Danny Brown's Blog, page 4

Aren’t We All Nerds in Some Form or Other?

When I was eight years old, my aunt used to take me on weekly train rides in the summer to Burntisland, across the Forth Rail Bridge that connected Edinburgh to the Kingdom of Fife.

It was always something I looked forward to.

From the train ride itself to traversing the majestic rustic bridge, to the little cobbled path that took you from the train station to the main street, and then down to the seafront where the annual fairground would reside.

It was moments like that that made my otherwise fairly shitty childhood...

The Destination is Never a Place

When we finally reach the end of whatever path we’re on in life, there is one guarantee for all of us, regardless of race, religion or culture.

No matter the paths we took to get there, and the people travelled with or against to traverse these paths, we all meet the same end point.

Often, as the realization hits that this is the end, and the path runs out of areas to tread, we think back on what we’ve accomplished (or haven’t, depending on your point of view).

The problem with this is we lea...

How We Work

If I’m a barman, I use a bottle opener to open a bottle of wine.

If I’m a hairdresser, I use a comb to style.

But this is simple – this is using tools for their specific use. We can all do that.

I can also use a bottle opener with my kid to pretend we’re drilling for oil at the beach.

Or I can use a comb with a sheet of paper and make a musical instrument.

Tools are what we teach them to be. Imagine the possibilities if we all took up teaching…

Why the Real Fake News is Being Driven by Social Media

“There’s nothing so absurd that if you repeat it often enough, people will believe it.” ~ William James.

When you want to believe something is true, often you look for the validation of numbers to make the case for your argument.

After all, the more someone says something, and the more people add their voice to the chorus of that belief, eventually it has to be true, right?

No smoke without fire, and all that.

The problem is, if we subscribe to that line of thinking, then pretty much anything...

Why Should We Be Contented?

Because contentment is all we should strive for. Not perfection. Not being “the best”. Not standing over others, looking down.

Just being content.

Content in our lives.

Content with those we love, and those who love us.

Content with our here and now.

Content with the life we have, versus the life we’re told we should have.

Because being content is being truly happy, and what more in life do we need that that?

Your Whole Damn Life is an Idea for a Blog Post

While browsing the homepage of my preferred sports site the other day, I saw an ad for a “content engine”, to help with blog post ideas.

Given that I’ve had a little bit of a battle in the past with companies and consultants that offer a quick-fix “this will change your life/business!” promise, I thought I’d check this solution out.

I wasn’t disappointed.

From the blurb of the sales pitch, this “content engine” would help you…

…to quickly crank out share-worthy, clickable blog content that ge...

Life Through a Dram Episode 8: Look at the Stars

Often in life, we feel we need something around us to make us feel special, and wanted. Family; love; success; and all that comes with it.

And, yes, family makes us complete, as does love. And, if that’s a metric, self-value can also come from success (based on our perception of what success means).

But, as I found out this evening, when these things aren’t around us, we don’t necessarily need to feel less significant. Instead, we can truly see what it means to be valuable…

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Life Through a Dram Episode 7: Being Around as an Older Dad

Recently, I had a little bit of a health scare when I went for a check-up at my doctor’s. I’ll be 50 later this year, so I wanted to see how I was doing as I approach that milestone. And it wasn’t good.

Since then, I’ve taken steps to improve my lifestyle, habits, and more. As a dad to two young kids, I realized I wasn’t being fair to them, as I put myself and my own “entertainment” ahead of their right to have a dad grow with them.

In this episode, I talk about that realization, and how we a...

Life Through a Dram Episode 5: Belief is Half of All Healing

There are many beliefs in the world – religious, spiritual and more. But what if we believed in the one thing that we can all agree on – the belief in humanity?

This is a topic that’s near and dear to me, as I talked about a bit in my last post on here. In the latest episode of Life Through a Dram, I dive into this a little bit deeper.

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There Is Good in the World – You Just Need to See It

Sometimes it’s tough either going online and looking at your social feeds, or watching the news on TV, or picking up a newspaper.

Wars. Hate. Bigotry. Violence. Divisiveness. Fear. Anger.

There’s a lot of negativity, and a lot of people stoking the flames of that negativity.

So rampant is it, you’d be forgiven for thinking there are no more good people in the world. Or, fewer than there was when you were younger.

But you’d be wrong.

There is good. There is love. There is caring. There is all...