Stepping Outside Ourselves and Connecting The Dots

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

― Steve Jobs

Yesterday I was speaking to an artist that fully agreed we must continuously put ourselves out there into the universe and the rewards shall follow.

Each day I photograph, write music, design spaces and post articles that at present may have little to no meaning.

My works are mounding and my creativity is stifled by only time and resources. I’m becoming consumed with my works and quest for knowledge and therefore without daily immersion and stimulation, I die on that day.

Through self-assessment and reflection, I see where I veered off course as I fight to regain control of the speeding train, destination unknown. Particles of thoughts are strewn around inside my mind as I attempt to connect the dots that are creating this new lifeform.

Inspired by self-development, teaching, learning, creating and experiencing my days become focused yet exhausting. When I feel comfort and expertise I take a goose step forward and feel around for connection. Each item I touch or thought I have I’ll struggle to remember as space in my internal hard drive of a mind is limited.

Wasted time and efforts are thrown into my cranial trash as I defragment the information I no longer feel is relevant nor pertinent. Old inspirations and loves make more sense as I develop them further while removing the static of misdirection we are fed in everyday life.

Tabloids and propaganda don’t matter and never make it into the safety of my memory banks. Each file of thought and experience I’m continuing to revisit and relabel and organize. My mind will regain order in the chaos.

Each day of my self-discovery I process and save while I share the highlights that I’m hoping will nurture further developments and connections.

My mind a box of hundreds of puzzle pieces I’m finding similarities that I can use to excite my emotions and creativity in a positive manner.

Live, love, learn, process. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Reducing My Ego While I’m Focusing On Self-Reflection

Photo by Michael Competielle

“The ego relies on the familiar. It is reluctant to experience the unknown, which is the very essence of life.”

Deepak Chopra

Awards, accolades, claps, and likes mean little to nothing to me. Acceptance from others is no longer a priority as I work on developing my ability to self-reflect and generate my own happiness. Hollow is the day in which I don’t learn, explore and make new connections. Looking at my phone I can immediately tell if the day has been a success based on the number of photographs I’ve taken as I photograph my experiences and inspiration for further research and connection.

I’m comforted in handing over the reins to others and see what they can produce. My only judgment of their works is understanding how they feel after having completed their goals. The correlation between creativity and emotion is mesmerizing and the topic of my own self-assessments.

My comfort zone expands with each word I read, or write and hear as I’m like a giant sea sponge absorbing and learning from the inspirations of others. I’ve begun to recognize the genius within everyone and work to help those who haven’t recognized it yet.

Learning has expanded my mind and made new pathways that hadn’t existed before. Neuroscience has become an integral part of my self-discovery and has expanded my thought process as I’m constantly stimulating my medial prefrontal cortex.

This area of our brains is strengthened as we work on self-reflection. Understanding and recognizing our strengths and weaknesses, we can determine what triggers certain emotions and work towards minimizing the impact they triggers have on us. When we self-process our interactions with others we will begin to see patterns of who or what aggravates these receptors.

As I spend my time working on introspection and how my actions interact with others I’m developing tools to continuously return myself back to my happy comfort zone.

My ability to recognize lazy and disingenuous people has enriched my life as I’m no longer focusing on how to correct other people’s insecurities. As I recognize the faults I take stock in knowing I control how I return to my euphoric state through my understanding of self and ego.

By practicing mindfulness, meditation, and self-reflection, I’ve become deeply connected to my inner self and my ego is kept away at arm’s length.

“Midlife is the time to let go of an overdominant ego and to contemplate the deeper significance of human existence.”

 Carl Gustav Jung

Today is the Perfect Day to Regain Control of Your Future

Photo by Michael Competielle

“Broken vows are like broken mirrors. They leave those who held to them bleeding and staring at fractured images of themselves.”

― Richard Paul Evans, Promise Me

We all make promises we don’t keep. Sometimes those promises have the best intentions that never pan out but many promises are little white lies we never plan to keep. 

