The Blog

There Is No Single National Coordination System For Disaster Response NO, there is no single US system to help everyone in every state and in every hospital get the critical... 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

Big Infrastructure Action NCAA cancelled in-person attendance at the March Madness tournament today. This post is a super quick look at how some post-9/11... 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

I just went on a five minute rant to a local Facebook friend about the scientific method. Y'all, I've taken three classes in philosophy of science and... 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

Join the Accessible Rates Revolution One of the things about running a business is that you do need to actually bring in money.  It’s a key feature. The intention of this business is to help people counter fear, and to be able to... 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

Way back when I was in college, my mom suggested I write a book. Wait, do I sound younger if I just say "Back when I was in college?" I digress. At 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

"Brace for impact." - 'Sully' Sullenberger Perusing the news or your Facebook feed can be perilous these days - especially if you are a news addict with a... 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 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

“Why don't we take a five minute break?” - Dark Helmet, Spaceballs Big news today, as the UK has voted to leave the EU. Worldwide markets reacted to the... 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

“Why don't we take a five minute break?” - Dark Helmet, Spaceballs I find much of my wisdom in silly movies.  This gem from the movie Spaceballs has been a counterfear lifesaver for me - over and over.  "Why don't we take a... 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

“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

“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

So I will admit this:  I was a bit of a policy wonk during my quality time in Washington, DC.  I only mention this because one of the things you do when policy wonking is... Read more

“What do stars do?” - Yvaine, in the movie Stardust I’ve been in hermit-mode lately.  I suspect that the people who dream big and make stuff happen all maybe do the hermit thing every once in a while.  For me, it’s the best way to get a lot done.  If... Read more

"Light up the darkness." - Bob Marley   [NOTE:  This piece has become one of the anchor pieces in the story of getting ready for the great disruption that began in 2020 with the pandemic.  More pieces to the back stories are here, including a sort of update to this post here on Why called The Great Transformation.]   Most Counterfear.com blog posts are conversational and fun and not so technical. This one is technical, serious, and sobering. It is a memorial.  It is a foundation.  It is also an explanation.  A clearing.  And a space to dream. This blog... 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

Welcome to Counterfear!  This right here represents my first blog post, and something I didn't expect.  That is because the word "blog" annoys the daylights out of me.  It is an ugly word, although the idea behind it is good.  I purposefully avoided using the word for several years, hoping maybe it wouldn't stick around.  Hoping... Read more