Simplicity in Life

I find myself getting caught up in these trivial matters but simultaneously feel a deep yearning for a simpler way of moving through my life. Even though I do want life to be more simple, it is so hard to ignore and not partake in the ways of most of modern society. 

Gabrielle Pirrone

September 21, 2023

The Power of Japanese Cultural Ethics - Part 5

Expansion on Wa (Harmony) and other Influences - Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity, geography and geology have all influenced Japanese culture and cultural ideals of formality and politeness and harmony. Curiosity and enthusiasm drive the Japanese people to adopt things from other cultures and adapt them to their own contexts. 

John Middleton

July 19, 2023

The Power of Japanese Cultural Ethics - Part 4

Wabi-Sabi (わびさび) (侘寂 or 詫び寂び ) - An aesthetic sense and artistic practice, permeating Japanese life and art, centered around the acceptance of transience, impermanence and imperfection. A grace for oneself, for others and for the world in general. Incompleteness or imperfection (intentional or unintentional) supported and balanced again by other concepts such as ikigai, oubaitori, ganbaru and gaman. 

John Middleton

July 14, 2023

The Power of Japanese Cultural Ethics - Part 3

Ganbaru and Gaman -- (頑張る) - to give your best effort (我慢) - perseverance, enduring. Separately they are meaningful, but together in a Japanese context they convey that to work hard, and to keep going no matter what happens, are more crucial in reaching one’s goals than innate ability or the more ambiguous “talent”. And the individual talent can be more readily recognized by the value they add to the community when a talent is in service to the greater good of the community...there is a built in accountability or hierarchy.

John Middleton

July 10, 2023

The Power of Japanese Cultural Ethics - Part 2

Omotenashi (お持て成し) or Omoiyari - (思いやり) - to notice and think of others In Japanese there are several ways to express this and most of them are difficult to translate into English because the culture that developed them is foreign and developed over hundreds if not thousands of years. The meaning also changes based on the circumstances and the situation. The Buddhist traditions of mindfulness, non-harm and respect become integrated principles when individuals put these concepts into practice with their unique interpretation.

John Middleton

July 7, 2023

Let’s Explore the Power of the Japanese Cultural Ethics Part 1 of 5

How the Japanese leverage values like Community, Hospitality, Politeness, and Respect in a ways that can gain wide appeal.

John Middleton

June 19, 2023

Gaining Direction

Spiritual direction is a way to growing in your own beliefs. What guides you in life and the thing that nudges you to do something or go in a certain direction.Spiritual direction is what helps you make decisions. It guides you with your beliefs and morals in mind, it brings clarity into situations. 

Gabrielle Pirrone

May 18, 2023

Setting Effective Goals Part 3 - Putting it All Together

Habits play an important role in creating a plan. Instead of continuing to follow in others footsteps, figure out what helps you most and stick to that method.

John Middleton

August 23, 2022

Setting Effective Goals Part 2 - The How

We laid the ground work with our first post on Setting Effective Goals. Then we really dug in to the "What do I Want" series and a little bit about the Why. But those were very personal. This time we zoom out to focus on a little bit of the meta version of how the questions of Why and How work together to create a momentum for setting goals.

John Middleton

August 16, 2022

What I Want to Do - Part 3

Some days it's hard to remember all the good things that have come from my journey, but I choose to remind myself of the blessings that have risen from it.

Gabrielle Pirrone

August 2, 2022

What I Want to Do (Pt.2)

If you have an illness of any kind, you most likely have to take at least a couple medications. We all know what a pain it is trying to find affordable medicine and ones that actually help. I was recently informed of Mark Cuban's generic drug company called Cost Plus Drugs. They advertise very low prices for a large variety of medications. 

Gabrielle Pirrone

July 26, 2022

Setting Effective Goals - Discovering What I Want to Do

Over 95% of the world's population deals with some sort of chronic health condition. With this amount of people having conditions and illnesses you would think more people would be informed on the matter and help would be more accessible. 

Gabrielle Pirrone

July 21, 2022

Setting Effective Goals - Overview

Setting Effective Goals is all about design and preparation. This will be a series in several parts. 

Gabrielle Pirrone

April 15, 2022

5 Essentials Every Freelancer Needs for Productivity

April 21, 2021

Consider the Hands That Write This Letter

John Middleton

December 1, 2020

SBOS: A One-man Show Rarely Makes Headlines

John Middleton

November 5, 2019

What Makes a Space a Place

Kimberly Spragg

September 4, 2019

Selling Acorns in a Lumberyard or the Habit of Evaluation

August 28, 2019

Building on Habits – the Habit of Generosity

John Middleton

August 14, 2019

“Atomic” Habits – Building Blocks for Big Change

John Middleton

July 31, 2019

What’s the Difference Between Laziness and Relaxing?

Nicholas Licalsi

July 23, 2019

? + Work = Contentment

John Middleton

May 1, 2019

Rewards Keep Us Coming Back for More

Nicholas Licalsi

April 23, 2018

Getting Into the Groove With Routines

Nicholas Licalsi

April 16, 2018

Are You Stuck Trying to Make Goals Work?

Nicholas Licalsi

April 6, 2018

Make Getting Started Easy With Habit Cues

The writing habit has been serving me well, but I want to try and push myself to do more than one hour so I can fit more writing in my life because it’s something I enjoy once I start, but I need help starting it. Luckily part of a habit’s anatomy includes getting started. But first, let’s talk about the habit loop.

Nicholas Licalsi

March 13, 2018