If we look at vows like really big and well-articulated promises such as never smoking cigarettes again or refusing to buy certain products, we can see the importance of our statements. When we are honest with ourselves and take a vow we really should enforce our promises. 

Learn From Wrestling 

My son as he was growing up loved to try out playing new sports. He played baseball, football, basketball, and lacrosse. When he was younger and just learning a sport he would over analyze the game. More like a referee or a commentator than a player he always knew what everyone else was doing wrong. He lacked the ability of introspection and therefore was advancing in his sports at a slower pace. 

After a tough football session where he spent a lot of time on the bench, we talked about him trying a new winter sport. I suggested wrestling as a friend of mine who happened to be one of his football coaches was the head coach of the wrestling team was familiar to my son. 

I explained to my son that we play football and play soccer and play lacrosse but we never play wrestling. We just wrestle. One on one, mono e mono. 

As my son began to learn the sport and began to develop he recognized it was him against his opponent. No one else to blame. His success and failures were something he would have to take full responsibility and action for. 

What we learned

The life lessons he learned from wrestling was the power of introspection and self-assessment. As he learned how to read an opponent and size up a situation he knew how he had to tackle the situation. His confidence improved as he experienced successes in winning and knowledge from his losses. 

He ended his wrestling season not only with metals and accolades but with new knowledge of how to perform self-reflection. He was becoming a brilliant athlete as he understood his abilities, his strengths, and his weaknesses. Hitting the lacrosse field that flowing spring was an entirely new kid. His confidence and lack of fear were clear and evident. 

One afternoon I was talking to his coach who was extremely impressed with his development. He asked had we sent him to a lacrosse trainer in which I responded “Nope. He just learned to wrestle.”

Shocked the coach and I discussed how my son was the second-fastest kid on the team and had become the teams go to when the needed someone to climb into the pack and just simply get the ball. My son could, not once but every time. 

After the game, I told my son about the conversation with his coach and how proud I was at him. The second fastest on the team is a decent statistic. My son’s reply has changed my life forever when he stated “I may be the second fastest in a one-off race but I’m the fastest when you look at how I’m consistent the entire game. I can maintain my speed the entire game. When I feel like I’m slowing down I know it’s only me that can push myself harder”.

Brilliance. He had learned his strong point and was harnessing the power. When he recognized he was losing speed he knew when to push himself into overdrive. 

Mirror mirror on the wall

So our mirrors are our gateway into minds. Standing in front of your mirror who do you see? Is this the best version of yourself? Have you made promises to yourself that you failed to keep? What happened to that diet? How about that run you were going to take? 

Don’t worry they were just empty promises you made just like you promised you’d call the old classmate from high school and would get together again. 

Forget promises. Stand tall in front of a mirror and take a vow. A promise to yourself that under any circumstance you will keep. Don’t shatter that mirror standing in the shards of broken promises. Take a vow to regain control of your future. Small vows that we continue to keep our big accomplishments. The more trophies we win for ourselves the further we will develop. 

We must design our futures. Taking steps by vowing to make our dreams a reality is the first step. Small steps will yield large rewards. Take a vow and stick with it. 

This weekend will be 15 months of being on a plant-based diet. It was a vow I took that is a daily decision and become a part of my lifestyle. April 1st will be 11 years since I quit smoking cigarettes. Every day I look in the mirror and I see that new me I created, one morning by just taking a vow. 

The Time To Start Anything Is Right Now

Photo by Michael Competielle

Time is a created thing. To say “I don’t have time” is to say “I don’t want to”.

Lao Tzu

One of the most powerful tools we have is our ability to learn through reflection. By learning to reflect we can check in with ourselves from time to time and perform a self-assessment. Are we still on track for our goals? What have we learned over the passage of time and how will we use this knowledge to continue on. 

