Journal

The ongoing pursuit. Observations, reflections, and moments worth paying attention to. Written when something is worth saying.

The Miles Shared

May 11, 2026

Do you ever find yourself closing your eyes and yearning to go back to a moment, not to be in the moment but for how that moment made you feel? The people in our lives play such an influential role in our lives that all too often we don't realize it until things change. My last post was June 2020, give or take. Six years, give or take. Where has the time gone? Did it pause? Did it fast forward? What has changed? Did anything stay the same? When I close my eyes and reflect on the people around me[…]

Throwing it back to Snail Mail, Post Crossing

June 26, 2020

Concluded a great Peloton ride this morning, while catching up on email, I stumbled upon two articles from the New York Times that drove me back to my site. Articles: NY Times: Why You Should Start A Coronavirus Diary NY Times: Snail Mail Is Getting People Through This Time This year indeed has brought forth ebbs and flows, or waves. From being promoted last fall, annual incentive paid two days before the office closed in March, entered a city lockdown, hiding away in quarantine, an[…]

Meet my new friend, ThreeMonthFurlough.

June 8, 2020

The three months of working remotely due to Covid-19 created an everyday challenging of recollecting the current day of the week. Today, June 8th is clearly a Monday, yet one unlike any I have ever experienced. Welcoming summer vacation 2020. Today my company implemented a global furlough program that means that many of our employees – including myself – will be furloughed until early September. The company has been incredibly compassionate, waiting as long as possible to announce the furloughs.[…]

“My God, I’ve arrived. I’m there”, why your life is not a journey

September 20, 2019

Thought evoking YouTube video, Why Your Life is Not a Journey. "We simply cheated ourselves the whole way down the line. We thought of life by an analogy with a journey, with a pilgrimage, which had a serious purpose at the end the thing was to get to that end, success, or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you're dead. "

Pen to Paper, fingers to keyboard, what are they writing?

January 31, 2019

Flying home from New York (JFK) to Atlanta I notice two people seated one before the other along the aisle. Each in deep focus, broad, yet one can see, a different approach. The woman in 25E, MacBook powered up, PowerPoint open, scrolling through presentations, spreadsheets, listening to her air buds, frequently pausing, raising her hand to her face, searching graphics, tapping backspace, edit and delete. The gentleman in 26E, leather-bound journal open, fine point ink pen, listening to Spotify […]

Touch vs. Feel

April 25, 2018

A discussion about the senses earlier this week ran through my mind today. I reflect back on that afternoon; the smell of rain, dark clouds above and the sound of raindrops hitting the street. My friend reached out, quickly grabbing a leaf from each tree we passed. Not saving them, picking out a new one along the path. He described the rationale behind catching a small piece of each tree. What did he feel in each leaf? What made them different from the one prior? Had I felt a lamb's ear plant? W[…]

365 Gathered Truths

April 21, 2018

"True, that's some good food for thought," a fascinating phrase when I think about food to give me thought. Of course, it has a meaning of something too stimulating you to have a perspective of something or to think through something. Over the past two months, I have sought out ways to give my soul something to ponder, work through, understand perspective, determine what, if any is a takeaway which I can learn from. A means to drive stimulation in my brain, evoke a feeling in my heart (both posi[…]

Clarity?

April 16, 2018

Returning to Yoga last month has improved my physical but even more, my spiritual health. Each journey was concluding with food for thought leaving my mind racing. Yesterday, Tricia shared the intention, "Clarity." Clarity defined as; the quality of being clear, in particular. the quality of coherence and intelligibility. The quality of being easy to see or hear; sharpness of image or sound. With each movement, I continued to remind and reinforce, Clarity. The class ended, but the journey conclu[…]

Cinderella Moment, Important Bucket and Change

December 13, 2017

(Composed; 2017-Dec-10 ) Damn? I have no clue where to start. Where am I? Where have I been? At the moment I'm on a KLM flight from Helsinki to Amsterdam. I can finally manage to say, we have been to HELsinki. Passing through the aisle at the moment, the young female KLM flight attendant. I extended a genuine thank you and shared how her smile is nothing but infectious and she is beautiful. Of course, only made her smile more. A genuine compliment can go so far, a smile lasts, laughter can make […]

The peace of mind acceptance brings #Orlando

June 14, 2016

Another day of self reflection prompted by the events in Orlando. The onslaught of political views on the tragedy. In one post someone proclaimed that they would unfriend anyone that incorporates religion, politics or sexual orientation into a post about Orlando. I respect their concept that it should be about the loss of lives but to see sexual orientation included left me perplexed. At the gym yesterday morning I overheard someone in their late 20’s, “If they had chosen to not be gay they woul[…]

The Magnitude Factor of 49, The Math – Orlando

June 12, 2016

First thing this morning Nick began updating me on the Orlando news before getting out of bed. Thinking to myself, the counts have to be wrong, and once it's confirmed it won't be that bad. Departing the city and the connection online to kayak was a blessing. The Magnitude Factor of 49 (excluding shooter), victims that lost their life in Orlando early this morning. I believe those that lost are souls we lost, not simply victims. 49 - People confirmed as of 18:53. 77.9 - Average Life Expectancy i[…]

