wanted to share an update on how I was able to knock my debt all the way down to under $10,000 today, from $37,900 in September 2017.
8Feb2019
General, Karate
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February 8, 2019 /
1
A while back, in preparation for my black belt grading in karate, I wrote a post about what a black belt means to me. Since then, certain facets of what it means to be a black belt have taken on added importance to me. The most prominent among those is compassion.
1Feb2019
Karate
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February 1, 2019
Earlier this week my Sensei offered up a challenge to the black belts in his class. He tasked us with researching Marilyn Monroe, and then arriving at our own conclusions as to how her life and actions relate to our concept of fighting. This post is my attempt of summarizing my takeaways from the exercise. Challenge accepted, Sensei!
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