Rob Tourtelot

Nowadays, there are four things that are gonna decide if I have a good day. Did I sleep enough? Did I connect deeply with people I love? Did I get some time to myself? Did I make choices for my body that felt good—like, did I take a good walk, did I eat healthy, did I exercise? If I get those four things in place, usually my days are pretty good.

The Swahili storytellers have this quote: “The story has been told. If it was bad, it was my fault, because I am the storyteller. But if it was good, it belongs to everybody.”

Joshua has written a memoir Down From the Mountain Top : He adds a note to readers: “altered minor details,” “changed or omitted names” and adds this wise advice: “To remember is to reconstruct and interpret and this is as truthful a story as my memory can tell.”

And I don’t think this situation resolves itself as you grow older. In fact, more people just die. Loss becomes the primary condition of living. That doesn’t mean you’re in a hopeless, grief-stricken state all the time; it just means that you carry a deeper understanding of what it is to be human.

Big questions interrupt the daily routines people fall into and prompt them to step back and see their life from a distance. Here are some of my favorite questions that do that: “What crossroads are you at?” At any moment, most of us are in the middle of some transition. The question helps people focus on theirs. “What would you do if you weren’t

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Relationships are mapped through the brain and body using three dimensions:

1. space


2. time


3. closeness (emotional)

Grief is a process of distancing and reordering our relationship from space, time, and closeness (for example, not expecting to see them at a certain time or place, etc.) in order to cope with loss.

“3 tips for getting started as a writer:

1. Publish on a schedule. Consistency develops ability.

2. Share your writing publicly. Writing is a magnet. It attracts like-minded people.

3. Write about what fascinates you. You don't need to be an expert. Curiosity leads to expertise.”