Farewell to my best buddy, my shadow, Jasmine the Beagle

May 4, 2016

I have been struggling over the past 10 days on coming to terms with the passing of my best friend, Jasmine the beagle. I felt it fitting to share the story of Jasmine in my life, how she chose me, and her final few minutes with me last Monday. In early November 2006, Victor and I were casually walking along Mag Mile. We entered the shopping center to visit Nordstrom, along the path we ran into a baby beagle rescue available for adoption. The scent of the puppy, nibbling on my fingers, my heart […]

A craving for empanadas & beer that helped to make my life whole

March 7, 2016

Struggling to see my monitor with the vibrant light of the sun blinding me as it begins to set over the rooftops. I hit mental roadblocks in adding to this blog when too many topics cross my mind; Life, learnings, friendship, quotes, love, sadness and my journey exploring the Human Element. A rollercoaster of a Sunday, two friends added rich context to the fragile nature of life, and in response to the warp speed of life my adopted mom said "Yes it does. Never realized it when I was 36[…]

An Apology to the Sun, God Moments, Day In The Life

February 28, 2016

The long haul flight boredom helped me discover the sitcom Jane the Virgin. For those who have not watched the series, the name may perplex you. The show about a mistake impregnating has light humor and enjoyable moments when Jane’s imagination takes over. A snippet of a short sponsored by Wells Fargo aired on TV which I curiously went online to see the complete version. Wells Fargo? This is an ad campaign with Wells Fargo sewn throughout but, I was wrong. For those on my Facebook, I have highli[…]

The perfect piece of art, a song, and a napkin #MondayMotivation

February 22, 2016

Over the weekend Nick and I stumbled upon Sugarboo & Co at Town Brookhaven. I entered the store and froze, gazing at a piece of art while a song (Spotify: Heartbeats; Jose Gonzalez ) hit my heart giving me a sense of calm. A minute... or two passed, unaware of the price I grabbed the art and gave it to the employee to purchase it. This store has incredible things, all unique, many intricate things that you cannot find anywhere else. This new addition to the house needed to be in the heart of[…]

Undercover Boss, Clergy and a Californian #HumanElement #TuesdayTakeaway

February 16, 2016

My adventure to Europe with my sister is coming to an end, posting this from Delta 170, CDG-MSP. Heidi with Delta has been top notch, a great trip back to the US. Trump, that’s the Apprentice... am I the Undercover Boss… say what? Over the past week I had three interactions which made me reflect on my journey in life and give thought to pivotal moments that changed me. A quick search through my site, I found a post from July 2, 2011, Helping out a Stranger in the Armed Forces, Reflecting Back on[…]

The frail Dove takes flight and how we can live to Infinity

July 8, 2015

What the hell do I write about? I wish I could yell at the top of my lungs, give out hugs, call my family, say I love you to everyone. My heart has ached all day,how I feel tonight in my heart. On May 15th, I wrote about Jane Mitchell and her daughter Gretchen - Blog Post : An unsung hero, daughter battling cancer, will you dance? At 12:26 am Gretchen's soul took flight to the heavens above, leaving behind her husband, two baby girls, and her mother Jane. From the time it took me to write that […]

Need a Puzzle! 1000 Piece Jigsaw, Operation, Jenga, Rubix Cube?

June 30, 2015

Walking the toy aisle doesn’t resemble my time as a kid, picking out the right puzzle. The electronic gaming ushered a different experience, engaging with others yet more solo. I have been giving thought to my life over the past month, being quiet in my posts and hopping off social media briefly. What does my life resemble most to me? 1000 Piece Puzzle - Immediately out of the box I am overwhelmed by the number of pieces. ,Similar colors in the photo, unsure where to begin. I can build the frame[…]

HURRY! Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Abraham Lincoln? #TuesdayTakeaway

June 2, 2015

On Saturday, May 16th I was fortunate to tour the FAA tower at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport through the New PDK Airport Association. The tower has a 360 wrap around deck where you can see the entire airport and downtown. Photos | Exploring the tallest ATC Tower (ATL) in North America #avgeek Do you remember as a kid when you drew a Perspective? At a view of nearly 400 feet above the worlds busiest airport (2014 Passenger Volume), the wind whispered the word Perspective in m[…]

If not me, then who, if not now, when?

June 1, 2015

I experienced unexpected challenges during my host provider change the last two weeks. The kinks worked out, the site now loads in 1/3rd the time. Now back to the good stuff... Happy Monday! Can you believe that we are in June already? The many times I discounted my father's wisdom, time flies quickly as we get older... He was right. For several months I sought out paths for a "creative" avenue, I pondered art classes to take, things to study but nothing resonated to my core. Thinking back to […]

The Person Behind the Pursuit

I'm Douglas. Since 2015 I've been on a relentless pursuit to define The Human Element. The innate quality that draws us closer to one another. One name, one moment, one person at a time. I believe there is light in all of us. This site is my attempt to protect it.
Be humble, be grateful, be true to you.
Read more about the journey →

_{Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not reflect the views of my employer.}