🌐 Justin's Blog

Trying to calm my internal noise to live in the moment. I find that this is way easier said than done.

I'm working towards my higher self, but what that is, I don't know. What I do know is that to get there, I need to surrender and let go, but this is something I am still having difficulty doing.

I am trying to release myself from any burden of my past or present. To stop trying to control every scenario and “practice” through every possible outcome for the events happening in my life. I'm learning to surrender to the notion that I am actually not in control, nor do I need to be. And that is okay. That is freedom.

I know all of this in theory, but putting it into practice is a back and forth battle with my own psyche. At times, I'll get a glimpse of the lightness of letting go, but only a few hours later, I'm back into the swirl of my thinking.

Silence, Peace, and Freedom

This road to my higher self, whatever it is, is worth it — oh, but it's so hard. How do you let go of ego? Or of pride? How do I just accept what is, and feel lighter?

Life doesn't come with a manual, and there are about ten thousand ways to pursue happiness. Every creed and culture has its recommendation. What I am striving for, instead, is silence. Silence is peace, and peace is freedom.

A quiet mind is a virtue, and I don't have it. I'll be sitting and then, BAM, a new thought comes into my consciousness. Maybe it's positive, or perhaps negative, but it's outside my control. It's noise. I'm on a journey to calm this noise to essentially nothing. To just be, and to be okay.

Daily mindfulness is helping.

To achieve the silence, peace, and freedom, I'm trying guided daily mindfulness exercises from a YouTube channel. I typically do them around 7PM every night for about 10–15 minutes, depending on the video.

After these short sessions, my mind feels more at ease. I have a sense of calmness, and sometimes I get inspired. Like today, I was inspired to write this post.

Daily walks are helping, too (sometimes).

I also walk every day, sometimes twice a day, to get some fresh air and reflect. This gives me an opportunity to quiet my mind, but there are times when I also overthink or get lost in thought.

Rumination and catastrophic thinking can creep in during these alone times. It's human nature. I need to be more intentional with my walk. Centered, and exist in the present moment. I'll be practicing that.

Centered Self, Not Self-Centered

I'm working on being centered, because if I can be centered, I can better lean into my higher self.

A quiet mind, in the present moment, will make it possible to listen with a true intent. But I'm in the constant battle of finding the solutions to my life's daily questions. I'm self-centered instead of just centering myself.

It's a slight shift, but it's about thinking outwardly instead of inward. Most people tend to think inward, almost all the time, and almost always in hypotheticals. For instance, I try to predict the future, then predict my reactions to the future.

This isn't mindfulness. This is noise. I'm cutting through this noise the best that I can, but it can be difficult. I'm learning that the most important thing is to just be patient during this process. Patience, I'm finding, is a virtue that's difficult to live. Though, it's through this virtue that I find perspective, balance, and moments of being centered.

#mindfulness

Selling a house has never been so hard.

Since putting our home on the market, we've had countless open houses, a handful of showings, and a few folks who showed genuine interest. But, as soon as something looks to be going well, the potential buyer backs out.

At the center of all this was our realtor. At first, things were fine, but we started noticing that he would bend the truth with us, and on more than one occasion. I mean, we have cameras at the house, so inflating the number of visitors during an Open House is silly. Yet, he would do it every time. Let's just say that we had reached our limit, and it was time to try a different approach.

We have taken new pictures and relisted our home with another agency. We like their vibe. Hopefully this time we have more luck because I hate this limbo.

#personal

My favorite platform for blogging.

Given all the WordPress drama that has been going on, I've seen a number of tweets from people searching for other platforms to use. In light of this, I figured I'd share what I've been using for a number of years now for blogging.

To clarify, this is not a CMS, so if you are looking for a CMS replacement then this one isn't it. However, if you just want to switch over to something reliable and simple for blogging — then keep reading.

In the summer of 2021, I decided to move my personal blog off of WordPress. From a pure blogging standpoint, I'm not a fan of the writing or admin experience of WordPress. I searched around for some other open source options, and stumbled upon WriteFreely, and the hosted option, write.as. The main developer (and founder) is another Matt, but he's not involved in any public disputes.

It's simple, open source blogging software with an emphasis on the writing experience. I have to be honest, it has made blogging fun again for me. No plugins, update notices, clunky themes, or slow loading admin panels. Just a pleasant, distraction-free way to blog about my life. It's also worth noting that the platform supports the principles of the Social Web Foundation.

