Talk, Unleashed

It’s a bit after the fact so I'm overdue to wax effusive about the lessons of leadership as they relate to ice hockey during playoff season, but gotta be honest. I was pretty heartbroken this year. More on that another time. This week, though - ice hockey, leadership, and dogs. Three things that happen in a group. Three things that require a true collective energy and a huge sense of individua...

Every relationship has a season. Every. Single. One. You’ve probably heard the phrase - “reason, season or lifetime” - the idea that some folks come into our lives for a moment, others for a period of time and when we’re lucky a select few for a lifetime. Thing is, no matter the length of that relationship, within that period that relationship will evolve. Question is - do we change along with it?...

Well hey. It's been a hot minute. A month, actually. Between my amazing producer's jammed schedule and my own we opted for something of a break ... good to be back. This week on the podcast - the things that technology just can’t do. Yes, there are things. Things where only BE-ing there serves. In this week’s episode, a delightful romp in the woods where even sensitive technology is lackin...

Henry David Thoreau spent just a bit over two years at Walden Pond. He removed himself entirely from civilization and then returned with a viewpoint that reverberates today. I'm in a bit of my own On Walden Pond time, as you know, and this week's lesson is particularly related to that. Mastering true connection with my dogs requires that I be fully present with them, fully aware of our sur...

Springtime means a lot of things when you live in the woods. The wildlife is the best part. Except for the bugs — and Virginia’s insect community is epic. Mosquitos that could carry away small children sort of thing. It didn’t occur to me there might be some sort of “message” with them. Until recently I was the one who screamed as I swatted, smushed, or otherwise whacked any bug in my space. I’ve...

I’m not sure I’ll ever come to an end of learning where nature is concerned. She seems an infinite source teaching. The best part is that the lessons are ones I began as a kid; and which managed to stay fresh despite my having  spent most of my adult life living in urban-oriented places. Removing oneself from the candy-coating of concrete heavy places and inserting oneself into the middle of Natur...

I don’t sit still very easily or very often. At least not naturally. My natural resting state is something around Mach 5, so learning to be still to be in the moment without needing to do anything, it’s taken practice. Of course they DO call it a meditation “practice”. What I’ve also learned is that meditation doesn’t need to be sitting in some sort of cross-legged position in silence while incens...

DUE TO A SLIGHT PRODUCTION BACKLOG, THIS WEEK WE'RE REPEATING ONE OF OUR MOST POPULAR EPISODES - OUR FIRST INTERVIEW WITH RENOWNED DOG TRAINER, MICHAEL SHIHKASHIO. BACK NEXT WEEK WITH NEW AND GROOVY STUFF ... ENJOY! In the world of dog training, there are some who have opted to do the really hard work – focusing entirely on the dogs that everyone else rejects. For many dogs, these dedicated in...

I never know whether to be amused or pissed off when people take a word that has importance and value and turn it into something other than what it is. Like boundaries. On the one hand a deeply overindulged society rails against the idea that people are somehow entitled to do whatever they want and on the other hand complain when people whose boundaries are different come up against them. Truth is...

Another episode inspired by the Venerable Monks and the Walk for Peace.  This week - a simple concept that cuts through complexity. The simplicity, and complexity of inner peace. It’s easy to be swept up by circumstances these days. Easy to allow the froth and frenzy that is the world to determine what kind of day you’re going to have. It’s exhausting. What if it’s not? What if it doesn’t have to...

There are few things that will torpedo my sense of serenity faster, than traffic.  And I know I’m not alone.  Now imagine hundreds of people, at night, it’s dark and very cold. The road is narrow, crowded and there are piles of snow everywhere. Traffic comes to a dead stop. And no one gets mad. That’s what happens when masses of people get a chance to hear a message of peace from a group of monks...

I don’t know when I heard the phrase for the first time - “When the student is ready the teacher appears.” I do know I didn’t have much of a clue what it really meant until much later. I guess you don’t know until you know. Another pithy quote that’s familiar and took a while to understand.  It takes some work and willingness, but I’ve found that over the years it’s more clear to me more quickly j...

For dogs mindfulness isn’t really a thing. Mostly because it’s just how they are. It’s the very foundation of their existence.  Humans, however? Not so much.  In another episode inspired by the Venerable Monks and the Walk for Peace , a discussion of mindfulness - specifically as it relates to the happy horsesh*t concept of multi-tasking. Which, by the way, turns out isn’t really a thing. Whether...

