About Mary

If you were wondering what the meaning of life is, it’s this:

A bit about me…

I’ve got five earth-decades under my belt and I continue learning new things every day. I’m a single mom of two amazing young men and a beloved black lab who is my best teacher when I listen quietly.

I grew up in Chicago and have lived in the Silicon Valley, the Carolinas, South Africa, Scotland, and now Florida. I’ve traveled to many places and I most cherish trips wherein I can blend locally. Alone in Beijing, Shanghai, Rome and more, I wandered down back alleys, up rickety staircases and dined in family-run restaurants not accustomed to tourists. Travel is best when it feeds your ears, eyes and notebook as much as your entertainment and gustatory desires.

I have some important anchors in my life. One is a blend of legacy and ikigai–a continually-narrowing definition of my purpose. I seek to express the stuff that my brain naturally oozes in a way that delivers value to others as a way to leave something unique behind for my sons.

Another anchor is something I call “infinite self-kaizen.” Kaizen, continual improvement, is, for me, a form of forgiving reflection and movement toward greater aspirations. Without judgment, I continually reflect on what worked in my day, and what I might do less of. I am continually pruning and seeking, from skills, to mindsets, to permissions, to people, to environments and experiences.

I have also been circling around the concept of techne: making and building “In Real Life” in order to hone a skill and art through practice vs. theory. The real world is our teacher; it bounces back at us when we misfire. With the mindset of self-kaizen, there is no judgment as we experiment in life, only learning and improved aim.

My social media links below share more about my corporate communications consulting background, education (go Deacs!) and more. At my core I’m a truther with a keyboard; I write to express the stripped-down realities of the world in which I live. I am a social introvert whose kryptonite is small talk; when parties devolve into surface-level chatter I look for a dog to play with or start shooting popcorn at people’s heads. I’ve jumped into pools fully-clothed to avoid small talk. I am disciplined and planful; I keep excel spreadsheet lists of my excel spreadsheet lists (you think I’m joking…) I do not gossip and I avoid people I hear whispering “and she this, and she that…” I befriend people who hold themselves accountable for creating their own conversation-worthy stories. I believe quiet is often wiser and braver than loud. Truth is braver and a better growth-catalyst than denial or chameleonism.

• A video journal entry on a key turning point in my journey
• A primer on my journey
• My “me too” story which illustrates the many ways we get pulled into living others’ lives
• KindEdge manifesto
• My ikigai and daily promises

A few more bullet points that paint a fuller, though pixelated, picture of me.

Zero Carb * Intermittent Fasting * Autoimmune Protocol * Pescavore * Grain-free Dairy-free Seed-oil-free Sugar-free Sweetener-free * Celiac * Hashimoto’s * Stage III Metastasized Thyroid Cancer * Carabiner Codependency * Five-string Bluegrass Fan * Classical Ballet * Yoga * Outward Bound * Door County, Wisconsin * South Africa * Scotland * Stand-up Comedy * Silicon Valley * Florida * Chicago * Francophilia * Sarcasm * Essentialism & Minimalism * Warm Weather & Waters * Neurotransmitter Optimization * Natural Bio Optimization * Dry Wine * Hero’s Journey * Sashimi * Travel.

And the microseconds it would take for me to volunteer to die for my sons are too small to measure. I will proudly leave this earth having replaced myself with two exponentially higher value humans.

I love Mondays. I don’t make new year’s resolutions. And I want to work until the day I die.

– MarySueIRL