I am writing this blog post with the markdown editor (in dark mode, ah, my eyes feel so good). That said, there is a rich text editor as well, and their own built-in image hosting service. So, that takes care of both my words and images.

It's pretty easy to categorize posts by adding a hashtag (you can see an example at the end of this post). And to round it all out, there is a built-in email feature so that subscribers get notified of new posts.

And really that's it. That's all I need.

The Themes are... Bad

Not everything is great, though.

Coming from the WordPress world, I am used to an endless selection of themes. Well, this is one area that write.as really struggles in.

They have a list of user donated themes that are just CSS. I was able to cobble together a few things that I liked from each for my previous theme, and it worked nicely from a minimalist point of view. I did the same for my Spanish blog (where I admittedly don't post a lot). If you dig around GitHub, you can find some themes as well, like this one by Francesco.

The simple theme I created for my main site worked well for over three years, but I started to get the itch for something new and more elaborate (the theme you see now). I ended up hiring a developer on UpWork and he completed the project in about a week (which consists of CSS and JavaScript). I love how it all came out!

Of course, if you're proficient in CSS and JS, then you can just whip up something rather quickly and be good to go. That's what my fellow blogger Mark did, and I think his blog looks quite nice.

Getting Started

If you want to host the software yourself, then head on over to WriteFreely. There you can download what you need, and find the instructions for running the software. This is a good option for the nerds out there who like a good challenge.

The other option is to use the hosted service at write.as, which is what I use.

I'd recommend creating a free account on the hosted service first to see if you like the experience. There are some quirks, for sure. The support is mediocre at best, though you probably don't need much support if you're just blogging.

Just don't expect all the bells & whistles of WordPress, and you'll be fine. The platform isn't as mature, is less robust, and still has some odd bugs here or there.

#WordPress

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Who would be ready on day one? The answer is clear.

Did you watch the Vice Presidential debate between Tim Walz and J.D. Vance?

If not, I wouldn't blame you. No one really cares too much about the VP debate, and it certainly hasn't been shown to move the needle much for one party or the other. However, I would argue that it's a little bit different this year.

Typically, we get three presidential debates. But, because Trump is a coward, he is avoiding another debate at all costs. I understand why his team chose that path, because putting his racism, bigotry, and mental decline in front of 70 million Americans wouldn't do them any favors.

So, it goes without saying that Lorena and I watched it. We've been very tuned into this election cycle, given how much is at stake. The most recent debate was incredibly embarrassing for the Republicans. Would Vance do better?

My Key Takeaways

It's tough to capture every important moment of a debate, but here are my key takeaways after watching Walz and Vance discuss everything from immigration to foreign affairs:

• Walz strong on healthcare. This was an area where Walz did really well, in my opinion. He spoke with authority and facts about the role of healthcare in society, from a woman's right to choose to insurance.

• Vance is a good public speaker, but says nothing. Vance is a seasoned public speaker, I won't take that away from him. But he says a lot without saying anything. He danced his way around answering questions, then got upset when he would get fact-checked.

• Walz didn't call out Vance's outrageous claims. I think Walz let Vance get away with too much. Trump didn't save Obamacare. Immigrants aren't causing unaffordable housing.

• Vance refuses to admit Trump lost 2020 election. This was the moment of the debate for me. Vance refused to acknowledge that Trump lost the election, and Walz called him out on it.

• Walz is presidential. Between these two men, Walz is by far the better, more seasoned option should they ever need to step in as President. Full stop.

• Vance dehumanizes immigrants. I'm getting really tired of how Republicans talk about immigrants. It's disgusting how Vance pivoted every question back to illegal immigration. From homes to drugs, to guns, it was ridiculous.

This debate was closer than the debate between Vice President Harris and Donald Trump. Walz started off a little shaky, but caught his rhythm as the debate went on. He stayed on point, rarely dodged a question (of course he did one or two, everyone does), and had one of the best moments when he called out Vance for not acknowledging Trump's overwhelming defeat last election.

Vance did okay, and definitely better than Trump. He has a “try hard” factor about him, whereas Walz just feels more like that guy you know. He didn't make any major “holy crap” mistakes, and that's a win for the Republicans at this point.

