It all comes back to this...

After fumbling around in the dark like every other would-be digital content creator, I had to face myself in the void.

The truth is that I’ve been journaling for years…

• spiral-bound notebooks

• Microsoft Word files dating back to the late 90s

• platforms like Blogger and LiveJournal (remember those?)

I didn’t have the guts to share any of it, though.

It was all private. Personal. Secret stuff that I thought would make people run for the hills if they knew what I REALLY thought of the world (weirdo).

It’s ironic that’s where nearly all my writing comes from now...

You wanna know what brought about the shift?

Starting in my 20’s, I began to lose loved ones and mentors.

• My grandparents passed while I was going through graduate school.

• My first Tai Chi master passed as I began finding my way forward in my career.

• My second Tai Chi master, a foundation of our local community, died suddenly of a heart attack last year.

And recently, my father also had a heart attack that shook me to the very core of my aspirations here.

Each time, Death hops a little closer (yes, like that bunny in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”).

• From relatives on the other side of the world…

• To mentors who honed my physical and mental fitness…

• To the man who gave me half my genetic makeup and my foundational mindset.

Death doesn’t loom, it’s simply present, kinda like in “Meet Joe Black”.

Not menacing or anything, just a reminder of the inevitable…something I didn’t truly appreciate until I hit 40:

The weight of the living is that when it’s your turn, you better not have skipped leg day.

It’s a heavy burden. You either move forward with losses with or collapse under the strain.

And you must choose to carry them, each of them, within you.

You embody the lessons, the laughter, the ambitions...

The hope of those who chose to support you.

You are the prism, and the light of your mentors, family, and community flow through you…

• You can reflect on it and grow in your own way.

• You can hide it from others like I once did, fearing judgment.

• Or you can refract it out into the world, splitting it into a thousand colors, as I’m encouraging you to do now.

Your digital heirloom is not just your story. It includes all those passed down and entrusted to you.

You’ve got a choice.

Reconnect with your identity.

Achieve fulfillment with intentional execution.

Iterate on your message and improve yourself by sharing with others.

Congrats on making it through this welcome series.

If you feel like what I’m offering here is for you, stick around!

If not, feel free to unsubscribe right here, and thanks for allowing me into your inbox for a week. Life’s way too short to be clicking through emails just to get through the day!

Otherwise, I’m honored be here to share tools, prompts, and lessons to help you build your own legacy and digital footprint, one tip, one article, one tool at a time.

Because this isn’t about virality or being an influencer.

It’s about your digital signature and presence.

And by making it this far, your work is already beginning.