Life is the journey without a definitive destination. If we feel we have reached the end what makes us continue on? For me, it’s the one variable in which I can not control. The passage of time.

It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time. Steve Jobs

At what point did Steve Jobs recognize our most precious resource? At the beginning of his quest or and the end? Had he relieved he was at the end of the journey and out of time? Was he reflecting back on his life and wishing he hadn’t wasted those precious moments that he will never get back?

Everyday, I perform a self-reflection. Most days I don’t have the time for a full reassessment of my entire life and so, therefore, I perform an abridged daily assessment. Am I still on target to reach my goals? Have I maximized my day and lived it to the fullest? Did I learn anything new and most importantly was I present in the moment? 

Being present in the moment is the practice of mindfulness. The meditative qualities of being present and fully immersed in the moment maximizes the experience. If we are mindful we are focused on this exacting moment in time. Time stands still and it’s only then when we have total control. With complete focus, we can overcome the passage of time. 

By taking a mental photograph of this finite moment and recognizing every detail we can overcome the obstacle of time by forcing it to stand still. Checking in with our feeling and emotions and recognizing what experiences make us feel good we begin to learn how to get ourselves back to this euphoric state. 

The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once. Albert Einstein 

Image if everything happened in our lives at once. Every amazing moment was overshadowed by our darkest of days. We would be standing in the eye of the storm watching life’s events whirl around us in a cyclonic fury. 

Which moment do we capture? What photograph do we take to remember this moment? It’s that blurry picture that we have to delete. 

Time is Linear

As the blocks of time pass us by we have the opportunity to learn for the past to design the future. We can’t go back and so therefore as time continues on the separation of events allows us to ride the waves of emotion and experiences. If we don’t use the power of a linear timeline everything will happen in our lives at once as we worry about the future by living in the past while missing the present. 

Stopping time in this exacting moment and reflecting we look to see where we have been and right to see where we are going. Okay, so what happens right now? This is that moment where we have complete control. What are we doing right now?

Right now I’m writing an article about time. Time hasn’t stood still as I just looked over st my clock however I feel as though it has. The past 30 minutes has generated hundreds of words of text that will be about maximizing my time. The past a faded memory and the future is how long can I write before I’m going to be late for work. This moment is the only moment that matters as I furiously type to articulate my thoughts.

This moment in time is mine. The outside world remains outside and that cyclonic fury is a distant blur. For I’m sitting in the eye of the storm like a lotus. Present in my moment and ignoring the distractions. When this moment in time passes so will the storm. The wreckage it has left behind I can not prevent. It’s within that moment I can only focus on how to repair from the damage and continue on my path.

Leaving the Wreckage Behind

When all we have is this moment and we see that the wreckage of the past has poisoned our present and will modify our futures we have to overcome the wreckage by leaving it all behind. Standing up we dust ourselves off and continue on our journey. Destination unknown as we travel on. 

That storm is in the past in which we can reflect on. Learn from the experience as we concentrate on this moment. Time is ticking yet each moment in time matters. Our power of being present and in a mindful state will maximize our life’s experiences. 

Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.

George Orwell

Mindfulness is the total control of the Now. The present moment in time. Our past is behind us and her lessons we have learned and extracted the fabric of our future. We have planted the seeds of our destiny in which we plan to live. The future is in our control when we take control of this present moment. Focused and understanding the meaning of the passage of time and how we can slow it down and accomplish our goals and live our lives to their potential. 

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

Andy Warhol

Stop Asking The Wrong Questions Trying To Get The Right Answers

Photo by Michael Competielle

We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them 

Albert Einstein

The quest for knowledge and finding solutions to problems is a lifelong endeavor. We start off young and ignorant to the outside world as we begin to experience life and its many obstacles. As a child, we often would ask the question “why?” With anticipation the answers to the question are simple. 

As we become older it is assumed that we become wiser. We believe it is through education and experiences however some people we recognize truly excel. They have all of the answers and have risen to the top, riding that wave of life. 

