Face to Face With Your Own Mortality
A quiet Saturday ride, a loch, and an engine cut to silence. Twelve years on, this is where my own mortality finds me now.
Planting a Tree For Someone I’ll Never See
There’s a tree I love planting more than any other — the kind that outlives the man who put it in the ground. This is the story of why I started building something with that same purpose in mind.
The Hard Days Still Come
A hot afternoon, a heavy knapsack, and a voice telling me to keep going long after I should have stopped — and what I’ve learned about knowing the difference.
Why Support Matters
I’ve always known how to look after people. What I didn’t know how to do was let someone look after me.
Men, Vulnerability, and Real Talk
Something changed after my heart attack that made it easier to talk about the hard stuff — and I don’t think it was courage.
One Year Stronger
A year ago I sat with my finger hovering over a button. Terrified, excited, no idea where it would lead. This is what happened between that moment and now — the fear, the growth, and the year that changed everything.
What I’d Tell My Younger Self
If I could sit down with the man running those hotels before any of this happened, I know exactly what I’d tell him. Not slow down. Not stop dreaming. Master the art of delegation.
Learning to Respond, Not React
I’ve always known it’s better to respond than react — behind a bar, in a busy kitchen. But it took a heart attack to teach me to turn that same skill inward, on myself.
A Different Kind of Strong
Before my heart attack, strength was physical — kegs, timber, chainsaws, never a second thought. After it, I thought that strength was gone for good. What I found instead was something completely different — and worth so much more.
Why Me? Letting Go of Blame After a Heart Attack
After my heart attack, when the why me question hit, I already knew the answer. But not everyone does. And this week, losing a mate to a heart attack, that question came back in a different way entirely.