The Blog

There is a lot of tragedy around. That is an understatement It's going to hit all of us at different times and in different ways. From all the things.... Read more

Some Big Picture Parts Hey! It's another super long post! This one puts some of the pieces together in one place that we're not all talking about as a big... Read more

Folks it's time to think deeper resilience. Put your contingency plans in place. Write down the phone numbers you need. Have backup plans for meeting... Read more

We're in a hell of a moment. If you are hoping that it is going to calm down, I'm here to tell you that it won't. We just had a series of super spreader... Read more

Lots of helplessness, worry, frustration, anger, and rage on my feed today. I've got it too. I'm going to say some uncomfortable stuff here as a disaster... Read more

In a 2012 keynote speech at the Smithsonian, I heard a renowned system scientist say: "The challenge of our lifetimes will be to manage the decline of civilization."  It felt like every single person in that auditorium stopped breathing. Like time paused; if only for a moment. I've never been in... Read more

Today I offer two pieces of advice in this time of increasing intensity. The first is to try and stay grounded. To not panic. The second is to... Read more

Disasters can be dream-killers. We don't really talk about them that way. Yet they wipe out people and neighborhoods and livelihoods. There's another... Read more

I feel like the US is slowly catching up to what I've known for years. I knew we were not ready for a catastrophe - especially more than one at a time. I... Read more

One of the things that happens in disasters is information overwhelm. Especially in the information age. It's a big issue inside the response, but it's a... Read more

So this happened today. It is part of my mission this year to support the Democratic nominee for president. As such, I've been keeping my opinions on each... Read more

The Spectre When it comes to dealing with the current state of the country, I feel like I had a bit of a head start.  I moved to Iowa from Washington, DC in the fall of 2015… just as the races were really heating up for the Iowa Caucus set for February of 2016.  So much for leaving the politics of Washington. As I started to settle into my new life in the midwest, the spectre of Donald Trump was becoming more ominous.  He seemed to be everywhere.  His intention to be a disruptor was crystal clear. I had a talk about Mr. Trump on a phone call with a friend of mine around that time.  It was November of 2015, and I can tell you right... Read more

Late night commiserating, here. And fight. I am super frustrated lately with a) judgment and b) unnecessary meanness. Oh, and c) dismissiveness. These... Read more

If you are under the impression that the United States government can do nothing to fight Russian cyber actions and attacks, to help states with election security, to help with detection of cyber threats to states or companies or federal systems, or to take offensive cyber... Read more

Active shooter again today.  This time it's at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School (#StonemanShooting) in #ParklandFlorida. Every time there is an active shooter incident, it is a chance to think and talk about how you would react.  It is a chance for... Read more

Y'all, @600 people were shot at one single incident in the past year in Las Vegas. There are active shooter incidents every few days in the US. Orlando in... Read more

Holding Out for a Hero No one person is going to save the day – or the country.  It's not Special Counsel Mueller.  Despite all of the twitterpation since Sunday’s Golden Globes that Oprah... Read more

I keep leaving fire.  It’s a funny thing to leave, because the ways in which I leave are not really visible to the fire world.  They’re quiet – as so many leavings are.  They vary, too.  I left the field for fire management.  I left fire management to work on post-9/11 stuff in Washington, DC.  I left that because it didn’t... Read more

UPDATE:  This post is duplicated as a Services page, "Holding the Line," and is a Counterfear Tool.  Since it was originally posted, the US has been experiencing increasing chaos; especially in mid-2020.  This area of work - holding the line - can help with the part of the mission of the... Read more

My advice today:  it is time to talk about National Security. This is the dialogue.  This isn't about politics.  This isn't about anything else now but a threat to the security of... Read more

The Basics of Fire Intelligence I had a super sexy sounding job once as a Fire Intelligence Coordinator at “South Ops,” the busiest interagency emergency coordination center in the world.  Our job as one of eleven geographic area coordination centers in the US was to coordinate regional... Read more

This quote is from a witness in the Las Vegas mass shooting.  His name is Anthony, filmed with his girlfriend Dillon. He was interviewed by Jo Ling Kent, NBC News Correspondent at 8:05 p.m.... Read more

Today I’m fired up.  I get in a state when there are impending catastrophes, especially given the fact that we’ve already got one or two well underway. Years ago, I committed to living my life well within my own integrity.  For me, this means loving people, giving folks a chance, and embracing... Read more

There are moments... and I find myself tempted to temper my voice to meet some perceived Important Mission. Here's the thing, though. I tempered my voice... Read more

Hurricane Harvey aka Tropical Storm Harvey is unfolding as the largest US catastrophe since Hurricane Katrina. Rain and flooding are expected to continue this week. What can you do to help?... Read more

"Fate whispers to the warrior, 'you cannot withstand the storm,’ and the warrior whispers back, ‘I am the storm.’” – Unknown Sometimes I forget that I am an intense person.  This is probably due in part to years of work in federal bureaucracy attempting to squish it out of me.  Today I remembered because I was playing the Beastie... Read more

A white supremacist rally was declared unlawful after turning violent today in Charlottesville, VA, and an emergency declaration was issued by the... Read more

Some on social media today seem surprised or extra disheartened by the behavior of Senators in the Attorney General Sessions hearing regarding the Russia... Read more

Well I'm going to have to swear. I have to admit to being flat-out stunned that so many people are stunned about the POTUS pulling the US out of the... Read more

From what I have seen, when aspiring writers ask widely known writers how to do it, the second group always tell the first group to start by JUST WRITING.... Read more

