by Max Sirak Step-by-step, breath-by-breath, thought-by-thought, our feet carry us toward our future. (How Things Find Us, Kevin Dann) All of our contact with the world starts with our feet… (Yoga Ranger Studio, Aprille Walker) They are our vehicle. They move us in any direction we choose. They are the first impression we make. They…

by Max Sirak As we approach the end of the year, it’s that time again. Not to flip the page to the next month, but to buy a new calendar. (Who am I kidding? It’s probably only me and your grandmother who still uses paper wall calendars…) And also to reflect.  I learned a lot…

by Max Sirak Recently I embarked on an unexpected and enlightening adventure. I went to Las Vegas with four of my oldest friends to see some music. The band, Phish, was playing for a four night run at the MGM Grand’s Garden Arena and we decided to meet up and attend. It also happened to…

by Max Sirak Last fall, after a day spent hiking around the neighborhood, I ended up back on my porch with my buddy, Chef Mike. We were drinking beers and chatting about life. We covered a lot of ground. Both in our walks and our talks that day. Mike was getting ready to move. He’d…

by Max Sirak One of the things I love about sports is they’re a low-stakes environment in which to practice high-stakes skills. For most people, most of the time, the results of a sporting match don’t affect the long-term quality of their lives. This is what I mean by “low-stakes.” In the grand scheme and…

by Max Sirak This month, in the midst of my grief and loss, I decided to self-medicate. No, not like that. I didn’t go on some sort of drug-fueled bender.  Nor did I delve the depths of the bottle. Instead, I took some of my own medicine. What I mean is, throughout my life, whenever…

by Max Sirak I’m pretty crappy at taking my own advice. Back in November of 2016 I wrote a column titled “What To Do With Our Expectations.” In it I wrote about the importance of not judging events by their outcomes and I outlined a strategy for doing so. But it turns out, surprising no…

by Max Sirak It turns out you learn a lot when you write a book. This may seem counterintuitive. Perhaps you think, “Well, that’s dumb. If you write a book about something you should already be an expert on it.” That’s a fair way to feel and thing to say. However, my situation is slightly…

by Max Sirak Long before it ever even occurred to me to be a writer, I accidentally adopted the quirks and habits of one… If one sits in my dining room, they can see it. There is literal writing on my wall. What once stood empty, with its deep red paint, is now plastered with…

by Max Sirak For the better part of a year I’ve been working with a behavioral and family play therapist. No. Not like that. I’ve been helping her write her book. Because, it turns out, for writers undaunted by long term projects, ghostwriting is a fairly lucrative freelance option. At least, as far as keeping…

by Max Sirak (Look…er…Listen! It's a free audio version for all you on-the-go…) Conversations are like sex. There's a safe and unsafe way to go about them. Today I'm going to share with you a way to protect yourself against unwanted communicational repercussions. But, before we get there, I'd like to take a moment to…

by Max Sirak John Perry Barlow (JPB for short) died earlier this month. And, in honor of his passing, but more in remembrance of his life, I want to dedicate my little sliver of cyberspace, a realm he was passionate about, to highlight three pieces of his writing and thought. First, a political document; second,…

by Max Sirak "If you wish to be happy, Eragon, think not of what is to come nor of that which you have no control over but rather of the now and of that which you are able to change." (Christopher Paolini, Brisingr) "I believe that humans are primarily driven to seek greater happiness, but…