“If I’m not writing poetry everyday, I’m journaling everyday. It’s been my go-to when I’m trying to work something out, work an emotion out, work a problem out… I think it feels real natural for me. It’s almost like another limb for me, like an extension of my body.” Husam expresses himself through both poetry and prose, focusing on the artist’s journey and the human condition. 

Here’s a poem of his, “Returning Here”:

A portal opens,

and you wander through

dissolving

Into

something

greater.

A familiar face

is new and perfect.

Another’s hurt

becomes your own.

What was

pushing and pulling

is now flowing.

The waves

do not ask the sea

“where are we going?”

The sea does not ask

“who are you?”

What started as an exploration of what enlightenment may be like turned into the poem above. Husam incorporates what I call, a ‘characterization framework’ to enable fresh perspectives while writing. Imagining he was ‘enlightened’, Husam enabled fundamental thinking that superseded the ‘I’ and went to something beyond himself.

This fundamental thinking also appears in his business practices. He currently leads With Pulp, a digital product studio based in NYC with team members located around the world. When asked about working on things that resonate with him, he said, “I think it absolutely drives us further to do better work. When we started the non-profit work… the code that we were pushing felt like it had actual value that we resonated with in the real world. The non-profit’s aim was to take children off the streets and put them in shelters. It felt like our code was contributing to that and we felt good about that. It drove us to show up and be extra focused in our daily efforts.” 

Husam and team continue to choose the clients they want to work with, something very different from his time working at a corporate ad agency, just four years ago. “I felt like we could do this, we could pick the clients we wanted to work with… we could still do the work that we love and make a living off of it. Thankfully right now it’s working to be the case, and hopefully we continue to be able to do that.”

His love for product design led him to become a Product Design lecturer at City University in New York. “The funny thing is, I actually applied and a couple hours later I was like wait, I could do a much better cover letter so I applied twice and they actually really liked that. I thought that was going to be a bad thing and they said ‘we appreciate you applying twice’. Hey, it worked out well!”

Husam recognizes that while the things he focuses on can benefit others, it also contributes greatly to himself. Through his poetry he finds a means of expressing himself, his work as a means of earning money and contributing to others, and his teaching as an education in being concise, empathetic, and a good listener. He says that all of this is, “rewarding for how good it feels to actually do it”.

What is something that you have gone towards that makes you feel good?

Listen to this episode right here:

Love podcasts? Search for Profound Perspective on your favorite podcast app. Or go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profound-perspective/

“I graduated from university, went straight into a corporate job at PWC and started consulting. I spent the early years of my twenties wearing a suit and tie and consulting, and quickly realized that I felt like I was missing something.” For Tom McQuillen, this realization spawned an exploration of the world, and his fundamental interests. 

At one point, Tom found himself with colleagues celebrating a ‘big win’ for a new client, when he began questioning it all; “What’s going on here, is this really the pinnacle, is this how we celebrate?… It took me a little while to realize that I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t feeling fulfilled.”

Tom went to Central America. He volunteered as a teacher in Panama. While he loved surfing the reefs of Bocas del Toro and helping students, he felt limited as an un-trained educator. 

What started as periodic Skype calls in Panama, ultimately led him to become the director of an be environmental education and hostel organization in Nicaragua, called Sonati. His time with Sonati was marked by learnings in team management, Spanish, and organizational development. 

After a wealth of experience he moved again, this time back to Australia. He came across Yume, and became the first employee of the company. Yume is the business to business version of eBay for food that is normally wasted. Tom explains, “The hypothesis behind Yume is that lot of food goes to waste because no one really knows about it… food waste to me is like a little introduction to this huge, amazing… and in my opinion, urgent problem.”  

Tom became obsessed. “A lot of people have causes that are dear to their heart and I think you can’t compare them to each other and rank them… I definitely think that I’ve been enriched by finding one that’s captured my interest and my imagination to try my best to do something about it.” This notion of incomparable focus in life is important. We each have the opportunity to put energy into something we care deeply about, regardless of what it is. 

Beyond the empowerment he has felt in all food-related efforts, he has found another calling; the news. While traveling with his partner Hannah, Tom had an epiphany. He needed to do something to change the negativity bias in the news. He started ‘The Good News Email’. A self explanatory name, and a concept that has caught on. You can subscribe here for a weekly dose of inspiring stories: https://www.thegoodnewsemail.com   

As Tom continues to explore his profound perspective, he acknowledges the challenge of self-reflection and individual understanding. He explores himself through his actions, creating opportunity and putting his energy into whatever he does. Visit tommcquillen.com to be in touch with him. 