I think Walz was too prepared. He fumbled a little over his words because you could tell that he wanted to get certain talking points out. The byproduct of that was he let Vance off the hook on his more outrageous proclamations. All that said, in the end, no one will think too much of this debate in about a week.

We are just 34 days away from the election, easily the most consequential election of my lifetime. There is so much on the line, even more so with the escalating conflicts in Ukraine and Israel.

I'm voting early, and I hope that you do as well.

#politics

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WordPress co-founder, Matt Mullenweg, picks a fight with WP Engine, even calling them a "cancer".

Did you catch Matt's keynote talk at WordCamp U.S. this year? It was pretty boilerplate, as far as his talks usually go, but there was one part that stood out to nearly everyone, and that was his comments towards WP Engine and their lack of contribution to the WordPress project.

Matt expressed his annoyance at the contributions made by WP Engine to WordPress, comparing their 47 hours per week to Automattic's 3,786 hours per week.

“Those of us who are makers, who create the source, need to be wary of those who would take our creations and squeeze out the juice. They’re grifters who will hop onto the next fad, but we’re trying to build something big here, something long term—something that lasts for generations. Think about that next time it comes up to renew your hosting or domain, weigh your dollars towards companies that give back more, because you’ll get back more, too. Freedom isn’t free.”

Those are some pretty strong words, and I'm sure it doesn't feel good to be called out in a negative light at one of the biggest WordPress events of the year. As such, I was curious to see the response from WP Engine, as these were some harsh words from the man at the top. I put a tweet out saying the same:

That post (which cited an article on WPTavern) started a lively discussion about the point raised by Matt during his talk.

As you would expect, WP Engine wasn't far behind with their response. In summary, they said something to the effect of:

• WP Engine has contributed to WordPress innovation for over a decade, advancing the ecosystem and supporting developers and millions of websites.
• They invest heavily in the community through sponsorships, educational events like DE{CODE}, and development tools such as Faust.js and WPGraphQL.
• WP Engine is committed to fostering creativity and empowering WordPress developers to keep the CMS at the forefront of web development.

For more, see WP Engine's article.

The Point vs The Delivery

Matt has become far more divisive in recent years. Call it the size of WordPress, or maybe just the demeanor of someone who has been the focus of so many attacks for two decades. Whatever the reason, he's clearly tired of being politically correct all the time.

What often happens is that he will make a point, people argue the point for a moment, then they start to get angry at the way the point was raised. They attack the messenger, for lack of a better term.

But it's not like it isn't warranted at times.

I've been around WordPress long enough to have seen Matt air out personal vendettas rather publicly, wrapped up in some kind of “I'm looking out for what's best for everyone” sentiment.

This actually ends up having the opposite effect in that the focus shifts to Matt (the person), not what it is he's trying to point out. Because, look, as far as I can tell there is a valid point there. This post by Noel does a pretty good job outlining that point:

I think what's pretty telling, though, is that this comment by Noel was a response to a poll that Matt ran, and it shows how the majority of folks disagree with his take on WP Engine's role within WordPress.

But it keeps going...

Matt has been popping up across various channels, seemingly defending his view and attempting to make points about WP Engine's lack of contributions despite their size and financial resources. Unfortunately, those points are now falling upon deaf ears because of the manner and frequency in which the “attacks” are coming.

Matt published this post on the official WordPress.org news about how WP Engine turns off revision history, an important feature in WordPress core, to save money. To drive home another point, he used a mini-story about his mom confusing the two brands (WP Engine and WordPress), which was the basis for the title of the post. To cap it off, he referred to WP Engine as “a cancer”. Yikes.

This made me wonder a few things:

1. Are a lot of people confusing WP Engine (the brand) with WordPress?
2. Is it ever okay to call businesses, and the people working there, “cancer”?
3. Should this have been posted on his personal blog, instead?

Speaking of the personal blog, Matt did write a blog post about investors, and if they are inherently “bad”. Something he likely wanted to touch on because of WP Engine's impressive investment over the years. He contends:

• Investors are essential for entrepreneurship, but there are both good and bad investors. It's important to evaluate their track record and actions after investing.
• Private equity investors can be beneficial, especially when they respect open-source values and support the community, as seen with Automattic's investors.
• Actions matter more than words; companies should be judged based on how their behavior impacts communities and ecosystems over time.

