Aloha, Lovely Simplerista!

I'm writing this on board the plane back home to New York after my first ever trip to Hawaii. It was a last-minute thing. I reached out to my friend Ari because I was having trouble getting in touch with our mutual friend Ale, and on a whim, I decided to call instead of text. Turned out he was in Hawaii, and he'd rented a place that was large enough for guests, and he was free starting a few days later.

I knew I had to do this, even though I had to process a bit before I could go. First my control freak. Then my guilt over not being "productive". Then guilt over not taking Nomi along. After all those voices came up, I still knew I had to go. I bought my ticket, packed my bags, and went.

And I'm so glad I did. It's been the most incredible heart-opening, life-transforming trip. The last time I was with Ari for an extended period of time was also life-transforming ... that was at Burning Man back in 2014. Pattern?

So many big lessons have come out of this, but one in particular that I wanted to share today, and that is this: When done right, all of life's experiences are "work", and none of them feel like "work". This trip, which would normally be categorized as "vacation", is the most important thing I've done for my career, business, and work life in a while.

It's like I've said for a long time, I look at all of life as one big meditation. We get caught up in story and get out of the present moment. And then we realize that we did this, and we reconnect with the present moment, with the breath, with the feeling of beingness in the body.

In the same way, whether you're scuba diving or taking a surf lesson or just hanging out with your friend, if you're open to it, those can be as transformative experiences as any.

And the inner transformation is, in my opinion, the real work. The work that matters. Once you transform the inner, the outer happens effortlessly. If it feels like work, don't do it. Find another way. Figure out what inner transformation needs to happen so the outer is easy.

Something that has always been a challenge for me is my belly fat. It's there. I'd like there to be less of it. And yet, despite low-carb and slow-carb and gluten free and dairy free and exercise regimens and what have you, it's still there. A little less than it's been, but not much. I also know some of the underlying causes. About bonding and nurturing. About how I was born and what I experienced shortly after birth. I know that this trip changed some of that. I can feel it. It may not be all that was required. Time will tell. But this was an important turning point.

If it feels like work, find another way.

In this culture, there's such emphasis being put on hard work, hard work, hard work. I think that attitude completely removes us from our true purpose in life. It's a detour. It may bring material results, but it brings us no closer to true fulfilment.

Keep this in mind as you build your online business.

New Features in Simplero

We've been promising exciting, bigger things for a little while, and I'm so pleased to say that we're almost ready to launch the first big part of it. But, for now, you'll still have to make do with yet another little teaser:

Random Links from the Interwebs

Facts tend to have a liberal bias. Who knew...

I've written about Lady Gaga before. I love her. I want to make music with her. I've had her latest album in high rotation since it came out. I love it. I love the direction she's moving in, and I love how she allows herself to change and be more vulnerable with this. Her appearance on Howard Stern was legendary. And her performance of Million Reasons toward the end is magnificent.

Aloha for now, have a fantastic week, and mahalo for reading!
–Calvin

PS. That's 2/3rds of my Hawaiian vocabulary right there. The other 1/3rd is "Poke". Go ahead. Call me a showoff!