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!


I know this blog is about happiness and positivity… but I’m human, and sometimes it’s just hard, okay? As a rider of public transit on my commute to and from work, I see a lot of things that make me shake my head. So today, I hope you’ll indulge me in a post about 5 of my public transit pet peeves that drive me up the wall.

When we hear the term networking, we often conjure up this image in our minds of a slimy businessman working a room to collect as many business cards as possible before signing all of them up for his mailing list against their will. The very thought makes you feel like you need a shower. Networking doesn't have to be a dirty word, though.

My sensei was teaching us a lesson on mastery the other day, during which he argued that the people who achieve mastery are the ones who have the courage to be unknown. In other words, true masters focus on their teachings, not on trying to become famous. As I reflected on this perspective, I realized that I agreed… mostly.

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.

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.

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.

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.