Authbition Weekly — Wealth That Wears In, Not Out
What a tattered cuff, a coffee-stained hoodie, and a river of connections taught me about the real meaning of wealth
Welcome to the weekly newsletter for Authbition—it’s Authenticity and Ambition. It’s the best of the best, built on vulnerability, non-attachment, caring, thoughtfulness, and whole-mindedness.
The Podcast
This week, I shared my shortest podcast to date. I read a short story to my wife and friends from the chair where I wrote it, moments after completion. It’s a story that started a river of connections flowing. It’s called Ned Kaplan’s Jacket, a three-minute read published in Namaste Now. What did a millionaire’s worn blazer and my coffee-stained hoodie teach me? Find out more by reading, watching, or listening.
Read the original essay on Medium
Watch or listen on your favorite platform:
YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music
Reflection
The power of connection never ceases to amaze me. As a college professor, I urged my students to get out of their comfort zones and go to networking events. The first step is going. Who knows where it’ll lead?
The day before the original COVID lockdown in the US, I went to an event in RTP (Research Triangle Park in North Carolina). A friend of mine introduced me to a woman, who, after the meeting, made a virtual introduction to a designer in Pittsburgh. We met on Zoom, and he subsequently made an introduction to a designer in the UK. During COVID, we met weekly for chats. Here I am, with a friend in the UK when I needed it most, all because I decided to pop into a networking event in RTP. Never could have guessed it.
Last week, Abby and I were on a road trip when a stain on my jacket caused me to recall a story about a millionaire’s blue blazer. I said, “I should write these stories. I have dozens and dozens of them.” They’re just shorter than what I usually write.
Abby and I concocted a plan to call them “DiMeo’s Shorts” - make a little series. I could keep it funny and have the feature photo of me wearing shorts in embarrassing poses. I wasted no time writing my first one, Learning to Breathe. It’s a two-minute read, and the feature photo is me doing my best Burt Reynolds, wearing nothing but cycling shorts and shoes, whilst lying on the tailgate of my truck.
As serendipity would have it, at my very next writing workshop with Susan Brearley, she encouraged us to write short stories as a way to keep the creative juices flowing while working on a larger project. While on topic, she showed off a gorgeous book, NOBUKO by Trisha Ready. Seeing it over Zoom, I immediately followed Trisha on Medium and have since ordered her book.
The next morning, the first thing I noticed after waking up and checking in on my Medium notifications was that Tricia followed me back. Side note, I have a morning routine of checking notifications so that I can respond to all the kind messages people have left on my essays. It’s a gratitude practice, of sorts, to kick off the day.
When I saw that Tricia followed me, I checked out her profile more closely and saw her most recent short story, Bento Box Stories #4. That’s what Tricia calls her shorts - Bentos. I read it, liked it, and then noticed it was published in The Shortform. “Oh, cool,” I thought. A Medium publication focused on short stories with Tricia as a writer is a must-follow.
Seeing as how I’d like to write more short stories (this newsletter doesn’t count), I looked into the editor and submission guidelines, which led me to read About Me — Jonathan Townend. I left him a comment that said, “Great to meet you! Maybe I'll write a short story about how I ended here this morning.”
He replied, “Thanks for stopping by and reading, Andrew. I'm glad you saw my page here. If you do end up writing a story about how you got here, I'd love to read it, so please do tag me in it😊.”
So that’s what I’m doing now, tagging Jonathan Townend. Although I thoroughly failed at the “short” part.
In Jonathan’s story, I noted a link to another essay from him called Therapy-Based Gardening. I shared it with my wife. She’s a nurse and holistic wellness coach who loves gardening, and the theme is present in her coaching. Who knows where that nugget will lead?
This morning, I read Daodejing Chapter 32: Know Where To Stop along with the reflection by Paul Dotta. The Daodejing is, in itself, a series of short stories, as are Paul’s concise reflections.
The last line of chapter 32 reads, “The Dao works in the world just like valley streams flowing to rivers and seas.” If the Dao is community, and I do think Paul might like this definition, then the valley of streams is these serendipitous connections. But that serendipity doesn’t come without first jumping into the rivers and sailing the seas.
Thank you for taking the time to read, listen, and watch Authbition. I appreciate you.
Sharing Authbition with your friends and letting me know what flows is the water that keeps this podcast journey swimming.
Health, happiness, kindness, respect
for every being and all things.
— Andrew
