I took a break from blogging about empowering people via human motivation, innovation, building better workplaces and whatnot in May of 2012. Since then, I started a business, ended a long term relationship, ended a business, went traveling in Southeast Asia, took a TEFL course, fell in love, moved to Thailand and got a job: teaching blogging to high school students, and fell out of love.

I started Eating Lightbulbs because I was inspired by Dan Pink and his book Drive to change the world. I started out naively thinking that if I started doing something exciting and important that everything else would just work out. That somehow something would come together and my research and insights would make a difference.

That was at the beginning of 2010. I was out of work after getting laid off and had just come back from spending three months traveling around Asia. I had some money in the bank and a supportive girlfriend! I started this blog and read all the sources that Dan used to write Drive and kept on reading. A year and a half later, I ran out of money and had to start looking for work.

That year and a half of research was one of the most exciting and enjoyable times of my life. I love doing research, learning about new ideas, and figuring out how to apply these new discoveries. My brain was fully turned on for the first time since I had graduated from college!

The job hunt I embarked on was highly stressful. In a year, I applied for 400 jobs, got 40 responses, and made it to the final interview 12 times. With Out A Single Offer. At the same time, my partner was diagnosed with an immune system disease, her uncle was diagnosed with cancer, and I was diagnosed with hypogonadism. By the end of the year, my long-term relationship was dissolving. In short, it was the worst year I have had in the last 20. 2012 is a four-letter word!

In the end, I created an opportunity for a consulting gig and worked for myself for six months. Just before the end of the contract, my relationship imploded, and I decided it was time to leave the building. So, I hit the road, and here you find me, alive and well in Bangkok.

My original idea for this blog was to only write about topics with empirical evidence, “Just that facts, ma’am.” I am coming to realize that people have too many facts, and what they want are answers. I have also figured out that it is stories that stick with us. It is stories that help our ideas come to life and live on.

A year and a half in Toastmasters taught me that I really like to write and give speeches. I have no problem talking in public about the most personal things, and it turns out that when I reveal something deeply personal during a speech, it helps connect me to the audience like iron to a magnet. So, here I am again to serve you, and this time it’s personal!