I don’t want to ruin the humor of the story - but let’s just say that in this week’s episode, I share wisdom from Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara (the monk who initiated the recent Walk for Peace across the US). That wisdom has to do with bathrooms, toilets, lovers … and the dangers of multi-tasking. It has to do with how a mind that multi-tasks is like a dirty mirror in the bathroom . I’ll leave it t...

Boy do I wish the episode were an actual interview with Aloka.  No doubt he’d have magnificent wisdom to share. Who’s Aloka? Great question. If you didn’t follow the recent Walk for Peace - he’s the dog who accompanied the Venerable Monks on their journey . They found him on another walk - that one in India. He was a stray and now he lives with Bhikkhu Pannakara at their Temple in Fort Worth, TX....

Peace, doesn’t sell.  We may click on kindness, but overall cash follows cruelty.  If it bleeds, it leads. That famous practice (allegedly started by an editor of The Miami Herald in Miami, FL) for “real” media. Take away any guardrails media used to have in place (things like verifying content before publication, being mindful of impact of what they publish) and go to the cesspool of “citizen” jo...

No small irony that sh*t in some shape or form has dominated this year’s episodes. Quite a lot of crap in the world these days. This week, it’s a look at crap in - crap out. How I start a thing, is how I continue a thing. This relates to many things - relationships, production quality and … dog training. With this episode’s big milestone - EPISODE 200 - it felt appropriate to consider a topic that...

Emotional Support Animals are bullsh*t.  I said it. If you’re feeling a certain way about what I’ve just said - defensive, perhaps - this episode is definitely for you. This is about emotional self-regulation, about how animals can and do serve the purpose of supporting us emotionally, but not by slapping a vest on them so that we can justify taking them places. CLARIFICATION - this is NOT about l...

Just saw a video the other day. It was one of those “man on the street” things. The interviewer was asking passers-by what they thought of statements that had been made by a specific political person. Their responses - categorically rejected all of it  Then the interviewer course corrected. Turns out the quotes they were sharing were not from the person they’d said. The quotes were actually from t...

Not sure whether this is just a human thing or a particularly American/Western thing these days, but it sure feels like there’s a whole lot of overcorrection going on. And yet, there also are times where it feels like a more substantive response is warranted, but for some reason, it’s just not there. The phrase - using a Band Aid on something that needs a tourniquet - landed in my ear the other da...

Last week I talked about stepping in sh*t. This week is about cleaning that sh*t up. Literally. If the metaphor of stepping in a pile of dog poop is metaphor for responsibility, then what does it mean to avoid tracking it around, cleaning it up and - most of all - paying attention to where I’m walking so I don’t step in it in the first place. Perhaps an odd way to start of 2026, but there you have...

Admit it. You’ve done it. We’ve all done it at some point. Stepped in sh*t.  And yes, I mean literally. It’s that random pile of poop (usually and hopefully from a dog) that was hidden in the grass, or just somewhere you didn’t expect it. Next thing you know - that undeniable sensation of it under your foot. This may seem a strange topic to, dare I say, dump as the first episode of the year. Or ma...

Okay. I’ll say it. Holiday season is a challenge. Whether things are joyful or not, it’s an intense time of year. Ironic, since from a work perspective so many folks check out before the Thanksgiving turkeys are even in their brine. Whether it’s the Cadillac problems of what to buy or the deeper challenges of folks who wondering if they’ll have a home in which to live or food on the table - it’s a...

Last week on the podcast I talked about Angels - or at least people who seem to be placed especially in our paths.  That got me to thinking. Specifically about another instance that took place not long ago at one of my favorite spots - Wegman’s. It wasn’t about groceries, it was about a moment of kindness. A moment that has me thinking that this whole angel thing? Maybe it’s not about special bein...

Are angels real? Okay, before you think I’ve blown a gasket or that the fulcrum has tipped way too far into the woo woo, rest easy. I am not hallucinating. But I have been having a series of pretty mind blowing interactions. Interactions with complete strangers whose presence in my life definitely is not a mistake. They’re people whose paths cross with mine, and the words they say seem to be eithe...