Welcome to the musings of an analytical mind on an inner journey. Logic led me to the path and an open heart keeps me on it.
Here you will find a collection of musings, original frameworks, practical tools, and discoveries from my journey toward AWE — Awareness, Wonder & Embodiment — my logical spin on spirituality.
Stories and musings on the journey — moments that cracked something open — witnessing perspective shifts — reminders of the daily practice life so willingly provides — serendipitous discoveries. The universal truths that need to be heard again and again.
The human mind craves control. We have been born and bred to believe that with control, we can avoid suffering. But what if suffering comes from the false belief of control? At a rental car counter in California, a moment of contraction becomes an unexpected lesson in how reality actually works.
Read the full piece →Most of us get triggered and we are rarely happy about it. But what if triggers were not problems to eliminate — but the practice itself? A story about rejection letters, a YouTube experiment, and the unexpected gift of being triggered.
Read the full piece →Most of us were trained to weigh pros and cons. What if every outcome — the promotion and the rejection, the smooth plan and the fallen-apart one — contained equal usefulness?
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Excerpts and reflections from the forthcoming memoir — a logical path to peace, belief not required
Frameworks, concepts, and tools born from the intersection of analytical thinking and inner work. Timeless Truths — but through a different lens.
In any given moment, a billion factors converge to produce what is. We see one — the one closest to us, our decision — as the cause. Surprisingly, most don't recognize this for what it is: a form of magical thinking. The Billion Things Rule reveals how life really works.
Explore the framework →Most of us get triggered and we are rarely happy about it. But what if you could look at triggers through a different lens? What if you could become Trigger Happy?
Explore the framework →All emotions are helpful but some are here just to bring awareness. Once they have done their job, we can thank them and let them go on their merry way.
Coming soon →Surrender isn't about giving up. It's about acknowledging and facing reality. The quicker you do that, the more energy you will have to level up. Reality always wins the moment — accepting it allows you to win in life.
Coming soon →Many think meditation is about clearing your mind but it starts with focusing it. If you tell yourself not to think about the Pink Elephant you will inevitably think about the Pink Elephant. Try a Blue Giraffe instead.
Coming soon →Asking others to help raise your awareness can supercharge your growth. Learn how a Pink Pony Pause can help others help you.
Coming soon →Situations are what we make them. Learn more about seeing through a wider lens.
Coming soon →Life is full of challenges that we will encounter. But we can face them without suffering. Discover tools that can help us choose to face challenges with clarity and calm instead of suffering.
Coming soon →When we expect the world to be something it isn't, we are practicing attachment to a story that has us controlling the world. Whether it is the weather or another person, we need to see the universe is just universe-ing.
Coming soon →We might believe that we hold the key to our own happiness, but most people expect others to bear the responsibility. When we say "X made me so angry," we are giving others control over our happiness — we made copies of our keys and gave them away. It's time to start collecting them back.
Coming soon →Sometimes we carry a feeling we can't logic away. We understand the situation completely — we can name the attachment, trace the pattern, articulate the framework — and still, the ick remains. This Tanism explores what the analytical mind can't always access: the heart opening that dissolves in an instant what months of understanding could not. Love isn't a concept. It's a transmutation.
Coming soon →Fear of Missing Out is one of the most common experiences of our time. But when we zoom out, we see the irony: FoMo causes us to miss the one experience that is actually available — the one we're having right now. The antidote to missing out is showing up.
Coming soon →When we spend our lives anticipating how others will react and then try to morph ourselves into an acceptable version for them, we live in a state of schizophrenia. By aligning with our true selves, an authentic life will come to us.
Coming soon →A reframe of the classic pros and cons decision model. When non-attachment enters the equation, every outcome reveals its own form of usefulness — and the fear of the wrong choice begins to dissolve.
On processing, venting, and where your energy is best spent. Sometimes the most efficient listener costs nothing and asks nothing in return.