Listen to this episode right here:

Love podcasts? Search for Profound Perspective on your favorite podcast app. Or go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profound-perspective/id1461707624

Thank you to wistia for the music:

“Sidecar Sessions” Recorded at Wistia HQ in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Written and arranged by Dan Mills. Performed by Dan Mills. Engineered and mixed by Dan Mills. Mastered by Rob Murray.

“Nowadays I can have an image in my mind of some big (software) application that I want to build and just work on the pieces bit by bit… and maybe not see a big result until the end, but having walked that path so many times I’m less afraid of it and there’s less hesitation holding me back. I think it’s just a process of teaching yourself to not be afraid of that unknown.”

Harold Treen is a software engineer, and more. His fascination with coding started with an introduction to HTML in middle school, and he quickly noted the ‘magic’ of typing something into a computer to make big changes happen on screen. “The amount of effort you need to input to see an output or to see an effect is so small that it helps start the motivation engine…” He continues to create code, now at Square Space where he contributes to massive projects. 

While his interest in coding has been present since a young age, interacting with other human beings wasn’t always at the forefront of his experience. Harold shares, “There was a time when I was very anxious and socially awkward. I made it a habit to go out and ask people for the time so I wasn’t afraid of strangers.” This deliberate action to open up to others has grown over the years, and it has moved fast. What started as saying hi to ‘strangers’ ultimately enabled Harold to say yes to an invitation to go to a dance studio. “The next thing you know I was going to this dance studio every week for a year, learning rumba and cha-cha and doing partner dancing and salsa. That was huge.”

His dancing enabled him to be more comfortable in his body, and a big weight was off his shoulders. He continued to ‘lean into it’, receiving compliments and even performing on stage as a dance instigator at the Daybreaker early morning dance parties he attends. “I just built my confidence up to the point of, ‘I don’t really care anymore’. I just feel totally free to do and act however I want.” 

And act he does as well. He performs improv, where one is required to listen intently, let go, and say ‘yes!’. What started as a means to socialize has become much more for Harold, “I think it’s scary at first, but it also encourages you to be yourself if you can put yourself through that over and over again and realize that in the process of being vulnerable you’re entertaining people, you’re making them laugh, you’re making them connect with you. That is huge positive reinforcement to being vulnerable.”

Harold brings these learnings of expression, empathy, and openness into his daily life. While this may seem like form of living he has always had, it is relatively fresh, and he has put himself in environments to be social and collaborative, “When you feel socially anxious and the story in your head is that people don’t want to hang out with you, or you’re not fun to be around… when someone offers you an activity to do, that’s like an olive branch that you want to grab on to. “

Grabbing ahold of that olive branch and saying yes continues to bring about opportunities.  Whether he is contributing well-written, accessible code for his collaborators, or creating a character onstage at improv; Harold simply wants to “be someone that can interact with people and really understand them. Who people feel comfortable approaching. Who people connect with and are excited about.”

How have you changed your perspective on something?

Listen to the episode here:

Love podcasts? Search Profound Perspective on the Apple Podcast app, Goolge Play, or on Stitcher to hear more of Harold’s story. 

Thank you to wistia for the music:

“Sidecar Sessions” Recorded at Wistia HQ in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Written and arranged by Dan Mills. Performed by Dan Mills. Engineered and mixed by Dan Mills. Mastered by Rob Murray.

“When I was twenty I started to play my brother’s guitar, but I’m not left handed. It was the only guitar that was at my house so I learned to play guitar with my left hand, so now I play with my left hand.” What sounds simple isn’t always so easy to do. Bruno Bavota creates music. What started with a left-handed guitar has turned into a neo-classical piano experience, with dashes of technology. In short, it’s Bruno’s own creation. 

According to Bruno, the strict interpretation of what a piano needed to sound like was a limitation in his hometown of Naples, Italy. “My fear was to be stuck all in classical music. My thought was to try to find my way, to play something that will be not classical, but try to play something else. I tried to make a link between the guitar and the piano.”

This ‘link’ has continued onwards into a ‘web’ of his own expression and style. Bruno simply states, “I just started to think that to be myself I have to do my music… I started to compose my music and then let others listen outside of my town, and Italy”. Doing his music has led him to sign with the Temporal Residence record label, tour around Europe, and even become featured in an Apple video celebrating 20 years of design. 

He loves creating music for the profound emotional connection he creates with himself, and the listeners. “Some people write me and tell me, ‘Bruno, you know you helped me a lot. You help me to ‘win’ depression, to ‘win’ a bad day, to go on. I think that it’s the most beautiful thing and the real reward to what I’m doing… it’s to help people. This is beautiful, and I think I will do music forever for these reasons.”

