Interfaith Conference recap
Rochester, NY 11:11 AM I was asked to write a recap of the interfaith conference I attended June 23 – 25. Here is the article for Nazareth College’s Hickey Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue blog that covers the Sacred Texts and Human Contexts conference. It was very interesting. http://blogs.naz.edu/shafiq/2013/07/sacred-texts-and-human-contexts-conference.html
Read MoreParents Road Trip
Fredericksburg, VA 9:43 PM My computer and I are at the back corner of the hotel bar. Captain and Coke is our companion. A few guests of different age ranges are milling about. My parents are at the room getting ready for bed. A platinum blonde woman has looked over at me a few times haha. As we get older, life gets faster. For me, that means the opportunity to spend quality time with my parents has gone down. I currently live in the same city as them, so we usually have Sunday dinner. I may see them once more during the week. And we are always together over the holidays. But I don’t get...
Read MoreA good blip…
Rochester, NY 11:25 PM It’s been a busy day (two interviews to start and end the day, and emails along with phone calls). My brain is full and I’m tired (but I’m typing). I had a breakfast interview with a friend of mine from high school. It was very interesting to talk with him. Back in the day we ran in similar, but not the same, circles. He isn’t someone I’ve stayed in contact with on a routine basis over the years, but he is someone I was always glad to see when I’d bump into him. I didn’t know much about his life since high school other than what I heard from mutual...
Read MoreGo time
Rochester, NY 10:20 AM The time is now. Today is the day. I’m about to unveil the book website (and video) to my network as well as the Facebook and Twitter world. Sharing new ideas and projects is incredibly exciting, but also a little nerve-wracking. It’s January 31, 2013. Let’s see what kind of ripple we can make.
Read MoreBye for now
Charlotte, NC 8:02 AM Being a traveler, the starts to a visit are always filled with such anticipation, excitement and potential. The end of the trip always brings the downer of saying goodbye (today I have to return the rental car [VW Passat = nice] and catch my return flight). Charlotte has been great. I spent a lot of time with my aunt, uncle, cousin and his two girls. We went bowling (I rolled one game = sub 100 = frustration), chowed down on an awesome dim sum feast and I even stepped out of my comfort zone to take on one of the girls in Just Dance on the Wii (she won – and they posted...
Read MoreTime
Charlotte, NC 9:10 AM Time does not stop. It’s hard to believe that it was 2004 when I packed up a storage shed and my car to go on the road. Every time I come back to Charlotte, I am filled with all sorts of emotions. Gratitude for the adult that I became while living here. Awe at all that I have been able to experience since going on the road. Happiness for my friends I met when I was here. Joy for the couples who met when I was here and have since gotten married and had kids. Smiles at the growth of their kids and my cousin’s kids. And, I must say, there is a little bit of what-if in...
Read MoreSnowball
Charlotte, NC 10:22 AM It’s fun to be back on the hunt for interviews. A few years ago, IamOntheRoad.com got passed all around the country (and some pockets of the world). This caused my inbox to get the always cool emails that included, “I know someone you should interview…” Just to name a few, those emails took me to NASA to interview an astronaut. To meet the founder of the 401k program. To Arkansas and their first ever female Supreme Court Chief Justice. And to talk with the Founder of Jet Blue airlines. My training and career in sales has been a huge help for this part of the...
Read MoreSo far, so good
Rochester, NY 6:15 PM My brain and my gut are revved up. I’m getting exposed to all sorts of great stuff: Interfaith, Islam, Hindu, and biblical interpretation just to start. As I get into it, this project is seeming to be bigger than I imagined. The first book (Love Your 84,000 Hours at Work) was pretty broad (people who love their career), but it had one central theme (work). On the Spiritual Road has one central theme – religion, but learning about and then explaining 12 of them is not going to be simple. Each religion seems to have so much depth to them. And branches. Yet, I know and...
Read MoreA familiar place
Rochester, NY 4:24 PM I just got back to my office after conducting the first interview for my new book. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve sat down with someone and had my ears as wide open as I can make them. The meeting took place at Nazareth College with Dr. Muhammad Shafiq. He runs the Interfaith Studies area and is also a local Imam. Prior to a few weeks ago, I didn’t know the word interfaith. Now I see it as a growing word, idea and way of life. I’m not sure how textbook this is, but I gather interfaith to mean trying to learn and understand other religions. I think it also...
Read MoreBook Title…
Rochester, NY 12:22 PM It’s one thing to have an idea in your head. It’s another thing to share it publically. But, in the spirit of Rochester, NY’s PBS TV station’s tagline, “Go Public,” — it’s time. The new book I’m going to research and write is called, “On the Spiritual Road: Seeking Faith and Religion in the United States.” My first book, “Love Your 84,000 Hours at Work,” shared the stories of how people came to find a career they loved. This book will explain the stories of how people came to find a religion they love, why they believe what they believe and...
