I started going to therapy regularly at the end of 2020. My therapist and I have bi-weekly appointments, and I consider them as essential – if not more – than anything else in my schedule. Thanks to my upbringing, as well as several positive mentors, I’ve never felt a stigma around therapy. I’ve seen itContinue reading “My Experiences with Burnout and Therapy”
Category Archives: Experiences
This Moment
In the morning, I step outside, feeling the sun on my face and the dew from the grass beneath my bare feet. I sit down, feel the weight of my body in the chair, and begin to breathe. As I breathe, the sunshine feels warmer on my face than before. The birds’ songs sound sweeter,Continue reading “This Moment”
Fuck What They Want – Do You Instead
There I was, just a kid, sitting in a parent/teacher conference. My mom was talking with my math teacher about my performance in class. “Ian has a B in math right now,” my teacher said. They continued talking about my overall academic trajectory and potential for achievement. Everything was sounding standard until my teacher saidContinue reading “Fuck What They Want – Do You Instead”
Eat at The Bar
Life lesson: eat at the bar more often. You never know who you’ll meet. Andy (on the right) is a consultant at Accenture. He’s from the U.K., has several patents (one of which helps automate the docking of sky bridges on airplanes, making everyone’s lives infinitely easier), has been to over 90 countries, speaks severalContinue reading “Eat at The Bar”
Strength and Vulnerability
Today, I had the privilege of being invited back to speak to junior and senior classes at my high school alma mater, Brother Rice – an all boys catholic school on the South side of Chicago. I spent several hours with 50-some-odd young men talking to them about navigating transitions from high school to college,Continue reading “Strength and Vulnerability”
“Today”
I woke up in a hotel in San Francisco. It was built in 1923 and has survived all manners of innovation in SF’s financial district. I took a shower with clean water pumped from a purification plant, whose source is a watershed located in Yosemite National Park over 160 miles away. I then rode theContinue reading ““Today””
Silly Faces Make for Better Days
While reading outside a coffee shop downtown this morning, I saw a father and his young daughter walking towards me. His daughter was crying and kicking up a fuss, and I could tell he was having a rough time assuaging her. Naturally, I did what any rational person would do in this situation: I madeContinue reading “Silly Faces Make for Better Days”
The Gift of Feeling Grateful
Something pretty neat-o happened to me this morning. I was in the middle of my morning workout – lifting weights, relaxing all cool (hoistin’ some dumbbells outside of the school), when I had a moment of clarity: Right then, in that moment, I felt so grateful. I was grateful to be able to get upContinue reading “The Gift of Feeling Grateful”
On the Power of Connecting
Today, I was invited by my roommate to the World’s Biggest Eye Contact Experiment 2017 – Dublin, Ireland. Admittedly, I was a bit hesitant at first (“So you like… stare at people?”), but I figured what the hell? Might as well see what the fuss was all about. Upon arrival, I was told by one of theContinue reading “On the Power of Connecting”
You Are Always on Display
My alarm went off at 4:40 a.m. today. I wanted nothing more than to hit snooze and go back to bed. Despite preparing for an early-morning workout the night before via cooking and packing healthy meals, divvying up supplements, and laying out my clothes, the tempting siren whispered her sleepy song in my ear. ButContinue reading “You Are Always on Display”
Ian Estabrook 