Dear Reader, I’m still in Portugal, where I’ve just wrapped up a transformative 12-day retreat. My heart feels full, and I’m deeply grateful for the experiences and connections I’ve had here. During the retreat, I shared some of my songs—ones I’ve never shared before—with a group of people who created a safe and compassionate space. It reminded me of the power of being seen and heard in a supportive circle, where we can express our unique gifts without judgment. A recurring theme for me has...
6 days ago • 2 min read
It's 6:42 a.m., December 25th. While families sleep, emergency rooms fill with a silent surge. Heart attacks spike by 33% on Christmas Day—the highest-risk day of the year. New Year's Day follows closely behind. Cardiologists call this two-week period "the perfect storm." But the danger doesn't begin with holiday feasts or family stress. It begins the moment you open your eyes and reach for your phone. That seemingly innocent morning habit—checking emails, scrolling news, diving into the...
9 days ago • 7 min read
Dear Reader, I'm sending you this weekly update from the town of Monchique, Portugal, where I'm attending a music retreat for facilitators and ceremonial leaders. The retreat focuses on healing the parts of ourselves that keep us from expressing ourselves fully and authentically. We've just completed the first two days, and it's already been deeply transformative. The work we're doing is based on IFS (Internal Family Systems), a therapeutic framework for understanding, embracing, and...
13 days ago • 2 min read
Have you ever caught yourself doing this? You say you want intimacy, yet the moment someone gets close enough to truly see you—to witness your fears, your wounds, your unpolished edges—you find ways to push them away. You become critical. You get “busy.” You convince yourself they’re not quite right. Or maybe you simply shut down, your body going cold even as your heart aches for connection. If you recognize this pattern, I need you to hear something: you’re not broken. You’re not incapable...
16 days ago • 11 min read
Dear Reader, Earlier this week, my brother sent me an old photograph. A family portrait during a cruise in the Caribbean when I was about nine. We're all smiling at the camera. I'm the little guy in the back, just my head visible, hiding behind everyone else. Back then, that feeling of loneliness and being invisible, even when surrounded by family, felt like a punishment. A curse. Something broken that desperately needed to be fixed. So I tried to fill that void with achievements, endless...
20 days ago • 2 min read
Have you ever felt utterly alone in a room full of people? I remember sitting at a family gathering years ago, surrounded by laughter and conversation, yet feeling as if I were watching everyone through soundproof glass. “Does anyone actually see me?” I wondered. “Or just the version I’ve learned to show?” You know this feeling. That subtle, persistent ache of separateness that follows you like a shadow—even when you’re connecting, achieving, surrounded by others. Carl Jung described our...
23 days ago • 11 min read
Dear Reader, This week, I’ve been reflecting on the theme of surrender, and I suspect you might be wrestling with something that needs surrendering too. A memory from my second Camino surfaced. I had meticulously planned every detail, but on day four of the Portuguese Way, I was struck down with a fever and debilitating illness. Confined to a small hostel in Viana do Castelo for three long days, I helplessly watched pilgrims come and go as my carefully crafted journey crumbled. In the depths...
27 days ago • 2 min read
It’s 2 AM and you’re lying awake, again. Your body is tight, your mind is racing, and that problem—the client conflict, the money worry, the relationship tension—is replaying on a loop. You feel the crushing weight of the conviction that it’s all on you to figure this out, to fix this, to single-handedly prevent everything from spiraling. You might even notice a subtle, desperate quality to your thinking. You are not just thinking; you are struggling. You are trying to mentally wrestle a...
30 days ago • 11 min read
Dear Reader, This week, I received a very meaningful gift from Mary Flynn in our Heart Mastery community in Ireland: two books by the Irish poet-philosopher John O’Donohue. As I held them, a familiar warmth stirred within me, like remembering a long-forgotten friend. For those unfamiliar, O’Donohue’s work explores friendship, beauty, and belonging. He writes beautifully of the anam cara—the “soul friend.” This is the person before whom your mask drops, and you are met exactly as you are. In...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read