blue belt life

Most people will have the honor and responsibility of giving a best man, groomsman, or sibling speech at least once in their lifetime.  Since I have had the honor to give all three, I am at least qualified to share with you my experience in the hope that it can make a difficult challenge easier and more meaningful. Let me preface this by saying I am not a natural born speaker.  I can count the number of times I have given speeches to “major” crowds of 100 or more people on one hand. Like most people I am scared of public speaking, and the nervousness shows when I deliver speeches.…

Modern challenges During most of the evolution of our species, our problem was one of too few food sources, and too few calories.  We countered this by devoting most of our energy and time toward obtaining food – hunting, gathering, and later farming.  Very recently in our evolutionary history, the challenges have shifted – now we face too many food sources, and an over abundance of calories.  We do not need to expend much time or energy to obtain food, so most of us simply fill our free time with popular television, facebook, or other pursuits.  This is a mistake – it now makes sense to devote a significant amount…

Having just returned from the United States I feel compelled to address something that is completely out of control.  My country is diseased physiologically, so it is only natural that psychological degradation will follow.  The topic of diet has been beaten to death in recent years with the emergence of the paleo/primal/ancestral dietary theories.  For whatever reason, people in the rich Western world just recently have developed an intense interest in diet.  One can only hope that this translates into positive actions across the population. My dietary journey began in early 2013 just as I made the final decision to leave the life of security.  I knew that in making…

10.  It has no place on my present/future path in life My chosen path in life is a long one.  In fact, it is infinite, though my time here will be limited to a handful of years, at most.  Already, to get out all of the music that has emerged in my head to date, would take me longer than the rest of my life.  This is admittedly by choice – I could give up everything else, hole myself up like the late Gabriel García Márquez, and get it out in a couple years or so.  But I want to cook, to write, to teach, to make a family.  These…