https://3speak.tv/watch?v=bozz/dkqwshws
I've gotta say, it's been a heck of a morning already. My wife and I were getting ready to head to work when we hopped in the truck (the car is still out of commission due to hitting the deer), and my dashboard indicated we had a low tire.

I jumped out of the truck and walked around in the dark to check it out. Sure enough, there is a big fat bolt punched right through one of the rear tires. With a morning starting like that, it's only appropriate that I am posting another minute of mindfulness post.

Clearly we made it into work okay, and I have a plan to get the tire taken care of, but that's actually not what this post is about.

You might have noticed the title is "Less is more", and that's what I actually want to talk about today.

Back during the last bull run I was doing some contract work for a blockchain company. They invited me to do some technical writing work for them. Despite the fact that I have been writing here on Hive for five years or more, it was a bit of a struggle for me.

My eloquence that I have honed over years here on the blockchain didn't transition very well to the tecnhical side of things. That style of writing requires concise, clear, less wordy writing.

To be honest, I failed at it pretty hard, but I never forgot what the expectations were. Since the last bull, I have had several occasions where I needed to write something for work and I have leaned on the lessons I learned during that time attempting to technical write.

Of course, here on Hive, you can do whatever you want. It's your blog. If you want to be wordy, go ahead and be wordy. With most of my posts clocking in over 1000 words, it's pretty clear that I don't take my own advice.

Despite that, I still think it is important to review what you are writing and see if there is a way you can say it more effectively. Can you say the same thing with less words? Do the words you choose add anything to what you are trying to say?

Remember, Less is more.

Except of course when more is more, I think we can all agree that more Hive in our accounts would not be a bad thing.

That "less is more" doesn't just apply to writing either. Sometimes it can apply to the words you choose, the things you do, or the feelings you feel. I'm not saying to shut down into a complete introvert, but sometimes quite literally, less is more.

I'm a fixer, it's the way I was raised. If I see a problem, there is a part of me that is drawn to fix it. Take that flat tire for example. I already have a plan in place to get that resolved within the first half of my morning.

Likewise, whenever @mrsbozz comes to me with an issue, my mind immediately goes to ways I can fix it. That's not always what she wants though. Sometimes she just wants me to listen. I'm still learning to do that. Less is more.

Make sense now?

The video this morning comes oncea gain from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was taken in the Porcupine Mountains overlooking Lake of the Clouds. This is a pretty high tourist area, so it's amazing that I was able to get a full minute video without anyone interrupting it.

If you listen closely, you might hear some birds chirping, which I thought added a bit more clam to the video.

Go ahead and watch the video again if you did already. Take a minute to think, reflect, pray, meditate, whatever helps you. Just remember to stop and let things go for that minute. Recenter, refresh, refocus.

Less is more.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=bozz/ebsmfsmf
I don't know about you, but I've been noticing alot lately that people have this incessant need to place blame for their lot in life or any other bad thing that happens to them.

I'm not talking about the big things or the elephants in the room right now, it's even the little everyday things that people just can't seem to handle.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes there is absolutely someone to blame for the horrible things that are happening in this world, but then again, sometimes crappy things just happen.

I'd be lying if I said it doesn't seem to be generational. It absolutely does. I also don't want to imply that we were once made of tougher stuff, but this need to play the blame game just feels like you are handcuffing yourself.

I was reading a news story the other day where someone got hit on the side of the road. There was a lot more to the story of course, but the part that really stuck out to me was the fact that the parents of the girl that got hit were suing the driver that hit her.

Just for a little bit of background, I'm pretty sure the girl that got hit was drunk, so there was some deficit there. Meanwhile this door dash driver is minding his own business when suddenly this drunk lady stumbles out in front of him. He stopped, he called 911. He honestly did nothing wrong.

Yet the parents are suing the bar that over served their daughter (okay, I can maybe see that), and this driver. I've never lost anyone like that, so I probably should just keep my mouth back, but it's not going to bring her back, is it really going to make you feel better to ruin someone elses life? Will you feel vindicated? Validated?

I was having a conversation with someone the other day and I was really struck by the fact that people can't seem to handle the fact that life isn't fair. It's just something that they can't wrap their heads around.

Perhaps it's just the fact that he world is so broken these days. People are looking for a shred of fairness anywhere they can find it. I don't know, but it's a crutch that isn't doing anyone any good in my opinion.

I challenge you in your future conversations, really listen and see just how much people play the blame game. I'm sure I do it myself. Maybe it's always been this way. Perhaps now that I am older I just notice it more.

Additionally, maybe I am wrong to just accept the fact that sometimes crappy things happen. Perhaps if we were all a bit more worried about "fairness" this world would be a better place.

Yeah, I'm not buying that either.

This weeks Minute of Mindfulness comes to you from the Tahquamenon River in the upper peninsula of Michigan. This is what is considered the lower portion of the falls and it's only recently that the view you have above became accessible.