I'm not surprised by his viewpoint given that Automattic has taken its fair share of investment, though I do take exception to his claim that investors are essential for entrepreneurship. That is not true at all.

Just speaking from my own experience, I never had a single investor, and LearnDash not only did well, it thrived. In fact, we absolutely destroyed Automattic's competing product to LearnDash (Sensei). I didn't even consider them a credible competitor.

His Mind is Made Up

Matt has always taken on the role of “open source protector”, and whenever he feels that it is being taken advantage of, he attacks — and his attacks can be quite harsh. He clearly feels that this is happening with WP Engine, though it also has an adverse effect for him in that the community starts to highlight some hypocrisy:

History has shown that when Matt makes his mind up about something, nothing will shake him from it. If anything, backlash makes him dig in further. He will go down on that ship, but he knows that the ship will never go down, because the ocean is the community that contributes to, and depends on, WordPress in their daily lives.

Qualifying Contributions is in Poor Taste

If I take the time to separate the inflammatory rhetoric and poor choice of message delivery, I do think that there is an important point that Matt is bringing to the community's attention. WP Engine indeed does have the fortunate position to contribute more to WordPress in terms of hours. What I don't like, however, is that Matt is outlining what he considers to be an acceptable contribution. Sponsoring WordCamps? That doesn't count. Not to him, anyway.

This has a way of polarizing the less visible in the community. The individual developer who has a small plugin business is proud to sponsor their local WordCamp, but the message being sent from the boardroom is that this is a “meh” form of contribution. In other words, don't feel too good about it. It's not really valued.

Matt has come down hard on WordPress hosts for some time. GoDaddy, Pagely (now part of GoDaddy), and Pantheon come to mind. I think he has a higher expectation of them than the “average” WordPress user.

And maybe we all should.

They are the ones with the money and resources to really move the needle for the WordPress project. To date, it doesn't appear like any host is living up to Matt's unspoken expectation.

Legal Updates

On September 23, 2024, not too long after this post was originally published, WP Engine issued a cease & desist against Matt and Automattic.

I must say, he does not look good, especially all the threatening texts he sent prior to starting his public attacks on WP Engine.

One day later, on September 24, 2024, Matt and Automattic issued their own cease & desist with some heavy emphasis on the use of the WordPress trademark.

This is interesting, because there are many businesses that use the “WordPress” name similarly to WP Engine. This could have some far-reaching ramifications for the entire industry, depending on how it plays out.

On October 2, 2024, WP Engine filed their official lawsuit.

#WordPress

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Your body learns to need caffeine. It's time to unlearn.

Recently, Lorena and I were talking about nutrition, foods, bad habits, and the like. It’s a topic we often discuss as it’s a passion of hers, and together we have made some healthy adjustments in our daily lives.

To date, I’ve made a number of changes in my nutrition, but there has always been one area that I never even considered changing: my coffee intake.

For nearly my entire adult life, I’ve had three cups of coffee each day — sometimes four if I’m dragging. I really enjoy coffee and look forward to that first cup every morning, and I’m fortunate that at this point in my life I don’t have any major sensitivities to it.

Caffeine hits Lorena a little bit differently, and while she enjoyed the flavor and energy kick occasionally, it wasn’t a value add in her life, so she gave it up.

So, back to this conversation. Lorena asked me, point-blank:

Would you ever consider giving up coffee?

I dismissed the idea, at first. I told her that it’s not that bad, and that it’s only three cups. I went on to explain how much I enjoy coffee, and the reasons I needed it to start the day right.

She let it go, but the topic remained in my mind.

I Have Become Coffee Dependent

Without my three cups, I just don’t feel right. I may get a headache, or be lethargic. It can impact my mood as well. When we go out of town, I always need to find a place with “decent enough” coffee, so I’m fueled for the day.

For years, I considered coffee to just be something I enjoyed. The reality, however, is that I was addicted. It eerily reminds me of the issue I had with alcohol. The negative impacts weren’t as obvious, but they were there.

But I also love having something warm, and the flavor of coffee in the morning. After doing a little research, I learned the following:

• A standard cup of coffee (8oz) has ~100mg of caffeine, give or take. I was having 300mg each day.
• The American Heart Association recommends no more than 400mg per day.

