The Shoebox Miracle The odds of ever having lived this dance called life are staggeringly low. My great-grandfather was born so small and fragile that the hospital sent him home in a shoebox. He was 4.5 months premature. That box was intended to be his final resting place. He was expected to die. He weighed about one pound. One pound of stubborn life. The doctor said there was no chance he would survive. “We’re sorry. There’s nothing we can do. You may take him home.” A nurse lowered the tiny...
21 days ago • 2 min read
The Friend Who Believes In Nothing A Bolivian dancer at Carnaval de Valencia I have a friend who believes in nothing. He is unfazed by the 1:4 trillion chance of living a human life, and the seven trillion functional nerves in the human body. The way everything fits together. He ignores those among us who have seen signs or received communication from beyond the confines of the living world. He is very pessimistic, to the surprise of no one. His heart is closed. His energy field is a small...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
The Joy of Losing Oneself A girl in Warsaw, lost in a floating sea of bubbles. Feeling lost? Good. That means you’re searching. Searching means you’re on the edge of something real. I beat my mid-life crisis to the punch. At 38, I had a successful marketing business. My income was increasing by the month, but I spent almost every waking hour at my desk. I was lost. I booked a flight to Greece without a plan. On a tiny island, after five days of fasting, I interrogated myself and scrawled some...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
He Wrote an Entire Book... With His Eyelid A Monarch butterfly outside of Spadina House in Toronto Jean-Dominique Bauby was 43 years old when he suffered a massive stroke. When he woke up, he was trapped inside his own body—completely paralyzed. Trapped in—and by—his mind. He could, however, move one thing: his left eyelid. Doctors called it “locked-in syndrome.” His mind was intact, but he couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Most people would have given up. Bauby didn’t. Instead, he wrote a book,...
2 months ago • 1 min read
We Fear the One Thing That Makes Us Feel the Most Alive Two Yemeni girls play on a cliff's edge. Instinctively, one clutched the dress of the other. With fear and faith as allies, they leaped across the gap. A small misstep guaranteed death. Jack and I filed through the woods in our bathing suits, barefooted and wide-eyed. The banks of the Ohio vanished from sight as we moved up the hill and deeper into the shadows of the forest. We were 8-year-old summer fish out of water. There was no path....
3 months ago • 1 min read
Only Through Darkness Can We See the Stars A photo of Verona, taken in November 2014 Ten years ago, I visited Italy as part of what was coined "The Glitch Trip." One of my friends came across a tweet announcing that Priceline was issuing $180 around-the-world trip tickets (NYC > Milan > Prague > Amsterdam > Tokyo > LA). Three of us booked it before the company caught the glitch, and a fourth booked it after. Our first stop was Milan. From there, we visited Verona, which will forever be one of...
3 months ago • 2 min read
2024 Life Recap A few photographic favorites from Central Asia and the Middle East Last week, I put together a highlight post on Instagram. I figured I would share a preview here. Over the past week, I set aside time to reflect on the year. As much as it irks me to share wins publically, I have learned that it's an important exercise, especially for those who prefer to work in the shadows. "All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without the benefit of experience."...
4 months ago • 1 min read
A Ride Through the Orkhon Valley A nomadic herder leading a stray horse back to the pack Our host was ahead of us, leaning and rocking to the right, slightly hunched as his horse shuffled beneath him. His blue deel fluttered in the ever-present steppe breeze. My guide trailed behind. The sound of hooves burrowing into submerged stones startled me from my daydreams. It transported me to the banks of the Ohio River where, as I child, I would rub stones together before skipping them across the...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Finding Peace In Yemen Abdulraoof paces the burnt-black rocks under a dragon blood tree, its sap oozing from the bark — a natural healer. This mysterious land, where 37% of plants and 90% of reptiles exist nowhere else, feels like a secret Earth kept for herself. An Egyptian vulture stands nearby, curious about our invasion. Our guide runs his fingers across the tree, gathering blood-red resin on a fingertip. As we hike in the searing Socotra sun, Abdulraoof takes light and steady steps in...
5 months ago • 1 min read