There is a small island that sits between two branches of the river with falls on either side of it. In the past you had to use a rowboat to get to this island, but recently they built a pedestrian bridge so anyone can access it.

I've been to these falls dozens of times through my life and this was the first time I can remember having a view from the other side of the island.

Perhaps next time we are starting down the path of playing the blame game we can take a quick minute and evaluate what we are really wanting or needing in that moment.

Will our next thought or sentence fix the situation or change it? What would this world be like if we could bypass the bitterness and resentment and just live each moment knowing life is unpredictable.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=bozz/bskwshyf
It was two or three days ago that I decided I was going to do another Minute of Mindfulness post today. Little did I know, I was the one that was going to need a bit of calm and relaxation this morning.

It all started with @mrsbozz's alarm going off at 4:15 AM this morning. That's actually the same time it goes off every weekday, so nothing unusual there. She decided that she wasn't going to get up and work out, and since I was still feeling a little sore from my workout on Monday and Tuesday, she didn't get much of an argument from me.

She snoozed it for another half hour and drifted off to sleep. Just about that time, our dog Jovi decided she need to go to the bathroom. All the way down the hall... It's not her fault, she is 14 years old and nerve damage in her back legs and rear make it so that she doesn't realize she has to go until it is actually coming out of her. Thankfully it is solid!

So I got up and cleaned up her mess, gave her the morning pill she gets, fed her, and put her out one more time. I crawled back into bed, but I was pretty much fully awake, so I just laid there thinking about what I had to get done today.

We eventually get up and start getting ready for work, and my wife mentions that she needs $5 for something. I tried to make a mental note of it and went on with getting dressed for work.

Fast forward a couple of minutes and we are in the kitchen getting our lunches and breakfast ready. I've never been properly diagnosed as ADHD, but my wife is a School Social Worker, so she has identified and worked with students who suffer from it for years. She has confirmed that I do indeed have some form of it.

I grab my wallet and put it in my pocket, then I start reaching for my keys. Only to remember that she needed $5. I pull my wallet out of my pocket, set the five dollars on the counter for her, put the wallet back in my pocket and start filling our water bottles.

Do you see where this is going?

@mrsbozz and I both work for the same school district, so we make the half hour ride to work together most days. We get to work and @mrsbozz says oh crap I forgot my key to get in the building. No problem, I have a key to every building in the district, so I reach into my pocket only to realize I also don't have my keys.

That break in my routine to give her the $5 totally messed me up and I never grabbed my office keys. She was able to get into her building, but I had to wait in the car for an hour for someone that had a key to get me into my office. There are only about five people in the district who have a key and none of them come in as early as me.

I finally found someone, I borrow their key, and then this happens:

I try to turn the key in the lock and instead of opening, the whole cylinder comes out in my hand. Luckily, my office has more than one door, so I was able to go to the other one and finally get in.

By now, I am a good hour behind on my regular morning Hive routine. I type up my 800 word post in 3Speak, hit the save button and wait for it to encode the video properly. Only to be given a message that the encoding failed and I can't find any way of republishing it. So here I am re-typing my 800 word post in what has been a very rough morning for me.

As I said, fitting that my post today is about mindfulness and taking a minute to find some inner peace.

The video above was taken on the shores of Lake Fanny Hooe in the Northernmost point of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Even today, the area is a pretty vast wilderness. Back when Fort Wilkins was established on the shores of the lake, it was even more so.

The military presence was there to help ensure the safety of the mining and fur trading operations that were taking place in that area of the state. A handful of soldiers, miners, trappers, Native Americans, and maybe a few civilians were basically stuck in the middle of nowhere.

As harsh as I know the winters get in this part of the state, part of me wonders what it must have been like to have lived there during that time. Isolated from the world, with a view like that to wake up to every morning. It's almost a dream come true right?

If you have had a rough morning like me, or a rough week, month, year... I hope you can take a moment and watch this video and find a bit of inner peace. Do some belly breathing (follow @ericvancewalton's blog for more info on that), and maybe reset yourself.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=bozz/ohifqgjm
A couple of years ago, my sister in law started or participated (I'm not sure which anymore) an inititive

Whenever @mrsbozz and I were on our travels we would keep an eye out for relaxing places where

I've been pretty clear about the fact that I don't normally do video content. I don't consider myself even a

Not to dox myself or anything.

The idea of taking a moment to just relax and clear your mind is pretty well known and accepted. My wife has

There has also been a lot of research into the benefits of "white noise" and now "brown noise" for helping with

In any event, I thought if I was going to dip my toes in the water with 3Speak, what better way than to share a

We spent the better part of our few days that weekend sitting by the lake and just watching the water and listening to the waves

Believe it or not, it's actually quite hard to get a solid one minute video without it being interrupted. The

Talk about frustrating!

I hope you enjoy this video. If I get a good response, it might not be the last one I do. Like I said, @mrsbozz and I

Despite my apprehension, there has always been something about creating video content that "tugs" at me.

Who knows, if I get comfortable doing this, you might actually see a proper video of me one day.

Don't hold your breath though!