Read MoreInformation about the Journal
If you are wondering why there is such a time gap in the Journal you are correct. There are in fact a lot more journal entries from 2008 – 2012. But, the website host we had been using crashed in August of 2012 and all data was lost. We are trying to piece the Journal back together. You may also notice some missing entries from 2004 to 2007. We are also working on bringing those back online. I feel lucky to have been able to re-capture approximately 500 Journal entries, but losing everything was most definitely a bummer. I guess it did allow us to revamp the website. More to come....
Read MoreRotary
Strongsville, OH 9:15 AM It’s great to be back at Angel House. This place totally relaxes me and gets my creative juices flowing. Carol, the owner of Angle House, and Larry and Amy, two local real estate moguls who have an office on site, are big into the Rotary here and I just got back from a meeting. I am normally not too big on 7 AM meetings, but I gave a brief talk to the group last September and wanted to make a return visit. I am as far from a morning person as you can get, but I remembered the laughter and positive energy from my talk and wanted to experience it again. They didn’t...
Read MoreLoss
Fairport, NY 9:16 AM It is rare when something on CNN.com comes from your backyard. And in most cases, it’s probably not a good thing when it does. If you were to go there right now, you’d have to get past the joke that is Paris Hilton and find the headline that is making my stomach churn as I type this: Cheerleaders killed in fiery head-on crash. On Tuesday night nine girlfriends who had just graduated high school left their homes and drove to a cottage for some summer fun the next day. Five of the girls didn’t make it. Four of the girls had to watch the horrible car crash unfold...
Read MoreNew Fork
2:43 PM The day before a trip is always busy. Today, I woke up early to avoid the midday heat and hit the beach, raking and cleaning up leaves and sticks for the 4th of July Party. There is still a lot to do on that front. I think I mentioned last week I’m doing some management consulting at a company (based on book #2). That is a full bore project that is occupying a lot of my brain. And I’ve been preparing for a new fork in my road. A few weeks ago I was asked to visit Berea, OH, (just south of Cleveland) this upcoming weekend and share my story and those of my interviewees with high...
Read MoreActivity
11:36 AM It’s funny I wrote about kids a few days ago. Yesterday my door bell rang and standing there was a one of my boys from high school days. In his arms was his beautiful four month old daughter. She must have thought I was funny looking because every time she looked at me she smiled or laughed. This of course put me into a trance. He also told me another one of our guys’ wife had a baby boy last week. It is amazing to see your friends and their kids. It’s been a busy week for me. I started doing some management consulting work with a company outside of Rochester. That puts...
Read MorePicnic’s
Rochester, NY The summer in the northeast is off and running. The weather has been ideal, upper 70′s and lower 80′s with abundant sunshine. Seeing the sun and being outside is a wonderful thing for the mindset. It was a weekend of gatherings. The first was a birthday party for one of the people that is going to be in my book, Brad VanAuken. This was a birthday party unlike any I have been to. I would describe it as high class. The party took place in the backyard of he and his fiancé’s (the mitrologist) house. The house is tucked away in deep woods. A six piece jazz band played...
Read MoreBirthday
Rochester, NY 4:03 PM Today is my birthday. I am 32. That doesn’t seem right. I sure don’t feel it. Those more experienced than me say that’s how it works. And they say the years go faster and faster. This one didn’t seem overly fast. And I have to say I enjoyed it. I just came inside from chilling on the beach. The forecast said low 80′s. There is a slight breeze. And prior to that I was on the golf course with my dad, his friend Dave, and my friend Dave. Later is steak dinner with the family and then ice cream cake. Birthdays = Reflection for me. Since...
Read MoreDreams Become Careers
3:42 PM I’m focusing on getting my book website up and running, so my time is short. A friend just passed me this link. It is perfect; all about people making the dream of loving their job reality. Check it out: Dreams Become Careers
Read MoreSore
Rochester, NY 9:52 AM My body is reminding me that I am not a jogger. 3.5 miles is not that long, but when you haven’t trained other than cardio machines at the gym, your body will speak to you. My thighs feel the burn and stretching isn’t helping. My back feels like I’ve been punched a few times. It’s weird, my arms even had an ache to them when I woke up. But last night was a lot of fun. The team I was on had 8 of us, six ladies and two guys. It had been 5th grade since I ran in a distance race, and there weren’t 10,000 entrants to that one, so I wasn’t sure...
Read MoreChase Corporate Challenge
Rochester, NY 3:12 PM I have 20 minutes before I load up my car and take off for the Chase Corporate Challenge. This is a huge event that is geared to raise money for charity. This is my first year, but I’m pretty excited to part of a worldwide thing. Check out the cities on the list. Mar 1 Johannesburg May 3 Singapore May 24 Chicago May 31 Rochester Jun 7 Buffalo Jun 13 Frankfurt Jun 20 & 21 New York Jun 26 Syracuse Jun 28 Boston Jul 11 & 12 London Sep 19 San Francisco Oct 6 Championship Nov 14 Sydney The event is a 3.5 mile run. In Rochester there are supposed to be over...
