Brady's Blog

Why is it that the beginning of something is the most exciting part of something? Humans crave newness. The opening day of a new sports season. The first day of school. New Years. For a society that fears the unknown so much, there is a lot of weight placed on beginnings. Starting something new is symbolic of leaving something old behind. It could be a bad habit or an old relationship or even just a former version of self. This seems to be the most prevalent reason behind the excitement for newness. We want to leave our old selves behind.  Every day, month, or year could have a justification attached to it on why that day is so special and labeled as a day to start something new. Often the beginnings happen with no forethought or attention given at all. These non-meditated, organic beginnings are possibly the most beneficial. They carry far less stress than dissected inceptions. I once read a book called "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera. Talk about a spoiler alert. ...

Once upon a time, a young boy known for being a voracious reader entered the world of Goodreads.... Alright, alright, so when I started Goodreads I was not a voracious reader and even now I consider myself more a bookworm than a voracious reader. Don't ask me the difference because I have no concrete definition to go off of. I simply know that there are a lot of people out there who read a lot more than I do although I do love reading. I started on Goodreads eight years ago and have been rather active on there ever since. In the past two years, however, I have become enveloped in the community of readers that is there. I used to try to keep my reading to more the Classic novels and rarely go outside that genre. My lovely reading community finally helped me break out of my narrowness and now I really enjoy everything from nonfiction to historical fiction but I now have a special affinity toward Young Adult fiction. For one, it is easier to read. The stories are easy to follow ...

I've gotten away from writing more here and there has been a few reasons why. First, I felt an expectation to write posts that were deep and super meaningful. There were many times when I wanted to write but I couldn't think of anything "meaningful" or existentially deep so I just didn't write. Second, my readership here has been down and (as you may know) I often ask why I am writing or who I am writing for. I have felt that if no one reads what I write then what is the point of writing, especially in such a public space. What's the solution? I can honestly say I don't know but I am going to try something a bit new (even though I kinda tried it before a few years back). I'm going to write about what I like; what I want to write about. My passions. Yes, I do want to keep some of the inspirational or deep posts every so often, but it won't be every single post. What will you see more of? Small "c" culture. I learned in college that...

In times of stress, despair, confusion, complacency, or even depression it is beneficial to find something that is cathartic. In times of joy, excitement, or peace we try to find ways to remember or keep those moments alive. At the very lease we look for a way to replicate those moments. Writing in a journal can do both! Tonight, I found myself unable to sleep because of swirling thoughts an emotions. A mix of positive and negative flooded my mind and for the second night in a row my eyes were nearly too tired to open but my mind was wide awake. I pulled myself out of bed and forced my eyes open, put on some Broadway music to keep me awake and interested, and pulled out my journal. I have never been super consistent at writing in my journal but there was a time when I was able to talk about my day or even my week in beautiful detail while mixing in my mentality. Tonight, I reviewed the four most recent entries: July 2017. May 2018 (x2). December 2018. Prior to tonight, I had ...

Happy 30th Birthday to me!! It is a milestone birthday today and I think that a little reflection is needed. To make it easier for my aging brain, I'll just do it by decade. Age 0-10 I was a hyper little kid (if I remember it correctly). Almost all of my memories have me running or jumping or tumbling. I was relatively care-free and a pretty happy boy. The center of my life was gymnastics and trampolining. To this day they still hold a very special place in my heart. I started when I was either 3 or 4 years old which means that most of this decade was spent in a gym doing all sorts of magical maneuvers with my body. It was an amazing time. It was due to gymnastics that I learned discipline and the necessity of following the rules. In gymnastics, one false move and you get injured. Unfortunately, I had first-hand experience with that sad truth. It taught me a respect for the rules and helped me become rigid in routines. Somethings have to be done in certain ways and as a child ...

In an attempt to keep this post from becoming too petty or feisty, I am taking a bit of a step back and look objectively at something that has become a frustration for me. I really love writing and for a while I have been posting here on my blog so that I can share my thoughts with "the world". The frustration is that many of my recent posts have fell short in the readership category. Many people have come to me and expressed their appreciation for some of these posts so the dramatic drop in statistics was quite confusing. In thinking about this, I ended up taking some of my writing off line and began focusing on one question. Who is it for? When I write, there is a supreme satisfaction that I have within myself for the words I compose and the posts I build. There is an excitement to see my thoughts appear on my less-than-professional page that, flaws and all, is a place of pride for me. But also, I hold some investment in the responses of the masses. I share the link t...

This morning while I was getting ready for the day and as I was travelling between the few errands that I had to do, I decided to try to find some audio files of motivational speeches to try and reset and refresh my mind. If I haven't raved about Spotify before then here is yet another time that it had exactly what I was looking for. There is a full playlist curated by a user with the name Fearless Motivation that has 20 hours worth of 3-10min audio speeches with the sole goal of empowerment and motivation. As I have been listening to all of these different motivational clips, there are a few common themes that are coming through in almost every single one of them. Whether it actually is the basis for success or it is just the things that I clued into this time around, the message of two individual words rang so clearly to me that I had to write my thoughts out. What are the two words?  Capability and Control  Capability The term capability relates directly to ...