Why is it these certain people always have the answers and seem to be fulfilled while you feel hollow and empty? What makes a brilliant mind? I’d say a great thinker.

On determining the proper question If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes. 

Albert Einstein

Questioning The Question

We all have those people in our lives, you know the people with a hundred questions that never listen to your answer. They just barrel on with more questions not only ignoring your response but answering their own questions with premeditated answers. You’ll see a smile on their face as they walk away feeling contentment. 

As they feel complete and resolved you feel confounded in how little time people spend thinking and more importantly articulating well thought out questions. 

“You can increase your problem-solving skills by honing your question-asking ability.” — Michael J. Gelb

Confucius, Plato, Einstein, Aristotle, Lao Tzu, and Pythagoras were all known to be great thinkers. And all great thinkers ask brilliant questions. 

So why do so many people struggle with asking the right questions? Because they want to hear the answer they already believe

Great Minds Think Like 

Insecure people spend most of their lives attempting to find security. They will surround themselves around the safety net of like-minded people while having conversations that corroborate their insecurities. They’ll feel better asking baited questions which are reciprocated with shallow reassuring answers. 

The questions aren’t really questions as they are just statements of misdirection. As we stand in front of our peers and repeat to questions while awaiting comforting encouragement, we never really receive valid answers. 

Asking questions we already know the answer to does not help in our self-development. Asking for answers to questions we can’t answer ourselves is the first step to enlightenment. 

Answering Our Own Questions

If you have to ask superfluous questions you’ve already lost. Honest assessment and communication within yourself are a perfect opportunity for obtaining truthful answers. Asking someone else “Am I fat?” When you damn well know you are while awaiting the kind emotionally intelligent answer “You? No way, you look amazing” has manipulated the answer you want to hear even though you actually know the answer is false. 

Why bother asking the question? Does the artificial dopamine rush from a manipulative lie actually make you feel better? Nope. You know you are overweight and out of shape. So how to get to the right answers? Ask the right questions. Simple right?

What Are The Right Questions

Okay, you recognize you’re out of shape. Diets and exercise cause you anxiety. As you make a mental list of options you know won’t work you triangulate onto a possible solution you believe could work. Now reask your question. 

“I’m overweight and out of shape. I was thinking of taking a yoga class and try a new juicing diet. What do you think?”

Honest questions yield honest answers and you are well on your way there. Every day I ask myself questions and attempt to give myself honest answers. When I hit a question I can’t answer or I need to expand on a theory I’ll formulate a well-articulated question that can easily be answered with little objectivity. 

Asking Why

When we are in touch with our thoughts and processed the information to a point where we feel we fully understand things the most valuable question is that of the child. Why?

Why do I have to go to work? Why am I maintaining this toxic relationship? Why am I wasting my time making others happy? Why do I not get satisfaction from (insert statement here.)

As I’m designing my future my time is spent accessing current situations and asking “Why?” When the answer is clear and concise I continue to follow the existing path. However, when the answer is met with murky waters and frustration, I move far away from those scenarios. My life has aligned with a clearer path to fulfillment as my questions are easily answered with two words.

Why?…. For Me….

Understand By Supporting Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, And Free Expression

Photo By Michael Competielle

Some days I just need to check in with myself. I pride myself on ignoring the evening news and hardly ever reading my daily New York Times subscription of curated articles. The news depresses me as I feel helpless within this modern society. However, there are areas where I feel I can learn to understand and make a positive impact.

For all of my life, I’ve been friendly with various types of people and love to lend a non-judgemental ear in an attempt to understand perspectives. Gender, sexual preference, race are not distinguishing factors to characterize who we are because what we are is human.

Humans are an imperfect species as we have tortured and killed each other, and isolated those we chose to spare. Our success as a species and lack of empathy has isolated nations and ravaged neighborhoods.

