For all you gamers out there, Halifax’s boardwalk kind of reminds me of Final Fantasy 8’s Balamb Town, and is loaded with many great spots to eat, with some of my top recommendations being: The Bicycle Thief and Dave’s Lobsters (home to easily the best Lobster Roll in Halifax—trust me, I tried a bunch!). Though, if you’re in for a bit of a drive, my other top two recommendations in Halifax would be The Canteen and The Knot Pub.

Located roughly two-hours away from Toronto next to Peterborough in Woodview, Ontario, contains the largest collection of Petroglyphs in North America with carvings dating as far back as 6,000 years ago with newer carvings etched in as early as 600 years ago.

A project I’m pretty proud to have been a part of; in an industry traditionally divided, we were able to bring together over 60 outdoor organizations nationally across Vancouver, Halifax and Toronto to discuss building program resiliency as it relates to climate change.

The world is lucky to have you, Dr. Tara, and you’re just getting started! Can’t wait to witness the difference you will be making in the future (and I secretly can’t wait to have one of my photographs be used in a future magazine article about you)!

To think that those little made-up adventures were just over 10 years ago (that’s when I picked up my first camera, though Brentley has been shooting ever since early high school and has already been on international shoots without me—that’s why he’ll always be my senpai; aka “upperclassman”), it’s wild to imagine that what was once fantasy has now become reality.

If you’re even a casual listener of the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, you’ll know that Joe’s been promoting Austin, Texas, pretty hard; with many guests also talking about how amazing the city is, even going so far as to move there themselves (most notably, Elon Musk with his new Tesla Gigafactory).

Though it’s still a work in progress, the vision is clearly there and the bottom-floor rooms are now built up enough to be used, along with the fourth floor rooftop balcony/event space. I’m now pretty stoked to help my dad further it along, even coming up with the name ‘Hilltop Lodge’!

Interestingly enough, it turns out that pearls actually hold a strong cultural significance in the Philippines (the South Sea pearl even adorning the Philippines’ 1000-peso bill), with many women (and, more recently, men) sporting them as luxury items in place of other materials like gold and silver.

Voted as one of the top islands to visit in the world by Condé Nast Traveler magazine and the Best Island in the World by Travel + Leisure magazine, Boracay has come a long way since I first visited in 2008.

Though my work relies heavily on the digital world (I pretty much work remote and do a myriad of things online), and I’m deeply fascinated by technology, spending time in a place where things move at a much slower pace and people are more focused on what’s right in front of them versus what’s online is quite comforting. 

I know I’ve written about fishermen and fishponds already, but the highlight I want to showcase here isn’t actually the the pond or fishermen, but the ingenuity of the Filipino people.

Two highly creative endeavours seen here are the three-story treehouse currently being built and designed by my Uncle Denis, along with the improvised rifle held by my uncle’s friend Michael.

A common trait that most immigrants possess when they first come to Canada is an aversion to treating animals like their kin; whereas, here, it’s become an increasingly common place practice to treat your “pet” like your “child”.

A central component in the brain’s anatomical make up, the primary purpose of the Amygdala is to serve as the major processing centre for one’s emotions. In essence, the Amygdala is our “Emotion Factory” where we generate either positive or negative emotions.

How does this all fit together? Well, interestingly enough, the Amygdala is actually highly sensitive to (you guessed it) sound!

When examined far enough, there are actually only really two main traditions that dominate our society: the Vedic tradition and the Abrahamic one. 

From these two roots sprang forth a giant tree with derivative branches known as Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism (for the former); and Judaism, Christianity and Islam (for the latter).

Don’t get me wrong—black belts are great. We live in a hierarchal world, after all. However, for all true martial artists out there, meritocracy is the only real measure; and I guess you just have to ask yourself one thing: am I a martial artist, or am I someone who just practices martial arts?

If we’re talking instead about Martial Arts Philosophy, then that is a totally different story, with only one true winner standing out against the rest: The Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

As a creator, I’ve spent many years condemning the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for creative works; perhaps subconsciously out of my own existential fear of becoming irrelevant. I, like most other creators, thought AI was some sort of creative-abomination here to take away our jobs; rather than enhance our current way of doing things.

What’s outside of the universe?

Everything we see, experience, interact with and observe is all contained within this unified system called the universe. Every molecule, compound, chemical, star cluster, black hole, blade of grass, animal, and even consciousness itself, is all contained within the universe.

How would you know what a “thing” is if you had no words to define it?

If there were no words for pain, love, fear, happiness, doubt, joy, yin, yang, how would you know what “it” is?

Language is how we both create and perceive the world around us. “Things” are only “real” because we can define them.

At the heart of the entire Practice of Meditation is Discipline. Discipline, broken down, is knowing what you must do in that moment (despite your thoughts and feelings) and doing it.

I need to go for a run. But I’ll be so tired after.
I need to eat better. But the desserts look more tasty.
I need to study for this exam. But this show is so tempting.

At its lowest level, these are just the three planes of existence. However, at its highest level, these are planes to help you achieve self-mastery; for, what else is more important to master in this transient life than your self?

Each morning (typically from Monday to Friday) we all wake up and “get ready for work.”

Most likely, you’ll take a shower; change your clothes; eat some food; then head over to your car or local transit station (unless you work remote, in which case you’d just open your laptop).

So, which of the 5 tiers is the most important? None of them. Instead of thinking of them in a hierarchal fashion, think of them more like different tools in your toolbox. Some days you need Yoga; some days you need Buddhism; some days you need Zen; some days you need Tantra; and some days you need to accept everything for what it is and reside in the Tao.

When we talk about Mastery, we often think about an endpoint. Some moment in time in which there is nothing left to learn because we have completed every task and unlocked every achievement within a specific skillset. Whether it’s cooking, tennis, basketball, martial arts, or yoga, we all think that the point of Mastery is some magical endpoint in which all learning stops.