Bruno sees music as a natural medicine. After strolling along the ocean, or observing life, he gathers fresh feelings that translate into the beautiful melodies in which we can all enjoy. He is open to the thoughts and emotions that come his way, and is always looking for a new mixture, a new emotive stimulus to put into music. When he is playing and creating, Bruno knows there is something powerful if he begins to cry. He goes towards the feelings that create visceral and moving messages. 

Listen to Bruno’s episode right here:

How do you experience profound emotions?

Love podcasts? Search Profound Perspective on the Apple Podcast app to hear more of Bruno’s story.

Or go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bruno-bavota-composing-music-as-medicine-for-self-beyond/id1461707624?i=1000441586695

Visit Temporary Residence to purchase Bruno’s album: https://www.temporaryresidence.com/products/trr314

Eric Kassel wears many hats; figuratively, and literally.  Growing up it looked like he was going to be a professional musician.  He played in punk rock bands and he eventually went to the Berklee College of Music… for just one year.  It wasn’t the place for him and he ventured off, creating his own path. 

Eric found that his love for music and visuals created something beautiful; band posters.  In his exploration of creating this synthesis of music and media, it quickly opened the doors to the world of graphic design and his professional path.  

“Making something out of nothing.  I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of… something pops into your head, and then how can you turn that thought into something physical and tangible, or at least as tangible as digital things can get nowadays.”

The process of making something doesn’t always come easy, even for someone like Eric who has been focused on creating his entire life.  With all of his interests and abilities to express himself, it can be challenging for him to make things into reality.  “I’m always asking, ‘what’s the first small step that I have to do’, and continually trying to break a project down into it’s smallest components and then just decide on what’s one thing I could do right now.  I have more success if I trick myself into doing something by basically telling myself that I just have to this one little tiny thing and make it as small as possible.  Inevitably, you find that three or four hours has passed and suddenly that little thing became BIGGER, and over time it gets done.”

This step-by-step methodology produces amazing results in his motion graphics work, a place where it becomes obvious that his love of music and rhythm fuses with design.  “When I’m working on videos, animations, or motion graphics, I’m highly cognizant of things like rhythm and timing, and how things progress over time which I think comes from music.  For me it began with music.  I was interested in art and music as a kid, but I kinda gravitated more towards music.” 

The fluidity of his art in motion is captivating, and one can only imagine how many little steps it must have taken to get the desired effect and natural flow to it all.  Getting into the details presents it’s own challenge,  Eric says that in his experience you have to “zoom out!” and take a look at it for a while…  “It’s having that ability to step back and see the forest through the trees, and not get really bogged down in the details.”

The essence of what Eric does is create.  He idealistically wants to create something everyday, and although sometimes he doesn’t complete something in a day, he’s ready for the next opportunity to express himself.  When asked what creating is like for him he said, “It’s a trance. It’s that flow moment when you suddenly kind of snap out of it and realize that two or three hours have passed in the blink of an eye.  When you’re really in that zone, it’s a trance.“

Eric Kassel is a designer, motion graphics artist, and musician based in Minneapolis. He is currently starting a virtual agency—Lake & Pine (lakeandpine.io)—with a partner in Seattle. He is also Creative Director at Visual, a company that focuses on virtual reality experiences. Wellness VR, their flagship product, is designed to create natural, anxiety-reducing experiences for the elderly community and senior living facilities.

Listen to Eric’s episode right here:

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Love podcasts? Search Profound Perspective on the Apple Podcast app to hear more of Eric’s story.

Or go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eric-kassel-creating-something-from-nothing-design/id1461707624?i=1000440338644

“I got to this point in the trail where I was not totally sure where to go.  It wasn’t super clear.  There was this old Peruvian man hauling a bunch of firewood back to his home and I asked him, ‘I’m doing this (hiking) loop…I don’t know if that means anything to you, do you know where to go?’.  He just sort of smiled at me and said, “Sigue explorar” or in english “Just keep exploring”.  I took it to mean, your intuition is right.  He continued, “It looks like you’re headed to the right, just let that happen, you’ll be fine, don’t worry about it”.  That’s all he said and he just kept hiking to his home.  It wasn’t until afterwards, until I took that idea, that sentiment: trust your instincts, follow what is right, your going to be ok.  I’ve tried to make that a big part of how I make decisions and how I live my life.  It’s become a bit of a mantra.”

Britten explores the world via bicycle.  He has ridden the length of the west coast of the US, from South to North, prevailing winds and all.  He’s also ridden a bicycle from Colombia to the tip of South America.  