Yesterday I heard myself say the words "I'm done," in reference to something I have loved for years. A part of my work. I spent the rest of the evening... Read more

So you’re going to Washington! Whether you are traveling to the nation’s capital for a party, a protest, or just to be present, one thing is for sure: you will need to be resilient. Anything can happen in a city on a normal day, but let’s admit it: this week, Washington, DC will be a special case. Really and truly — anything is possible. Things may go just swimmingly. Hopefully that’s the case.... Read more

And so it begins.  US Election Day 2016.  Years in the making. May we be wise in our choices, and peaceful in our response.  May we find acceptance.  May we... Read more

George Addair said, "Everythig you want is on the other side of fear."  I love that, because it is a tool. If we face our fear; if we counter it - we start a shift.  The action might just be finding the fear, and... Read more

"You can't transform something you won't look at." - Dixie St. John It’s easy to get overwhelmed, and a bit paralyzed.  We tend to resist change, even when risk is... Read more

I learned a beautiful metaphor about transformation when I was in life coach training with Martha Beck.  It’s a bit about how a caterpillar doesn’t go into a cocoon and slowly transform... Read more

“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.” - Og Mandino Just when I feel like it’s safe to take a time-out from the news for a day or so, we’ve got more terrorism. I won’t even try to summarize the latest developments… but the super-quick picture is that there were attacks in New York, New Jersey, and Minnesota this weekend.  The debate rages on about whether these were terrorist attacks.  At its... Read more

"Anchor and Flank" is at the core of the counterfear process (check out the Focus Area page "Anchor and Flank" for more).  It comes from fire.  In fact, it's a core principle of wildland firefighting,... Read more

"I remember exactly that moment when the whole world stopped & we saw each other standing there. Wondering how we ever forgot that we are all light wanting to shine for each other." - Brian Andreas, StoryPeople Yesterday I tried to write a blog post about 9/11.  Well, if I’m honest, I started trying to write it on Friday.  Didn’t work.  Didn’t... Read more

Addressing Chaos Years ago when I worked as a Fire Intelligence Coordinator at “South Ops," I set about finding some tools to help me organize and prioritize.  South Ops is the country’s busiest interagency operations coordination center, and is reputed to be the busiest such center center in the world.  It covers response coordination... Read more

Fire folks are known to be a little eccentric.  Well, wildland fire folks, anyway.  Come to think of it, just today I had a new friend say to me, “who voluntarily goes into a burning forest, anyway?”  To me, that sounds like a... Read more

"First things first." Creating the space is one of my own personal go-to favourite coaching tools.  It’s pretty simple.  You have to create the space for what you want.  You may want peace.  Vision.  Rest.  Progress.  You can reach these - even for a moment - by creating some space for them.  If... Read more

"You don't surrender your dreams.  You surrender the one thing you never had and you never will: control." - Socrates, Peaceful Warrior Read more

This here is a tool you can use daily.  It's fast.  And it's effective. Every day, take five minutes and write a list of: 5 things you are grateful for 5 things that you... Read more

Take a look at your language.  You are not what you were.  From this moment on, you can be something different. Language is powerful.  How we use it reflects how we think.  When you pay attention to your language, you can see what it reflects about how you think.  When you put the work in to change your language and your thinking - you can shift both. Talking about You To start with,... Read more

This is a tool from Steve Maraboli, a favourite life coach of mine.  I met Steve in 2009, well before I considered becoming a life coach myself.  Steve planted a seed, though. I listened to hours of Steve’s online radio... Read more

With all this talk about countering fear, it is important to recognize fear itself. We have fear for a reason.  Sometimes it’s a life-saver.  When I see a crazy driver veering around on the road or cutting in and out of traffic -... Read more

“The journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination.” - Socrates, in the movie Peaceful Warrior Going for a walk is absolutely one of my favourite life tools.  Walking is good for the soul.  Humans have been... Read more

"Take out the trash.  The trash is anything that's keeping you from the only thing that matters, this moment.  Here.  Now.  And when you truly are in the here and now, you'll be amazed at what you can do, and how well you can do it." - Socrates, in the movie... Read more

“This is your world.  Shape it, or someone else will.” - Gary Lew Randomly sit one day and write a life vision.  Don’t stew over it, or make it in to something bigger than it is…... Read more

Pulse Nightclub Attack - June 12, 2016 - Orlando, Florida Tonight I finally figured out what I wanted to say about the attack this week at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.  I outlined a... Read more

It’s May Day here in the US.  For me, it’s a day loaded with meaning.  All kinds of meaning. When I was a kid, May Day was the symbolic “real” beginning of spring.  The grass was green.  The winter was almost certainly over.  And every year, we went to some effort to make May baskets.  My mother led the operation, which involved assembling collections of popcorn... Read more

One benefit to growing the Counterfear idea is that I’ve got notes on about a hundred counterfear tools in my arsenal - and that is a real number.  I’m in the process of getting as many of those as possible on the website in the near future.  In the meantime, this post is a bit of a Toolbox sampling... as I tried to process some unexplained fear one night. Practical Fear It would be nice to think that if... Read more

Lately I’ve been busy writing an abbreviated history of my life and times for The Blog and the website.  One of the dangers and benefits of all the writing is that it inspires other... Read more

“If not us, who? If not now, when?” The Counterfear Blog is a piece of the heart and soul of this website, and of the counterfear idea.  I do not promise brevity.  I am... Read more

“This is your last chance.  After this, there is no turning back.  You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.  You take the red... Read more