I was within the appropriate caffeine range, but that doesn’t mean loading up my system with caffeine every day (leading to a physical addiction), is a good thing. At the same time, cutting everything cold turkey didn’t sound very appealing. I still wanted to drink coffee, and I wasn't quite ready for the decaf life.

Landing on Half-Caff

I figured that I had two options:

1. Drink 2 cups instead of 3 cups
2. Drink something else

While the first option seems like the easiest, it is something that I’ve tried in the past and just never could stick to. Maybe it's a lack of willpower, but I just really enjoy three cups. After two, I start to get anxious for that third and begin to justify why it’s okay to have it. Some days I would have it, some days I wouldn’t — there was no consistency.

Which brings up the second point: maybe I just drink something else?

Thing is, I like the way coffee tastes, so teas would never work. Nor would those mushroom drinks that have become popular. I don’t care for the flavor.

That left decaf and half-caff coffee as my remaining options. I chose to go with half-caff.

Making the switch has been… interesting.

Funnily enough, the decaf industry is quite expansive. Coffee shops of all sizes try their best to make a good tasting decaf coffee, and they are quite good at it. That said, I wasn’t ready to give up caffeine entirely. Not yet, anyway.

So, I decided to search for some good half-caff beans. This came with the advantage of being able to still drink three cups in the morning, still get a little caffeine, but also decrease my body’s dependency on caffeine.

Instead of 300mg of caffeine, I’d be having 150mg. I’d still be getting a little bit of energy benefit, but less than my body has been used to for 15 years or so.

The hardest part in this process has been finding a good tasting, organic whole bean to grind. I finally found some good options by Fresh Roasted Coffee LLC, but I’m always keeping an eye out to see if there are other options.

Switching to Decaf... One Day

I’ve been at it for a couple of weeks and my withdrawal symptoms have subsided, but they are still there. Most notably, I am a little more tired in the morning, even after my three cups. I hope that this becomes less impactful as my body makes the full adjustment to the new caffeine levels, and learns how to “maximize” them.

I don’t rule out the possibility of getting completely off caffeine. I mean, it’s probably a net positive in the end. For now, I’m just trying to adjust to the new half-caff routine.

I’ll end by saying this: Take opportunities to assess, and challenge your assumptions — especially regarding what you put into your body. Just because you have been doing it one way your entire life doesn’t mean a change won’t benefit your health and happiness.

For me right now, it’s coffee. But this could be said for any routine we have in our lives.

#health

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The debate went about as well, and as poorly, as we all thought knew it would.

I wanted to wait a few days before writing my initial post-presidential debate reaction. I was feeling a lot of emotions immediately after the debate, mostly anger, disgust, and dismay at the fact that the country's psyche is still held hostage by Trump, so I felt it best to let the dust settle first.

As Lorena and I watched the debate, she calmly sat on the couch while I paced around the room in circles, looking up at the T.V. and listening to the responses from both candidates. Well, one serious candidate, and then the ramblings of one of the most out-of-touch, mentally declining people I have ever seen in my life.

But Donald falling off the rails wasn't an accident. Vice President Kamala Harris played him. She put out the bait, he took it, and then some. All she had to do was sit back and wait because he would eventually bury himself with his inability to just let things go — and boy did he.

My Notable Moments

While there are plenty of soundbites from the first debate, many of which are memes now. But, here are a few that linger in my mind:

• Eating dogs. I have to be honest, I didn't even know that this was a discussion point prior to the debate, so when Trump started to spout off about eating dogs & cats, I was at a loss for words. In my mind, he absolutely lost the debate at this point, and convinced many voters to go with Harris.
• Unsubstantiated claims. Trump is famous for just saying shit that he thinks sounds good. Things like, “I'll end the war before I'm even in office”. This is so incredibly insulting to our intelligence.
• Poor response to war in Gaza. I didn't think Harris really did a good job in her answer relating to what is happening in Gaza. She made a point to twice reaffirm our commitment to defending Israel. I don't think that was really the message we needed to be sending (we already know that's the case), and it overshadowed the travesties occurring in the region.
• Fired by 81 million people. This was probably the best line of the entire debate. Vice President Harris reminding Trump that 81 million people voted against him, and that he was having a hard time processing that. Trump visibly upset at that line.
• Refused to support Ukraine. Trump was asked if he would support a Ukraine victory as President. This is a layup of a question, yet he refused to take the correct stance. It's a clear indication as to where his loyalties lie.
• Trump couldn't help himself. After just 10 minutes, Trump started to yell, sweat, spit his lies into the microphone — and it was all just as Kamala Harris planned. She floated out some bait for Trump, and every single time he couldn't help but take it. The longer that this went on, the more his outburst became alarmingly outlandish.