Wouldn't it be nice if you could get paid just for having an opinion? For whatever reason, my brain cannot stop thinking about this tonight and I am losing sleep so I have to write this out the best that I can. It also helps that I haven't posted here in far too long so it makes sense logically to finally post something. I have heard a saying once that said, "Opinions are like armpits, everyone has them and most of them stink." What I think is interesting is that there are people out there that have crafted the simple idea of having an opinion into a mode of funding an extravagant lifestyle. Critics. Food critics. Movie critics. Hotel critics. Book reviewers. You name the industry and it has its critics. How did these people manage to get people to pay them to stay at a hotel or eat their food and tell them everything they are doing wrong. The masses on Twitter can easily tell you everything you need to know about a place and they don't get paid for it. Wh...

As many of you know, music is one thing that really keeps me going, especially when the middle of the week hits and it's hard to make it through. I have found that when I start feeling down, sometimes I just need a good song stuck in my head or a great find on new music to improve my mood. Yesterday morning, I had the hardest time even listening to music. That's when I knew I was having a problem. Once I had finally conquered the workplace, I made an extra effort to dive into music to help turn my frown upside-down...and it kinda worked. This last weekend, I had a friend introduce me to the Chris Lake, a major EDM artist who has hit some of the biggest stages in the world including Coachella this year. I enjoy EDM music. It has never been my top genre but I like to make it a point to explore all genres and I am really glad that I found Chris Lake tonight. Normally I am partial to lyrical genius with a soulful melody. You know, those songs that you fearlessly belt out in...

When friends call me at one o'clock in the morning, I never answer. If they text, they'll be lucky if I hear it and even luckier if I respond. For what ever reason, not only was I awake but I saw my phone, read the texts, and was the one who made the phone call. When a friend is in crisis mode, it is only right to answer the call...or make the call in this case. The conversation centered around something I have been thinking about (and writing about) for a while now: How did I let my life end up here and what motivation can I give myself to make the necessary changes? The specifics of the conversation revolved around setting up a plan. Interestingly enough, I had a few other conversations throughout the day yesterday that were all about planning. An influential person in my life once said, "If you fail to plan, then you are planning on failing." I always thought that I took that seriously.....until now when I realize that I have had no plan...just dreams. Drea...

Many of you know that once upon a time I wanted to be a sports journalist. Since that time, things in my life have changed so much that I still am not sure exactly where my life is going to take me. Anywho, I was listening to ESPN radio at just the right time to hear a conversation that the two hosts were having regarding jobs and breaking into the industry. Their conversation was very generalized toward any job and how many people take some time to figure out what they want to do. Some people have a moment or a breaking point that pushes them to finally buckling down to find their occupational euphoria. They cited a podcast that I am currently listening to (That's What She Said with Sarah Spain) with guest Adam Amin who is a new star in the sports journalism community who exemplified the process of "making it". It is something that has gotten me thinking about the many nights that I have spent lying awake hating the job I am in (which has varied based on times in my ...

So many people love Christmas and Thanksgiving. I have heard a lot of people lately mention Halloween as their favorite. For me, I love the Fourth of July. While I have heard some mention it being their's also, it is not the front runner. But come on guys, what isn't to love? It's summer and barbecues and fireworks and colors and excitement and swimming and watermelon and lemonade and everything that is good in life. I love it so much that I decided to extend that holiday this year for four extra days. With the Fourth being on a Wednesday, it just felt awkward having a random day to celebrate so I took Thursday and Friday off of work and made the holiday so much better! To be honest, on the Fourth and the day after I didn't really do too much. On the Fourth, I attended the obligatory parade which, let's be honest, was a bit of a let down. Don't get me wrong parades are my favorite....beyond favorite, but a parade should not be a line of Ford F15...

As you may have noticed (or maybe I am arrogant and you haven't), I took a couple months away from the writing game. There are a few reasons for this, none that I will really get into too much at this time. Let's just stick with the simple explanation that things didn't go according to plan and I didn't feel super inspired much of the time...especially the last month. During the past couple months I have been more and more connected to my phone. Those of you who know me know that even before these past couple months, my phone has been inseparably connected to me. THIS IS BAD. My incessant need for human connection in the most inhuman form has become a major distraction. The things that I love (although my phone is an outlet for some) have fallen by the wayside and instead I am constantly watching my Snapchat and Messages  waiting for something to come through. I am constantly connected to Facebook and Instagram feeding off of what other people do instead of doing th...

