What I’m working on
My master’s degree in counseling
I’m currently working full time toward my master’s degree in mental health counseling at the University of Southern Maine. It’s a three-year program; I’m trying to see if I can do it in two-and-a-half. When I graduate I’ll be conditionally licensed as a professional counselor (LCPC). It’s a somewhat new but rapidly growing profession specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness via talk therapy.
This website
I registered the dot-com version of my name years ago. It wasn’t until 2022 that I decided to put something here. Although I made a good-faith effort at the time to publish a few things, my momentum waned until now. I know blogs aren’t really a thing anymore. In fact, it’s highly unlikely this website is nothing more than an exercise in intellectual masturbation. I guess my thinking is that, in my absence on social media, this will be my online home for the time being. If somebody is curious about what I’ve been up to, they can find some clues here.
What I’m reading
Books
A Life of Meaning: Relocating Your Spiritual Center of Gravity by James Hollis, PhD
I forget who recommended this to me, but this ranks among my favorite self-help books I’ve read (and I’ve read a lot of them!) The author, James Hollis is a Jung Institute-trained therapist who shares a captivating framework for “regrounding” yourself and facing your future with purpose and without fear. It’s perfect for anyone in a period of transition, healing from trauma or loss, or contemplating aging. That said, I think this book will benefit anyone who reads it.
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
Timothy Snyder is a Yale professor who has spent his career studying fascism in the twentieth century. In this brief, easily digestible book, Snyder offers strategies to survive and resist the rise of authoritarianism happening right now in the United States. At once terrifying and hopeful, this book makes one thing clear: The choice is up to us.
What I’m listening to
Podcasts
I don’t have a daily commute and prefer silence when I walk. These are good things, but one consequence is that don’t listen to as many podcasts as I’d like.
Recently I’ve been enjoying certain episodes of Peter Attia’s The Drive. Although Dr. Attia is known a longevity guru, his episodes run the gamut from technical medial discussions to more approachable interviews on mental health and even getting the most out of your money throughout your life. I’ve been skeptical of the obsession over optimizing for a longer lifespan. I think it’s silly to trade significant time and enjoyment now for an increased likelihood (but no guarantee) of more time in old age. But I am very interested in optimizing for what Attia calls healthspan — ensuring you get the most out of the years you have.
Episodes I highly recommend are:
- #321: Dopamine and addiction: navigating pleasure, pain, and the path to recovery with Anna Lembke, M.D., author of Dopamine Nation
- #315: Life after near-death: a new perspective on living, dying, and the afterlife with writer Sebastian Junger
- #237: Optimizing life for maximum fulfillment with author Bill Perkins
Music
Because my band, DadBod, covers 90s/2000s rock, I’ve been on a nostalgic kick of late. Amazingly, my eldest daughter Molly is a budding guitarist and has discovered a taste for Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Weezer all on her own. Certainly they would be uncool if I had suggested them.
I’m dabbling in some soul music including Bill Weathers and Sly and the Family Stone to hone my bass chops. And I’m late-to-the party discovering Caamp and Billy Strings. I love both Americana and bluegrass and have noticed both bands have a loyal followings here in Maine.
And of course, the entire Maine Weliver family has become Guster groupies thanks to local guitarist Adam Gardner and their annual On the Ocean festival. Two shows in 2023. Three in 2024. Four in ’25?’ We’ll see.