There were many points to mention, but overall, Vice President Harris looked far more presidential and in control.

I couldn't stay silent on one thing...

After the debate, many of the memes circling around social media were making fun of Trump's comments on immigrants eating pets. On one hand, I get it. Being laughed at is the worst nightmare for someone like Trump, so I'm here for that.

That said, what he said is deeply offensive. I especially feel this because my wife, Lorena, is Mexican. I had to address the seriousness of what was said.

It makes no difference if an immigrant came to this country legally or not, dehumanizing people for the sake of political “shock value” is cruelty that is indefensible, and flat-out wrong.

Trump deserves to be ridiculed for his absurd statements, but let's also remember that behind those statements is a deeply racist sentiment that cannot go unchecked.

The “Spin” has Begun

Trump had a very bad night, and everyone knows it. Well, everyone except for him. So, as you would expect, the right wing media is in a frenzy to start to discredit the one-sidedness of the debate.

I've seen articles cry that the moderators were ganging up on Trump, making it essentially three versus one. I didn't get that at all.

Trump spoke out of turn after every exchange. He always had to get the last word in, and the moderators allowed it every single time. If anything, I was getting pissed because when Vice President Harris tried to do that just one time, they cut her off. Plus, no one forced Trump to lie and to talk about eating animals. That was his own doing.

Yes, Trump was fact-checked more, but he lied a lot. He had considerably more inaccuracies (and that's being polite about it) than Vice President Harris. Besides, how do you not fact-check someone when they claim babies are being killed immediately after birth?

To the surprise of nobody, he is claiming he won (citing a poll from Newsmax... of all places), and that he won't do another debate because winners don't give “rematches”. Yet, let's not forget that he wanted another debate immediately after he first debated President Biden, and he thought he won that one too. This will backfire on him. He'll be called out for being a coward — and rightfully so. Vice President Harris made him quit!

Oh, and there are some who float the idea that Vice President Harris had advanced notice of the questions beforehand. Even some whispers that she was wearing an “earpiece” and that everything was “rigged”. The level of stupidity is incomprehensible.

Let's not forget: whenever Trump uses the word “rigged”, it's when he knows he actually lost. The 2020 election, his court cases, and now this debate.

Elon creates an unfortunate sideshow.

Taylor Swift posted her support quite eloquently on Instagram, a huge moment for the Harris campaign. Taylor Swift has incredible influence, despite the Right trying to downplay it. It also doesn't hurt that she is from Pennsylvania either, a key battleground state.

Apparently, the ego of Elon Musk couldn't handle another billionaire getting attention. Since he likes to pretend he's an influencer, he responded to her support in the most grotesque, weird, and straight-up creepy way imaginable.

Musk thinks he is hilarious, yet doesn't realize that most people think he's insufferable. I'd venture to guess that most of his friends only are friends with him because he's rich.

Choosing Joy Over Destruction

I can't wait to be done with this entire election campaign season. As has been the case since Donald Trump came onto the scene in 2016, the Republican messaging has been just plain dark, full of distrust and disdain.

I'm tired of it, and so are many other Americans.

Vice President Harris is offering something more palatable: joy. I am choosing joy over destruction. I'm on the side of social rights, women's rights, economic growth, and dealing in facts over fantasy.

Should Vice President Harris win in November, I'm sure there will be more drama than the previous elections. But, we'll get beyond it at some point, and soon Donald Trump the person will be nothing but a stain on our entire political past. It'll be up to the Republicans to decide if they double-down with Trumpism, or if they too adapt in order to remain relevant.

#politics

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Distortion, distrust, and the impact on our country.

The other day, I got to thinking about our current political situation during this election cycle, and I found myself wondering what the Founders of our country would be thinking about our modern election process.

Not the technology, or sheer number of votes compared to their era, but the overall sentiment.