“Riding a bike has sort of forced me to be ok with the extremes.”  On Britten’s ride up the California coast, he experienced one of his most challenging days into the wind, with several uphill climbs.  This went on for 30 miles, and it was hard, and wildly fulfilling.  You may be familiar with the area, it’s called Big Sur.  On this stretch of the journey, for Britten, it went from, “I would rather be anywhere else, doing anything else… to I would rather be no where else, doing nothing differently over the course of a day”.  Being an ‘even-keeled’ individual, these challenges keep him glued to the adventures that cycling can provide.  The physical ups and downs can sometimes lead to ups, downs, and all-arounds mentally as well.  As he explores the landscapes of Earth, he explores the topography of his mind as well. 

The notion of connectedness can also be amplified during his rides, “…there is some cosmic energy showing up as a newcomer on a bike, that in so many ways has restored my faith in humanity”.  Britten shares the experience of what it’s like to show up as a newcomer on a bike;  “You’re the vulnerable one.  You’re the person that’s putting yourself out there, the automatic question is where are you coming from, and where are you going?’.  Thus begins a conversation that so often leads to, ‘Hey I have a place in the backyard if you want to camp out there.  You look tired, here’s some juice or coffee, or some food’.  I’ve had people welcome me into their homes 30 minutes after having met them, and before I know it there’s a fire to be warmed by and a nice place to be.”

What else does riding a bike create for Britten?  Stories.  He thrives on what he calls, “being an active member of the plot”.  Britten says that, “cycling makes you part of the story, with an active role in what is happening in any given place”. 

With all of this experience and countless stories, he now shares his love for long distance cycling with his company, Revolución Rides. How has this all come to be? He says this has all happened with, “a willingness to pursue things, and only things, that I’m actually excited about. Motivated about. Curious about. That has totally led to everything that I’m doing”. 

What medium enables you to write your own story, or to be a part of the plot?  What brings challenge and delight that ultimately keeps you exploring and creating?  Write three things that come to mind, and how you can incorporate them more into your life. 

Love podcasts? Search Profound Perspective on the Apple Podcast app to hear more of Britten’s story.  

Or visit: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/britten-ferguson-sigue-explorar-adventures-in-cycling/id1461707624?i=1000438290594

Interested in exploring the world via bicycle? Check out Britten’s company: revolucionrides.com. If you’re looking for a place to work/hangout in Denver, Colorado, visit wayfinder-coop.com.

Respecting the inner-artist; living a life with imperfection, and letting go.

Bright colors and classic rock didn’t always fill Lisa P. Young’s days. She was once a corporate pharmaceutical representative with a big paycheck and a big expense account.  Pantsuits and company board rooms, she had meetings to attend and clients to manage. 

Then came 2003.  Lisa lost six loved ones over the course of three years, including her husband at the time.  She was also hit with three hurricanes; in her own words, “life didn’t have a lot of meaning, you know. Getting up and going to work just didn’t seem important anymore.” 

The final blow came when she lost her best friend.  Lisa resigned from Pfizer and took a road trip to California with her niece.  Others thought she was “nuts”.  She headed West to keep herself moving. Hiking in the mountains of California, she found herself crying and letting all of her emotions pour out.  Lisa had a strong visual of her ‘maker’ at the end of her foreseeable life.  There wasn’t anything about selling more Viagra or Lipitor, what she did hear was “you had the art, what did you do with that?  Why didn’t you do something with that?”

Energized, she returned to Florida, set up a charitable foundation in her friends honor, and began to paint.  Her initial abstract paintings had solemn tones…she was finding her way back to her art, and into herself. 

Paintings started to sell, and with some advice from a fellow artist, she began to painting on large canvases.  One of her abstract pieces caught her eye, she took a step back and giggled a bit, “you know what, those things kinda look like flamingos”.  She added some details to the dripping paint marks on the canvas, and voilà, flamingos!

Lisa began to notice what she really loved. “I started looking around at all the stuff I was fascinated with, and it’s all driven by texture.  That was so key.  That’s what drives your art, it’s texture!”

She found the ‘key’ to her expression.  Experiencing Lisa’s art and knowing her story fills the mind with wonder, “what colors, what texture, what expression do I have within myself?”  With raised thick lines, scraps of paint, and vivid colors, Lisa’s life journey is felt profoundly. 

“If you’d told me that when I quit my corporate job to be an artist and to live a life of meaning, and it was gonna be painting flamingos, I would have said you’re nuts.”

Lisa is living her profound perspective, and you can too. 

If you’re looking to add more brightness to your day, check out lisapyoung.com

Watch a mini documentary I created about Lisa:

Listen to Lisa’s podcast episode here:

Love podcasts? Search Profound Perspective on the Apple Podcast app.

Or visit: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lisa-p-young-from-big-pharma-to-big-flamingos/id1461707624?i=1000436722406