Friday, March 27, 2026
What will your future circumstances look like? Dive into your inner soupiness, now. My inner world was empty, foul, and grimy. Great unease was within me. I was full of emptiness, then my exterior condition collapsed.
It was a beautiful day, several years ago, when I sat on the porch reflecting on my life. Wine glass in hand, evening sun setting over the horizon. I realized I “had it all.” I had a great career, two high-paying jobs, cars, a home, and a spouse. We’d traveled everywhere and were “on the go.” We were getting a new, state-of-the-art building at my school, and things were improving. My checkboxes were full, but my heart was utterly empty. All my boxes were checked, and my emptiness echoed within me.
Emptiness marks a beginning. From that inner void, I experienced more loss, the death of two good friends. COVID disrupted our lives. I experienced a bitter divorce. I lost interest in music. I quit both jobs. My emptiness inside turned inside out. I started voluntarily giving things away. Purging. Dying. Decaying. Circumstances became quiet—crickets.
Before you’ll ever learn fulfillment, the external will dim. Losing weight might be part of this journey. Giving things and money away will be another. Death and loss of all kinds is near. To prove what? You are not made of “stuff.” Or a story.
Checking boxes is not fulfilling. I didn’t have “a life,” I AM life. Life is not linear storytelling. Something greater within you will be reflected in your externalities. The fullness of life is within, first. Then it shines outwardly.
If you want a better future, lose the box-checking collection of “me.” Check in with life, don’t just “check it off.” Check off the checklists, clear it up, and see the miracle of change unfold before your eyes.