Our breeding of hate and separation has been passed down through the generations until it has become the poison of our thoughts and toxins to our tongues. Closing our eyes and ears to the ignorant is not an excuse as not speaking up only condones the hate.

Photo by Michael Competielle of Fierce Pussy Artwork

The Hate That We Breed

Generations have stood silent as horrible atrocities have been bestowed on people for being different. But why? What do we fear and why do we hate?

Over the years I’ve learned as I’ve questioned and I’ve accepted as I become enlightened. Who am I too chose what is right or wrong is based on another religion, skin or non-binary gender identity.

Many of my best friends and biggest inspirations have crossed gender barriers as they have attempted to obtain knowledge and acceptance. If we as people decided to love and accept with an open mind and let people be whomever they want to be this world would be an amazing place.

The Choice Is Yours

Photo by Michael Competielle

Understanding and being in touch with our own emotions and feelings is a unique power we possess as humans. As we raise our families and teach each other to love and respect others as we expect ourselves to be loved. How lucky are the ones that are born and die knowing our identities and living every day in our own unique ways?

Some people aren’t so lucky as many are born just not feeling quite right. They question their identity and seek answers to questions many refuse to speak of. We owe ourselves the right to decide where we feel comfortable and complete. We owe each other this right to choose without judgment.

Photo by Michael Competielle

I’m a middle-class white American straight male. It’s doubtful anyone has it better than me. I’ve got the world by the balls and can essentially do as I please. It’s with the power that I was born with that I’ve made the decision to educate myself and share my knowledge. To question the status quo and be supportive of our brothers, sisters, gender-neutral, non-binary and gender-fluid friends.

Hate is a learned response and through education that teaches truth and understanding, we can stop the hate. With compassion by listening, we can learn to understand the perspective that will change the fabric of our future. Collectively we will remain as one and ensure that future generations have the ability to modify their lifestyles as they see fit.

By taking away gender distinctions we can move forth in a positive and proactive uniformity. Open your mind and be mindful of the complexities of others and be supportive of their decision to find themselves. Our identities are best defined based on how we perceive ourselves in this world without judgment and impunity.

Our Conversations, We Are Speaking But No One Is Listening

Photo by Michael Competielle

The power of human beings is our ability to communicate our thoughts and emotions with clarity and detail. The issue is, however, most people haven’t anything to really say or understand what we are actually saying. Assemblages of words that make up sentences that lead to paragraphs that speak volumes of nothingness. We vocalize our emotions based on superfluous fragments, the sum of which is zero.

Focused Listening

The key to being a great communicator is to become a great listener. If we mindfully listen to the words that are shared with us we can extract the details of how a person feels and that is where great communication is born.

Think of yourselves as the editor and the therapist as our “patient” shares with us their deepest emotions. We process each individual word and determine which words we can cutout. As we mentally abridge the story it allows us to exercise our abilities to perform Mindful Listening and deepen our connection to the story.

As the words become statements that hopefully become full-fledged thoughts we can begin to paint a mental picture of the storyteller’s feelings.

If you silently listen without retort or introjection you will begin to fill in the blanks of what story you are actually being told. When the storyteller finishes it allows us time to breathe and help the storyteller feel comfort in your understanding of the narrative. It’s at this moment when you are able to express your analysis.

Positive Response

With complete sincerity, you should begin to respond with “what I hear you saying is” as you explain back to them what it is you heard them say. A positive response notating what content you have been shared can allow for a deeper and more meaningful dialog.

We often don’t hear what we are saying or even understand the meaning behind what it is we are saying. As we hear back what another person feels they heard you say, we can begin to rebuild the content into a baseline.

Once we are reconnected to the repeated narrative we can begin to access the basis of how are statements come across to an outsider. Many times hearing back the regurgitation of our words leaves us unsettled and exposed. It’s at that moment when the listener can make the largest impact.

