“I just can’t believe that that’s a seventy-year-old man in the mirror. And that’s why I do this. If I saw a seventy-year-old man in the mirror, I’d quit this tomorrow.” “What do you see when you look in the mirror?” “A very exciting female.” Robert is a man who’s into “masking” or “rubber dolling.” […]
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Not Dead, Can’t Quit: How the Art of Memoir Might Save Your Business — Or Your Life
“Here comes ex-Navy SEAL Richard “Mack” Machowicz. Roaring, handsome face turned homicidal, black eyes now merciless, Mack rushes me with preternatural speed and grabs my throat in a crushing grip. A glass necklace pops off my neck and sprays beads over the polished wood floor of the Santa Monica Zen Center. Then I’m gone, body […]
Dollhouse Rock: The Gift of Your Untold Story
Sometimes loss of innocence doesn’t happen all at once. There are different moments, different markers. Picture them as buoys in the oceanic memory. They bob up at different times, depending on the wind, and the waves. Sometimes this season is all about buoys. Every candy cane, or sparkling light, or shattered Christmas ornament is a […]
Dragon Smoke, How I Lost My Dignity (Again), and Why The Art of Leaping Will Electrify Your Prospects and Clients
The temperature in the room spikes at 105 degrees. There’s a young guy in a Speedo sitting on a terrycloth-covered throne on a raised dais, his muscled skin slick with perspiration even though he’s got a fan blowing on him. The rest of us are marinating in our own sweat. Even the air seems wavy. […]
Gift from the Burning Ghats: How To Expand Time and Create Memorable Experiences For Your Clients
“Everyone knows if you want to torch old scaffolding, you travel solo. I am here for internal arson. Don’t touch me.” Somebody wasn’t in the best frame of mind! Ah, holidays. Perhaps you can relate. I was also younger and wildly unhappy at the time. Above is the pull quote from a story I wrote […]
Blue Flame Boogie: Hell Yeah You Have a Signature Story! And It’s the Key To Your Success!
“My mother cried over all the men in her life. I am in the Blue Flame. a dive bar in Onset, Massachusetts, carefully folding a dollar bill. This bar’s okay because the bartender’s nice and there’s a good jukebox. Right now it’s playing ‘Fire’ by the Ohio Players, which is one of the first […]
Holy Terrors! Why Finding Your Voice Will Unleash Your Success
Holy Terrors! This was the name of the Episcopal church volleyball team I played on after high school in Sylacauga, Alabama. Population 10,000 — with over a hundred churches. Jim Nabors’s home town. Remember “The Andy Griffith Show”? Golly! I chose the name. The team agreed. The church agreed! We had T-shirts made. God […]
Manhunting in Tahiti, or, How To Find Your Why
“In Bora Bora, even the fish look like sperm.” The year is 2006. I travel to Tahiti with my writer friend — let us call her Beth — she to get a tattoo, me to find a sperm donor. Beth is shaken and sad, recovering from an abortion. She is young, her current relationship is […]
Do You Wear A Psychic Fat Suit? How To Drop The Mask & Emotionally Engage With Your Clients & The World
“You’ve got a psychic fat suit.” The man — whose name might be George — nods to himself. Pleased. As if he’s caught a rare moth and nailed it to the specimen board. “You’re impossible to connect with.” We are walking down Venice boardwalk, me and my two friends. It’s years ago. Over a […]
Cafe Gratitude: From the Shame of Sadness to Claiming Your Voice for Page and Stage
I’m sad. This feels shameful to write. Or stupid. Or daring — maybe not in a good way. Don’t write until you’re happy again. You don’t want to bum people out, says my brain. Eat some pistachio ice cream. Shout the lyrics to an Eminem song. Stand on your head. Something. Plus, the brain […]
