Birthdays (And Other Days) Should Be More Like Funerals
byI went to a memorial for the son of some friends this past weekend. He was a climber and a skier, and died in…
essays
12 Ways To Help The World Feel Less Hopeless
byDon’t argue with people on the internet. Use your car horn to communicate with other drivers for emergencies, not to communicate your frustration with…
I Gave Up Coffee For Three Months And This Is What I Learned
byIf you talk to people about drinking coffee, they will often say things like “I just love the ritual of making coffee,” or “I…
The Case For Giving A Shit
byHilary and I drove four hours to stand on a gravel road north of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, for two minutes of magic on Monday. A…
Flake On Me Once … Actually, Just Don’t Flake.
byA couple weeks ago, a friend shared an opinion piece by David Brooks titled The Golden Age of Bailing. The first comment was someone…
Dear New Guy At The Climbing Gym:
byDear New Guy At The Climbing Gym, or lady running around the track at the park for the first time, or person trying out…
I Believe In Inertia
byIt happened again yesterday, like it always does, about three-quarters of the way through my run: I started to try to talk myself out…
Use Microaffection To Help Make The World Suck Less
byI tried counting all the ways someone could contact me the other day, and I stopped at 22 different methods. That includes e-mail, Twitter,…
Find A Way Around—Or Through
byA few years ago I was at a coffee shop and I started chatting with the guy next to me about what I do…
Happiness Is Your Backyard Trail
byI plodded my way up the Hayden Trail, headed up toward my fifth “summit” of the day as the sun coasted downward. I had…
I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind
by“A lot of the young doctors I hire work for me for a year or so and then they want to get out and…
Wind, You Jerk
byMy friend Jayson and I were out trail running on Saturday, for long stretches exposed to a 50 mph wind. It was the kind…
The Currency Of Friendship
byAt 5:55 a.m. Denver is dark and fairly quiet as Syd and I have an excited conversation about new movies we’ve seen as we…
The Coffee Drinker’s Guide To Being Present
byAbout five years ago, my friend Tommy told me what I thought was an insignificant thing: that he’d taken a ceramic mug to his…
Make 2017 The Year Of Maximum Enthusiasm
byNote: I first wrote and published this post on December 29, 2011, calling it “Make 2012 The Year Of Maximum Enthusiasm.” Every year around…
The Top 10 Semi-Rad Posts From 2016
byNo matter what you think of 2016, from “Wow, I’m glad it’s over soon,” to “It just flew by,” you can agree on one…
Here’s The Thing About Women:
byHere’s the thing about women: It is possible for a woman to be stronger than you. It is possible for a woman to be…
Dear Phone, I Love You
byDear Phone: I love you. I mean, not in that Joaquin Phoenix-falling-in-love-with-his-operating-system way. But maybe in the I’d-probably-hug-you-if-I-hadn’t-seen-you-in-a-few-weeks-and-we-finally-got-together-for-coffee kind of way. I mean, I…
Hate Crowds? You Are Crowds.
byLast Monday, my mom and I stood behind a fence at Arches National Park and took a couple photos of Landscape Arch, the longest…
The Best Pizza Slice In America
byThe Q train clicks and groans across the Manhattan Bridge, half-full of passengers on their way to Brooklyn on a Saturday afternoon, everyone’s eyes…
Get Your Autumn On!
byThat’s right, it’s fall, aka autumn, aka your favorite season, that fleeting changing of colors, temperatures, clothing layers, and footwear for northern hemisphere humanoids….
Remembering Kyle Dempster: Alpinist, Barista, Superhero, Regular Guy
byI was sitting at the counter of Higher Ground in Salt Lake City back in 2012, tapping away on my laptop, and I overheard…
Out Of Office AutoReply: I’m In Nature
byThanks for your email. I took the morning/afternoon/day off to ride my bike, or go rock climbing, or go for a jog in the…
On ‘Fear Disguised As Practicality’
byOn all the stops on my book tour this year, I show a slide that’s a list of reasons people don’t do things: bad…
The Subtle Art Of Picking Up The Check
byI sat at the counter of a Mexican restaurant in Pinedale, Wyoming, a couple Saturdays ago, and watched two guys in their 40s approach…
Joe Calls It A Day
byMy dad, Joe, retires today, after 41 years of work at one company and about two years of worrying if he’d have enough money…
Scenes From A Book Tour
byI’m about halfway through my talk in the community room at the REI store when I see the two guys sitting with their eyes…