Coming soon →Most of us get triggered and we are rarely happy about it. But what if you could look at triggers through a different lens? What if you could become Trigger Happy?
Explore the framework →Instead of regret that leaves you wishing things in the past were different — REflect and GET a plan. A simple reframe that turns backward-looking rumination into forward-moving clarity.
Coming soon →Rod Serling didn't just write science fiction. He wrote parables about the human condition — ego, fear, attachment, identity. Each episode is a spiritual teaching in disguise. This series finds the lesson hiding in the twist. Spoiler Alert — The twists in these classic episodes are revealed in this series. They are timeless, but if you don't like spoilers, watch the episode first!
"The mouse frees the lion. The small key opens the large door. Size was never the measure of anything that mattered."
Read the full piece →The Twilight Zone as spiritual teacher — one episode, one lesson, one piece at a time
Awareness without practice is just information. AWE in Action provides the tools, exercises, and experiments that turn insight into lived experience — the bridge between knowledge and knowing.
One of the most researched practices in positive psychology. Each evening, write down three good things that happened today — and why they happened. Small or large, simple or profound. Do it for one week and notice what shifts.
Research by Martin Seligman found that people who practiced Three Good Things daily for one week reported significantly higher levels of happiness and lower levels of depression — effects that lasted up to six months.
Read the full practice →Gratitude can be practiced anywhere, anytime — and it's never too early to start. This CharacterChums™ book reminds children (and the adults who love them) that life feels richer when lived with a thankful heart. Built on VIA Character Strengths research.
Find it on Amazon →A beginner's guide to building a meditation practice — the what, why, and how of starting and sticking with it
Tools and experiments from the coaching practice — subscribe below to be notified
Articles published in CT Lawyer magazine — wellbeing through the lens of the legal profession. Written from inside a demanding career, these pieces explore the same themes as AWExpedition: awareness, resilience, and the analytical mind's path to a fuller life.
After almost thirty years of legal practice, a carefully crafted professional identity had become default armor — useful, but also a source of suffering. This piece explores witness consciousness, the Billion Things Rule, and Michael Singer's teachings applied directly to the legal profession.
Read in CT Lawyer →A personal account of going from meditation skeptic to daily practitioner — including the breathing tricks, the apps, and the twitching eye that proved it was working.
Read the full article →The legal mind is trained to spot problems — which is great for clients, but hard on wellbeing. A reframe using the lawyer's own tool: IRAC as a framework for optimistic thinking.
Read the full article →A candid exploration of how small, often unconscious actions accumulate into real harm — and what awareness, not judgment, can do about it.
Read in CT Lawyer →On the movement toward wellbeing in law — the systemic work, the individual work, and why the profession's best chance of changing is you.
Read in CT Lawyer →Burnout doesn't happen overnight — it accumulates. This piece identifies the warning signs, the contributors, and what self-compassion and agency actually look like in practice.
Read in CT Lawyer →A follow-up to Charred with concrete actions. PALS — a Practice of Awareness, Love, and Self-Care — and what that actually looks like during a deal closing.
Read in CT Lawyer →Four practical wellbeing levers for busy attorneys: mindfulness, movement, nutrition, and sleep. Not revolutionary — just researched, real, and doable.
Read in CT Lawyer →A reflection on what it means to prioritize wellbeing in a profession that too often treats it as a luxury — and an invitation to start today.
Read in CT Lawyer →Lawyers are the one group where pessimism predicts success — but only at work. Martin Seligman, explanatory style, and a powerful framework for holding both realities at once.
Read in CT Lawyer →A practical recap from the CBA Well-Being Summit — desk yoga, ergonomic tips, sleep hygiene, and what happened when a room full of lawyers tried sound healing.
Read in CT Lawyer →One of the most powerful life skills for lawyers and humans alike. Covers the Eisenhower Matrix, time blocking, decision fixing, saying no, and building habits that stick — with WFH tips built in.