What it all means

Most often our conversations stem from the expression of feelings that have developed inside our reptilian brain. This portion of our brains is responsible for carnal knowledge of basic functions essential for life. Our reptilian brain handles our primal instincts inclusive of our fight or flight emotion.

Our primal mind is incapable of reasoning or thought processing and so, therefore, we often aren’t making processed statements when our narrative comes from our lizard mind.

With a kind response we should ask the storyteller “but how did it make you feel?” This one usually floors a storyteller as it’s an uncommon question that will develop the deepest impact.

It’s during that exacting moment we hope to have moved the conversation into the frontal lobe of our brains where emotional expression, judgment, and problem-solving takes place. With our focus inside this controlled environment of our minds, we have moved away from fight or flight into deciphering the content.

When you give this segment of your brain the ability to process and decipher what we have heard repeated back to us, we can then look deeper within ourselves to find the clues on why we may have been triggered.

When we care to listen and allow a story to unwind, it’s the responses we receive back that opens our mind to the ability to figure it all out. Learn to listen and listening to the process is the most powerful of our human minds. Nurture the process and sharing how you feel makes the largest advancements in self-development.

Improving Your Health With Your Mind

Photo by Michael Competielle

Last evening I watched the documentary Heal which is about the healing process of the purified mind. The film embarks on the journey of ailed people finding cures through various mind over matter techniques.

Fight or Flight

Every morning I awaken refreshed and pure. I’m energetic and have an internal drive to embrace each day. My thoughts are creative and inspiring as I can’t wait to tackle my projects and achieve my goals.

I’ll awaken present and cleansed, mindful and pure. My positivity and emotional connection to the world is never stronger.

Sometimes I’m slapped out of my Zen by the world’s uncontrollable effects, however, my position within myself controls my take on the situations and clarifies my decisions.

Yet no matter how hard I’ve worked on myself I still have my triggers. Certain people, situations and society’s lack of caring will overcome me like a darkening storm. My extremities will tingle, my heart rate build and my mind sees red as my inner balance is rocked out of rhythm.

I’ll enter into a fight or flight situation as I struggle to remain focused and in control. Luckily my strength over my mind I can expel the emotion quickly however I’m uncertain of the internal damage I’ve done, allowing the raging of cortisol toxicity to poison my body.


The external stresses of the world will always be there. I purposely don’t read or watch the news or get dragged into others false narratives as I work to maintain a pure and enlightened status. Brushing off the plaguing effects of the tainted world.

Checking in with myself and regaining a balanced neutral state has become easier over the years as I’ve gained experience and wisdom. My spiritual connection to my surroundings overbears the pollutant as I regain composure.

What is your Superpower

My latest quest is to eliminate belongings and burdens as I redesign my perfect existence. I’m packing everything I need into hikers backpack that I’ll use in my travels to enlightenment.

My honesty to myself truly knows it will be impossible to ever remove all material items and remain complete. Somewhere I will need at minimum a room of precious items needed to remain complete. The room shall be considered my mindfulness room for therapeutic experiences. It will lack the toxins that distract me from my calmness and connectivity to my mind.

This room shall heal through meditation, yoga, and sound. The soothing sounds of nature and smells of incense as I breathe in life and expel the dirt. I shall dispel negative thoughts and embrace the positivity of being one with my mind as I fuel my soul.

In my mind I’ll rebuild my internal Zen Monastery stone by stone. A fortress from the outside world. Mind over matter as I embark on the path of positivity walking away from the fight as my conscientious being has already won. My mind is my superpower.

Disease manifests from within

Within all of us is a disease. Toxins are absorbed from our environment and our foods and hide inside our bodies. We fuel the disease when we allow the chemical cocktail to gain strength from the fuel of negativity. We lose battles that can be won when we walk onto the battlefield defeated before the first shot has ever been fired.


