I write to better understand myself.
Personal stories and essays on how experience shapes what we believe, and what we discover by questioning what we've always assumed. My hope is that in understanding myself, I might help others understand themselves.
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Recent
- Self & Others · Architecture of IdentityThe DoorHow a Moment of Humiliation Became a Rule About Emotion
- Self & Others · Architecture of IdentityThe Card CatalogHow Productivity Became Protection
- Self & Others · Architecture of IdentityThe Cost of BelongingHow Conditional Belonging Creates Control and Detachment
On the trail
Why I run
I don't run ultramarathons to prove how much I can endure. I run them because they compress years of opportunities for growth into a matter of days. Every mile brings a new chance to confront uncertainty, question my beliefs, and learn how I respond to difficulty.
One of the most valuable lessons is that suffering isn't inherent in an experience. It comes from our relationship to it.
The goal isn't to suffer. It's to understand myself more deeply and carry those lessons into the challenges I don't get to choose.
About
I spent eight years in aircraft maintenance, eight years flying helicopters in the Army, and the years since building and investing in Phoenix real estate. I am a husband, a father and a trail runner.
I don't write because I've figured these things out. I write because I'm trying to understand them: where my beliefs came from, whether the explanations I've accepted about myself are true, and what changes when I see them clearly. Self-understanding, not self-improvement.
To be great is to be misunderstood.
By day
I invest in value-add apartments and older buildings across Phoenix through Ryan Scott Group.