Read the full article →Letting Go to Level Up — A Lawyer's Guide
Books, films, podcasts, and teachers that have shaped the journey. Shared here because we never know what will open the door, light the way or remind us to live our best.
Michael Singer's foundational work on the relationship between the self and the voice inside your head. The book that changed everything — highly recommended for the analytical reader who has been waiting for permission to go inward.
Martin Seligman's introduction to positive psychology — the science of what makes life worth living, rather than just the study of what goes wrong.
Viktor Frankl's account of finding a path forward in the most unimaginable circumstances. A masterclass in the space between stimulus and response — and why that space is everything.
Anthony De Mello's masterwork on waking up to reality — sharp, funny, and profoundly unsettling in the best possible way. Essential reading for the left-brain spiritual seeker.
Michael Singer's long-running podcast series — a quiet, unhurried companion for the inner journey. Best listened to in the morning or during walks. Life-changing if you let it be.
Music that meets you in the quiet places. Bob Sima's songs are part meditation, part permission slip — to slow down, to feel, to remember what matters. A perfect companion for the inner journey.
Soulful, grounded, and utterly present. Sam Garrett's music has a way of making the ordinary feel sacred — which is exactly the point.
The most unexpectedly profound show about leadership, kindness, and what it means to show up as your whole self. Beneath the football and the biscuits is a masterclass in AWE.
Two parallel lives diverging from one missed train. A beautiful visual meditation on the Billion Things Rule — how a billion subsequent factors flow from what appears to be one small variable.
Aelea · Additional reads · More films and practices
Millions of people are still being told to "raise their frequency" and "ask the universe." But what if manifestation is much simpler than a call to the universe? What if raising the frequency is simply living a better life? What if science could explain why "manifestation" works for some and not others? Join me as we uncover the science behind the concepts.
The Law of Attraction has sold over 35 million copies. Some people swear by it. Others tried and felt blamed for everything that went wrong in their lives. The truth — grounded in positive psychology and decades of research — is more interesting than either side admits.
Coming soon — notify me →The foundation of everything. Mindfulness research, ACT therapy, and cognitive behavioral frameworks all point to the same truth: you cannot change what you cannot see.
Coming soon →Your thoughts don't attract objects. But they do direct your attention — and attention changes everything. Csikszentmihalyi's flow research and selective attention studies reveal what the Secret stumbled onto.
Coming soon →Bandura's self-efficacy research in one elegant truth: the belief that your actions matter changes what actions you take. Agency isn't given — it's cultivated.
Coming soon →Social contagion research confirms what you already sense: your environment shapes your trajectory. Positive relationships are not a luxury — they are a PERMA element.
Coming soon →Gollwitzer's implementation intentions research closes the gap between intention and behavior. Knowing is not enough. The bridge is specific, committed action.
Coming soon →Gratitude isn't mystical vibration. It's one of the most researched interventions in positive psychology — Emmons, McCullough, Fredrickson's broaden-and-build theory. This is what The Secret stumbled onto without knowing why.
Coming soon →Dweck's growth mindset and scarcity psychology reveal two completely different worlds — both real, both self-reinforcing. Which one you live in is a choice.
Coming soon →Snyder's hope theory is not wishful thinking — it's goal-directed thinking combined with pathways thinking. The science of how hope actually works, and how to cultivate it deliberately.
Coming soon →The research on positive relationships, loving kindness, and compassion is unambiguous: connection is not optional for wellbeing. Oxytocin, belonging, and the science of love.
Coming soon →Character strengths, values clarification, and self-determination theory converge on the same insight: living in alignment with who you actually are is not a luxury. It is the condition for flourishing.
Coming soon →ACT therapy, psychological flexibility research, and the teachings of Michael Singer all arrive at the same destination: surrender is not defeat. It is the condition for everything else. Acceptance is not the last law — it is the one that makes all the others possible.
Coming soon →