A Stranger in a Strange World

A part of an old letter I wrote to a friend while in the midst of my second underway last year: "At night I go up to those same weather decks & listen to the silence. No one else is out. It’s just me, the indigo night sky twinkling with stars, & the waves beneath me. The masts are akin to sentinels keeping me safe from the vast, cold ocean surrounding me. The Milky Way reveals itself to me: seeing our universe with such clarity is remarkable. Sometimes I hear the call of the sea, the Sirens calling for me to join them in eternal slumber. I do not listen; I am not yet rea dy for the long sleep. Moments like those remind me what life is all about. Listening to the waves be broken by the ship as she carries me forward. In those moments I feel completely separate from the world. Watching a young universe with an even younger planet hosting the infant civilization that is humanity. My worries drift away as my consciousness separates from my being. In that moment I exist outsi...

It's hard to get started on writing blog posts again after not keeping up with it for so long. Like absurdly hard. Nonetheless it's a task worthy of my time. Now I just need to choose a decent starting point. The present is as good of an option as any so we'll begin in the here & now. I live in Japan although the locals know it as Nippon. The Land of the Rising Sun. What strikes me as most different is the culture. America is notorious for being an individualistic country; Japan is collectivist . Everyone here is polite regardless of how they may feel about you. The nature is lush: from the mountains to the beaches, there is a strong sense of universal oneness with the world which surrounds the people. Shortly after my arrival I found out that I advanced in rank from E-4 (Petty Officer 3rd Class) to E-5 (Petty Officer 2nd Class). In the Navy that's considered one of the most significant transitions in a sailor's career. My new found rank came coupled wit...

Well it's my second to last Friday evening in Virginia Beach and I'm in my hotel sipping on a hot cup of mint tea & reading a good book. I was stressed out early on in the week but ultimately found peace by remembering an old maxim: focus on what you're able to control, disregard what you cannot. Two weeks from now I'll have finished one of the hardest pipelines the Navy has to offer and be departing for Colorado. A month from now I'll be back in Arizona. Two weeks after that I'll be leaving to Japan & beginning my next great adventure. Life is good. I'm excited to see where it takes me.

As I make my way through a biography about Benjamin Franklin's life I can't help but wonder how a single person can achieve so much and reach such high levels of notoriety. The man was a living legend yet he managed to remain incredibly down to earth throughout his life. When he was 20 he wrote down a list of 13 virtues which he then used to guide his life. I think there's a lot to be learned from the young mind of one of the most accomplished founding fathers. 1. Temperance : eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation. 2. Silence: speak not but what may benefit other or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. 3. Order:  let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time. 4. Resolution: resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve. 5. Frugality: make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e. waste nothing. 6. Industry: lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unneces...

I've never been much of a New Year's resolutioner. Sure, I'm always settings long & short-term goals to keep myself on task with my bigger purpose but the coming of a New Year has never really inspired me. 2017 might be behind us but we're all still the same people. No one is going to reinvent themselves. At our best we grow into a better version of ourselves. At our worst we take up valuable squat rack space and then go back to our old, unhealthy habit loops a month later. If you're the kind of person who benefits from making resolutions to exercise, learn, or be kinder, that's great! Do whatever makes you happy. But to me NYE is a time for reflection. What worked? What didn't? What could I have done better? In which ways could I have fucked up but didn't? 2017 has been a rough year for the world. International political turmoil, polarization in America, an unprecedented rise in both organized and lone wolf terror. There are some of us that are c...

Greetings! Since my last blog post there have been a number of significant developments in my life.  The first and most significant is my graduation from SPQ-9B school. SPQ-9B is a radar used for detection of low flying missiles and aircraft as well as periscopes. It's unbelievable how difficult the material I'm expected to learn is but nonetheless I haven't failed to understand any of it yet. I was the honor graduate of my class which is pleasant albeit unnecessary recognition. The only person I care about being better than is my past self. On Veteran's Day I visited Washington, D.C. which was an immensely powerful experience. From the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial & National Mall I got to take in the history of our wonderful country. I truly do love America. I took a  free foot tour  which took me to essentially all the main attractions. Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to explore any of the world renowned museums. I...

A tool I've found to be effective in helping me find motivation during the humdrum of the day to day monotony of life is reframing how I think about certain tasks. There are activities we know to be beneficial for our well-being yet for one reason or another it's all too hard to accomplish them. Here's how I break through that wall: rather than thinking that I have  to do something, I think that I get  to do something. A simple yet effective technique. I don't have  to exercise, I get  to exercise. I don't have  to meditate, I get  to meditate. I don't have  to read, I get  to read. Because at the end of the day taking care of our minds and bodies feels nice. We don't have to do anything in life, we're just fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do all the bizarre hobbies we find along our path in this mad world. Ask yourself: what do you think you have  to do that you actually get  to do?