Read MoreMcNair
Little Rock/Memphis 11:42 PM I am back in Memphis. It was another busy day, starting with packing all of my gear. After all of these miles and experiences, you’d think I would’ve gotten it down to a science, but packing with the “just in case” philosophy makes things cumbersome. I loaded everything up, said goodbye to Gary’s place and headed toward my alma mater, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. We call it UALR. Driving around campus and parking in my fraternity house lot always sends me down memory lane. So many great friends and images. It also makes me think of how...
Read MoreAnother Library
Little Rock, AR Because where I’ve stayed does not have an internet connection, this is getting posted later. 11:48 PM This gets typed in the house of Gary, a friend from college where I’ve been calling home this week. I am spent after a great day. It started by packing both work and golf clothes for the day and heading towards the Riverwalk, which is where many new bars and restaurants are located. I wasn’t going to hit the bar scene at 9 AM, I was going to visit the rather new William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum. After getting lost for a few minutes, I drove...
Read MoreLibrary
Little Rock, AR 4:36 PM CST I type this from a library in the Chenal area of Little Rock, AR. Earlier today I gave a talk with close to 25 employees of a mortgage company in a meeting room of the library. Whenever you speak to a group of business people, you never know how things will go. In this case, the audience was not only managers, but 95% of the company. As I began my presentation and we went around the room doing introductions, I knew this would be a good group. Their culture was relaxed and friendly, this came across in the intros and set me right at ease. Our two hours together went...
Read MoreTrip Tik
ROC – MEM – LIT 8:50 AM The day before a trip is always busy and today is no different. I can hear the washing machine going downstairs, my to do list continues to go in the wrong direction, and the always important final walk throughs on my power points await. I am always excited to get back on the road and this time is no different. I may be more pumped because I feel like I have been cooped up for a while. Some of my friends would laugh at that comment, but going from the activity I was used to and the sporadicity of now, it’s different. The first leg of the trip is...
Read MoreJourney Home
Rochester, NY 7:31 PM I just got back from visiting Journey Home, which is a hospice house located in Rochester, NY. I must be inspired to share because the Sabres are on. I am in my office with a radio playing the audio of the game. A hospice is what dicitonary.com says is a health-care facility for the terminally ill that emphasizes pain control and emotional support for the patient and family, typically refraining from taking extraordinary measures to prolong life. My dad is on the Journey Home board and I volunteered to create a power point presentation that they can use in their...
Read MorePlaces You’ll Go
3:01 PM The mother of my godson sent me an email today. Normally if someone said they thought about you as they read a Dr. Seuss book to their son, it might not sound that great. But she said, “…it made me think of you. How you are in the waiting place…. But soon you will find the place where Boom Bands are playing!” I have never read “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” by Dr. Seuss before, but I just Googled it and found what I’m guessing is a copyright infringement cut and paste online. I may be breaking the copyright law as well, but my guess is a lot of...
Read MorePoem
5:55 PM I just got back from the gym and am in the midst of getting ready for the weekend. As I prepare to shut down the office, I’m looking at a poem I was given this week. It’s a good one that fits many facets of life. Take the easier, no that’s not right, less resistant makes more sense, path that most people take or a more difficult road where you are more on your own? I have this poem partially quoted on my book website. Yes, I have a website for my book. It is not live just yet. It will go out to everyone once things move forward and a definitive final product is in place. I think...
Read MoreUK
Rochester, NY 9:55 AM Yesterday was a busy one. I am currently hosting Charles, in the U.S. via just south of London, England, I believe Surrey. I met his Buffalo host on Tuesday in Batavia, NY for dinner and drop off. I had two meetings yesterday so he chose to be dropped off at the mall. My first meeting was with someone very special to me, my coach from a while back. I still consider her my coach because I continue to apply a lot of what she taught me. It had been at least 18 months since we had sat down together one on one. This was informal, on the patio of an Atlanta Bread Company. It...
Read MoreLilac
Rochester, NY —Read UK before this one— 11:46 PM Why is that when you host people from out of town, you tend to do things you normally wouldn’t? On a Thursday, there is no way I would’ve done all that we did. I went for the first time to the Greece, NY History Museum. The guide gave Charles and I our own tour. He was most intrigued by the old 8 mile trolley. I was most intrigued by the old maps that showed where my ancestors used to own huge amounts of land. After that I drove into the heart of downtown Rochester and played tour guide while Charles videotaped. He...
Read MoreWeekend
Rochester, NY 11:10 AM It was a strange weekend. The weather in Rochester was beautiful with sunny skies and temperatures in the 60′s. Sunny skies only help your outlook on the day. I’ve been very into the NHL hockey playoffs, in particular, with the Buffalo Sabres. They are 60 minutes from here and would qualify as the local team. They are the ones on the front page of the sports section. Friday night was a classic game. With the score 0-0 and 3 minutes to go, the NY Rangers scored to take the lead. My friends and I were not feeling too confident as the clock got to 16 seconds....
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