June's Monthly Dispatch From Unobstructed
There's more than one reason to celebrate!
You find what you look for.
That’s something that’s stuck with me over the years. And since gratitude is a muscle that needs regular exercise like any other, finding an excuse to celebrate something is decidedly good for your health.
So if you, like me, need that reminder from time to time, let this be it.
If you missed it, here’s the last one.
What’s happening?
June 2026 edition:
A cause for celebration.
The latest from Unobstructed.
MAP Year Project updates.
1. A cause for celebration.
June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month and Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month!
In the spirit of renowned philosopher, Garth Algar, and his famous words, “Party on, Wayne,” here’s a mix of favorites—new and old—from Unobstructed in celebration of both Pride and Men’s Mental Health!
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2. The latest from Unobstructed.
From Kickturn, a daily column on pivots and new perspectives:
“Damage Control”
Brakes! The brakes!! HIT THE BRAKES!
I’m sitting in a general store in small-town Vermont today, eating lunch and taking in the stillness. There’s a few other people in the log-cabin-like building, but everyone’s moving slow. Calm. The vibe here is “unhurried.”
Not mine; not when I’d first walked in, anyway.
Keep reading.
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From Unobstructed Weekly, the flagship column on finding clarity:
"Please Make Time For Keith And Charlie"
For years, I felt like I was surrounded by people who didn’t want the same kind of life that I did. Folks in my hometown seemed to spend each day commuting to an office job in rush-hour traffic only to then hustle home and hurry off to [insert kid’s extracurricular sport or activity here]. Mornings were a mad-dash-frenzy of trying to catch the bus to go do it all again. Weekends were for yard work and living out blue-collar fantasies through home-improvement projects.
Everyone seemed happy to keep repeating the cycle.
I didn’t get it.
Keep reading.
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From Breaking Trail, a monthly column on trying new things:
"Another Level To Explore"
10,000 hours; that’s the benchmark that has entered the cultural zeitgeist from Malcom Gladwell’s seminal work, Outliers. Hell, it even made it into a Macklemore song literally called Ten Thousand Hours. Yet, we all are shown “experts” constantly in a myriad of forms — from professional career coaches to influencers with TikTok crafting tips. Are these people actually experts? Why am I never watching people in progress?
Keep reading.
3. Updates from The MAP Year Project.
Each night, I sit down to write my daily column after working on other stuff all day. Recently, I went through my writing from the past 10 months of The MAP Year Project to help organize things as I move toward manuscript editing.
From my spot at the dining room table, I scrolled to the top of the doc I’d been working in and I felt my eyebrows climb up my forehead. My head shook back and forth and, before I knew it, I was smiling and nodding in disbelief.
158,457 words so far.
303 days in a row.
Two months left.
You can learn more about The MAP Year Project, and how to follow along, here.
An attitude of gratitude.
If you’re reading this, I want you know just how grateful I am.
Seriously, it means a lot.
I appreciate you.
onward.