One of my friends has been constantly reminding me lately that as we approach decisions in life, whether they are big or small, we must always make our choices based on our values. This has had me up late at night thinking on multiple occasions about what it is that I value and if I am living my life in accordance with my personal set of values. I value the building of relationships . Over the past three years (or so) I have made friends with individuals who have changed my life in major ways. I could list them all here but without their permission I probably better not. The list of their accomplishments in my life have ranged from helping me be confident in who I am (a person who I never thought I would be) to helping me gain confidence in my abilities. Some of these people helped me release myself from the stresses of the world and others brought me back down to the ground when my mind started wandering too far. Finding friends, however long- or short-lived those friendships we...

I don't know of anyone whose favorite season is Winter. If you do fit into this rare and offensive category, you really ought to sort out what is important to you. I mean, I guess you can have your own opinion (but you also have the right to be wrong). Where was I going with this? Ah yes. Spring. It's officially here. Even Mother Nature has decided to play along some. Rain instead of snow. The beginnings of flowers. Wearing shorts outside. Little things that detail the beautiful time of year that is Spring. It is most often the little things that make the biggest differences in how a person feels. Think of a house....a happiness house, if you will. The structure of the house will be the same as the structure of any house. A foundation. Load bearing beams. Far too many nails. A roof. These represent the basic structures of our lives. We have families, friends, education, and ambition but with just those things all we have is bare walls, empty rooms, and possibly a ba...

My faithful followers have been asking for another post and for the past few week I just haven't been able to produce words. In fact, a running joke I have with one friend is that we can have a full conversation just using the word "words" with varying tonal inflections. The fact that English has had a difficult time expelling itself from my inner sanity means that writing has become blocked. This is a phenomena called writer's block. A lot of changes have been happening at work over the past month and a lot of inner personal changes have been forcing themselves to the surface as well. The combination of internal and external factors really weighed me down. It wasn't completely bad but it sure was heavy and taxing. In response to everything that was going on, and in the midst of one of the points of highest stress, I did something I have never done before. I called in to work and took a day off. Now, I have used sick days before. Sparingly. But I use them w...

As I mentioned in my last post, there were two weekends in January that really elevated the month as far as the extracurricular activities that I am bringing into my life. The first was detailed in the previous post meaning that now I must detail the second of the two. January 26-28: Oscar Prep Movie Marathon Weekend One of my New Year's Resolutions was to go to a movie each week as a way to get out of the house and do things. Let's just say that on this particular weekend, I far exceeded my goal of one each week. In fact, I hit five movies in three days. Flashback to 2011 with me for just a moment. For whatever reason, I fell in love with Natalie Portman during 2010 and 2011 and when she was nominated for (and won) the Golden Globe, the Screen Actor's Guild award, and the Oscar for Best Actress in "Black Swan", I took notice. Now, I have always loved awards shows but never paid close attention to them until Ms. Portman ushered in my fanatical love of movie...

I have been holding onto this post for a couple weeks now. As a part of my New Year’s Resolutions, I have been wanting to get out more and have experiences that will make me happy. Ya know, find the things I love and just do them. Let’s just say January has been a good month for this and there are mainly two weekends that prove this. This post will be about only the first of the two weekends....and there are pictures this time for proof. January 12-15 (MLK Day weekend) To start out with you need to know that I am not rich at all. Money doesn’t come super easy to me but that is something that I don’t want to have holding me back. This particular weekend, I spent a lot but I had one of the greatest weekends of my life. I’ve that weekend I made the decision that no matter what it took I was going to see two Broadway traveling shows. The first one was “Rent” in Idaho Falls on Saturday. Prior to this show, it had been a while since I had seen a show that was neither a high school/col...

Some recent experiences have caused me to dive deep into reflection mode regarding a topic that I have pondered far too often over the past five years. Friendship. When I was young, my life consisted of going to school, going to gymnastics practice, and then playing with my friends as much as I had the chance. It is easy to say that when I was at school or practice, I had friends there but what exactly made someone a friend. In my naive and jaded years of idealistic young-adulthood I once came up with a method of measurement to determine if someone was my friend, or better yet, a best friend. It all circulated around the idea of trust on three criteria. 1. My Wife 2. My Life 3. My Possessions The use of the term "wife" is obviously quite loose in my situation but it essentially was meant as a representation of the trust I would have with another around my significant other in not trying to steal that special someone away from me. My life is rather obvious, if a gu...

If you Know anything about me then you know that I love making New Years resolutions. Do I keep them? Sometimes. Okay maybe only once but still, I love the idea of change and growth. So 2018 started yesterday and I am super excited about my resolutions. The way I decided to do it this year was I picked a theme and then set a couple minor goals that will compliment and enforce that goal. My theme: Me I am my theme. A lot of my failure this past year (and for many years) have stemmed from my incessant need to please other people. This year, I'm gonna please myself Now the hard part. How? The pieces that make up the puzzle have to be simple but only need to be loosely connected. Then, as a whole they can boost the overall goal together. In thinking about these simple pieces I had to think about things I like to do. Things I want to do. Thing that are fun or bring me happiness. Things that have some level of productivity either physically, mentall, or emotionally. My puzzle i...