Surely there was some level of distrust in the early voting, and understandably so. This was all so new, and the only thing most people really understood was monarchies. But they voted, nonetheless, with vigor and excitement. It was the dawn of a new way forward for not only our country, but the world as other countries began to follow suit.

Today, We Vote with Venom

Both sides of the political spectrum are rushing to the polls, all the while pointing fingers at one another.

Democrats don’t trust Republicans because they have a candidate who cannot conceive of any reality where he actually loses, and therefore will not accept the loss. I think this distrust is pretty well-founded, considering Republicans are raising the most asinine litigation currently, “priming the pump” for an Election Day battle.

Republicans don’t trust Democrats because they feel like the election will be… stolen, I guess.

It seems that the only thing Democrats and Republicans can agree on is that if Trump loses, he won’t accept the result. I can’t believe it has come to this.

Even worse, it has come to this and we accept it as our new normal! This is an embarrassing travesty of our political system, and the world is watching, collectively shaking their heads.

We need to be Careful

If the Republican Party doesn’t pivot from this “any election we lose is a stolen election” narrative, we will lunge further into a dark era of politics in the United States. This will trickle down to state government, and local cities and townships.

I can’t imagine this ever being the case, but it’s even possible that the Democrats retaliate against the Republicans by also claiming election fraud in any contest that they lose. Seems unlikely, but then again, so was Trump ever being president.

The danger I’m seeing is that we are spiraling into a culture of disbelief. We are being told not to believe what our ears and eyes tell us — but to trust politicians instead. This not only takes away our fundamental rights as citizens, it’s an assault against the very thing that makes us human: common sense and logical deduction.

Conspiracy theories are not a platform.

You cannot run a successful country on the notion of conspiracy theories. What matters are hard facts. Verified data is essential. And contrary to what Republicans would have us believe as of late, the opinions of experts (people who have dedicated their entire lives to a certain subject) carries more weight than the average person.

We are in a “war against intellectualism”. It’s the Dunning-Kruger effect gone wild. Someone needs to put an end to it, and that someone has to come from within the Republican Party leadership.

November is a Pivot Point

If Donald Trump loses in November, then it sets up the perfect opportunity for us to get away from this scary, new form of political discourse. Republicans would have been dealt another blow in the third major election cycle. It would be clear that their messaging is not resonating. The country doesn’t want it.

But if Trump wins, that hope is thrown out the window. The most infuriating part about all of that is his win would be without the popular vote. That is, without the will of the people. Again.

#politics

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This has been a long time coming, and I'm ready.

I typically don’t say much about politics on my more prominent social media (like on my Twitter account), mainly because I consider Twitter to be an extension of my professional networking, and I don’t like to mix politics with that part of my life.

But it doesn’t mean I’m not political. Quite the opposite, actually.

Not many people know this, but one of my majors in college was Public Policy. I have strong convictions and opinions about social programs, policy, international relations, and the overall direction that I’d like to see for our country.

For my close friends and family, it’s no secret that I’m a registered Democrat. I’m far more vocal about all of this on my Mastodon account, if you’re interested in connecting there.

Mentally Taxing Election Cycle

It seems like the norm for election cycles these days is hate, anger, fear, mockery, fabrications, exaggerations, and flat-out lies.

The shit is tiring.

I try to stay up-to-date with what is happening, but everyone from mainstream media to YouTubers just harp on the drama. The crazy things said. The absurd statements. The outrage.

I look at the calendar and I can't believe we are still a couple of months away from the election. We are getting battered over the head with negativity. At least that’s how I feel, and it’s near impossible to stay fully engaged in the political process because of all the bullshit that is being thrown about.

But complacency is not an option.

The very clear reality is that this election is the most important one of my lifetime. Donald Trump is a disease on the collective conscience of this country. He’s a habitual liar, racist, womanizer, and convicted felon who left our country far worse than where we are today by almost every important metric.

Some people say they can separate policy from the person. Setting aside the fact that his policies really hurt our country, I simply cannot relate to anyone who goes through the mental gymnastics to claim his personal flaws do not matter. The man is a narcissistic sociopath on full display, and proud of it. It’s disgusting. He does not represent American values. He’s the antithesis of it.