I remember when I was a child and had received my first BMX bicycle. There was another older kid in my development that was super cool on his. He was an award-winning racer and I so wanted to beat him in a race.

One day I saw him and rode up alongside him, and said something stupid like “I’ll beat you sucker” as I pedaled away in a fury. I reached the end of the complex just before the main road and looked back. He was way back behind me. He never changed his pace nor engaged in the race.

Once he reached me I laughed “haha I won” and his response “ the only one you beat was yourself” as he never missed a pedal and rode away. He had completely dismissed me. I was defeated, he had won and the only one that expelled any effort was me.

That kid was a pure genius. Me not so much.

Photo by Michael Competielle

“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Overcoming our Ailments

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

By understanding and recognizing our trigger points or ailments we can win the battle. Our minds recognizing the symptoms will help us nurture our healing. We don’t need to physically fight a battle as our minds and knowledge can overcome the obstacles.

Depressed? Find inspiration. Overweight? Find exercise. Distracted? Find focus.

It’s once you have a solid understanding of your own inner workings that you can build the confidence to remove the negative and cleanse the toxic. Toxic friendship? Move on. Toxic relationship? Move on. Toxic job? Move on. You can’t change the world or its inhabitants, all you can do is determine if you want to live amongst them or not.

Walking away from the fight takes strength and confidence. You have to walk away with a certainty of knowing you’ve won. Your well-being takes precedence over the situation. The Power of your Mind will win the battle and lead to a deeper complete you.

Why I Always Publish My Drafts

Photo by Michael Competielle

As of late we are all writers in some capacity. Tweeting, Facebook posts, blog posts, text messages are all forms of creative writing and free expression. Often these are purely emotional outbursts of self expression based on how we feel at that exacting moment. It’s doubtful we should determine a persons moral fabric solely on a crappy Twitter post and probably excuse a statement we can’t align with.

Creative writing for an outlet such as Medium has allowed my posts to become expanded quite a bit further into short articles. Generally I’m basing my writing solely on my actual unabridged real life situations to emphasize my philosophy and creative process.

Currently I’m writing at an accelerated pace of an article per day with original photography. Sort of aggressive and masochist as I’m also working full time while still running my production company. It’s doubtful I’ll be able to continue this pace and still be able to write about interesting topics unless I make the effort to increase building additional unique experiences. My main goal is to challenge my own thoughts and beliefs.

Daily I’m expanding my world connections and finding my space within it. I never really have a completed concept or thought and so therefore I’m always evolving. Today’s dumb idea often yields tomorrow’s brilliance as I fine tune and dig closer.

My conscious thoughts intertwine with my subconscious to help define where I’m going and how I’ll get there.

. “For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something”. Steve Jobs

My creative articles are snippets of content that will expand my style, vocabulary and help to find my voice. Currently my achievable goal is to complete 100 articles, with original photography. I’m well on my way and have already exceeded one third of the projects quota.

Looking back at the past 34 days of articles, there is some great content in my feed. My best work? Probably not but I’m finding my lane and I’m feeling I’ve had moments of inspiration and epiphany.

With my first book of 100 Haiku with original photos scheduled to be published in December, I’m excited to see the outcome and hope I’ve made enough writing fans to sell a few copies. Get rich scheme? Hardly. Actually it’s all a springboard for my 2020 projects.

I’m planning to start my second book on the Philosophy of visualizing, designing and building of projects and products. The narrative is based on my 25 plus years of hard core experience. Hardly a step by step guide on how I work and manage purely because I operate on emotion and gut instinct backed be years of actual scenarios.

These articles though self standing actually formulate the various chapters in my future text. Have I a plan to look back at these writing and borrow from them? I’m doubting it. Will I memorize specific topics or well written passages. I’m hoping so. Moral to this writing exercise is similar to publishing daily journaling entries. Exploring my concepts and solidifying them into text. I’m hoping it’s meeting my present criteria and personal challenges.