The unfortunate side story here is that the Republican Party has been completely hijacked, and it might not even be salvageable at this point. The results of this election will determine what happens next for the GOP. Do they revert to the conservative values and talking points of Ronald Reagan, or do they double-down on the MAGA path of division, isolationism, and hate?

Look, I don’t agree with most Republican policy, but I did respect it from people like John McCain, Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, and Chris Christie. I have Republican friends and family who feel the same, and they are voting for Harris this cycle simply because they want their party back. I sincerely hope that they are able to feel comfortable again within their own party.

Civic Service is My New Path

As I knock on the door of 40 years old, I’ve been heavily evaluating the next phase of my life and what I want it to look like.

In my 20s, I had an insatiable desire to be an entrepreneur and to own my time. This gave rise to LearnDash and the incredible journey that took me on. I grew as a person, got to express my creativity, and learned more about business than any graduate school could ever teach. I played the game, and I won.

Following the sale of LearnDash, I’ve been trying to find that inner drive again. I tried land investing, podcasting for a bit, started another software company, until last year I finally landed on helping other entrepreneurs with coaching.

But business coaching isn’t my end game.

I enjoy coaching and my clients (who are more like friends at this point). I will continue to do it, but I don’t see it as my remaining purpose. Actually, since the ending of LearnDash, I have had this feeling that I want more out of my life than just entrepreneurial endeavors.

Which brings me back to this election cycle, and the fact that it has been a bit of an inspiration. It has reignited a passion that has been dormant in me for quite some time, one that I now feel capable of pursuing, freely.

Civic service is in my future. Hopefully one day as an elected official in my local government, but that’s a future goal for a later time. For now, it’s about starting out at a grassroots level as I look for ways to get involved in local initiatives.

That entire prospect energizes me, and I'm going to start as soon as we officially move to our new home in Culver City.

#politics #personal

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The challenges and tribulations of pricing a product or service in the WordPress space.

Let's talk about the WordPress industry and pricing for a moment.

It's well-documented that WordPress products are underpriced because there is a certain price expectation from the community. Now, prices have slowly gone up (a good thing!) but not nearly on par when compared to other industries.

Not even close.

When I left LearnDash, the most common tier was around $199 (which would make it expensive across the WordPress space).

Teachable is like... $99/mo... for way less. And they easily make more money than LearnDash. I'm sure you can all think of 100s of other examples. But this also goes for WordPress related services.

By way of example, it's normal in non-WordPress industries for coaching to be $1,000-$2000/mo. Very normal, in fact. People pay this without blinking an eye. I could never charge this for my coaching.

And what I do charge is often met with hesitation, even though I have the background and accolades to justify charging more if I coached outside of WordPress.

The Concept of Value Fatigue

What ends up happening is prices stay low (in both products and services) and the people behind those offerings try their damnedest to pack insane amounts of value into the low price. Now, that's obviously good. But it has resulted in Value Fatigue.

All of us in the WordPress space are so used to the products and services we buy being overly stuffed with value — far beyond the price we pay — that it is driving prices down.

Newcomers go into the space (products or services) and see the main players are charging “X” for “Y”. So, they end up charging a price of “X-1” for “Y+1”.

Rinse and repeat for the next entrant. It's a race to the bottom for businesses, Value Fatigue for consumers.

I wish I had a solution for this, but it's very much intertwined with the culture of WordPress. The needle is moving up, but we are comparing that in a WordPress vacuum. By the same token, maybe it's not something that needs to be “solved”.

Maybe It’s Okay?

Maybe the way pricing is in WordPress is fine. And look, despite low prices, many WordPress businesses do very well.

• WooThemes crushed it early on and sold for tens of millions.
• LearnDash (to my knowledge at the time) was one of the most successful revenue generating WordPress businesses at the time of sale.
• Yoast has been cookin' for years.
• 10up and WebDevStudios benefit from premium rates. Heck, I coach several “small” product and agency companies that are making 7-figures.

While this is great, it's important to understand that these are all the exceptions. The freelancers out there busting their ass on the product or service they are selling are unable to charge what they really should be charging if they were outside of WordPress.

I coach WordPress folks who have started to brainstorm ways to branch outside of WordPress. Not for lack of love, but the grind is considerably more challenging, especially the pressure to continually pack more and more value wherever possible, leading to frustration and ultimately burnout.

#WordPress

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