With simple goals of writing honestly, not modifying my titles, photos or content to pass thru Google or Mediums algorithms I’m publishing daily with the utmost confidence. The writing a culmination of my present mood I often feel it translates well into text.

Very little of what I do is polished nor perfect. I spend little to no time lamenting over underperforming articles based on false metrics. The greatest mark of accomplishment is relishing in the moment I’ve hit publish. My words and thoughts out there in the world and to be able to breathe and bask in the glory of moving one step closer to achieving my goals.

I’ve no real interests to go back and rewrite my drafts as you would never go back and edit your journal entry. The writing is snapshots of where I am, where I’ve been and where I’m headed. Dragging my typewriter and research material with me everywhere I go… my phone and my mind.

Michael Competielle

https://medium.com/swlh/why-i-always-publish-my-drafts-99126b46c2b2?source=friends_link&sk=5889068195e7af0339ff42990f78463b

Honestly….I’m Living the Dream

My daily rituals on how to live a fulfilled life.

too by Michael Competielle

An attorney friend of mine years ago expanded my thoughts on perspective. I’d often ask how his day had been knowing hours earlier he had a rough time in trial court. Ironically he would respond with a smile “I’ve never had a bad day”.

I’d ask myself how could that be? Certainly he had a client that equally had a rough day in court, possibly a motion not accepted or expert testimony that failed to provide the definitive evidence required to win the case. However he never let those issues adjust his feeling and perspective for his day.

With the mindset of an artist I learned to change perspective. Moving my visual camera and reframing the mental picture of the entire situation I began to recognize that fine tuning into one specify issue or troublesome event in your day should generally only be a temporary setback. Reevaluating the situation and obtaining an alternative perspective can often change the emotion of the situation allowing your vision and focus to clarify. My corporate job had extinguished my creative spark and fogged my perspective.


It was at that exacting moment I decided I’d try Living the Dream

My decision allowed me to re-evaluate my life, relationships, goals and objectives and then refocus on my dreams. I decided to signup for filmmaking classes at NYU, travel more, examine my spirituality and quit my high paying corporate New York City job.

Leaving piles of money on the table and moving my 401k into a Fidelity account I moved towards my dreams as I took a local job in a similar industry. Ironically cutting my salary almost in half didn’t make me sad so why would doubling it make me happy? Perspective. Not suggesting that money is the route of all evil however I’ve determined that the requirements and sacrifices required to earn a high paying corporate salary isn’t worth the stress, aggravation and the loss of perspective.

Quitting my NYC job opened up my daily schedule to drive my kids to school, make breakfast with lattes and meditate. Moments became mine as I reclaimed my life and creativity. On a daily basis I work on personal development by practicing mindfulness, filmmaking, design and creative writing. Experimenting with a vegetarian diet and eventually a vegan lifestyle, I’ve increased my health and most importantly my mindset.

I still get stressed and even pissed off however generally the emotions are temporary as the feeling quickly rolls off like water off a ducks back. My compassion and empathy has increased for people that fit within the model of my dream and I’ve moved on from the toxic ones.

Situations in which I cannot control the outcome nor push out of my life I accept and and modify my perspective.

Photo by Michael Competielle

With a clear perspective of living in the moment I’ve taken the time to examine the world around me. Listening and recording birds, observing flowers blooming and climbing rock outcropping I’ve learned to love how beautiful nature truly is.

Heading to the beach I love to admire the oceans smells and hard pondering splash sounds of white noise as powerful curling funnel waves hit rocky jetties. Seagulls gliding in the slow oceans breeze economizing the frequency of their wings flutter.

On any given day I’ve been known to respond to pleasant greetings with “I’m Living the Dream”. A daily ritual that keeps my mind and body in perspective.

https://medium.com/@mcompetielle/honestly-im-living-the-dream-87fb21d5b7d6?source=friends_link&sk=bf430fd39e89e3ea3989ffc16360476b