Danny Brown's Blog, page 5

Life Through a Dram – My New (First) Podcast

So… yeah… I started a podcast. Say hello to Life Through a Dram.

Being In The Physical, and Turning Memories Into Moments

This week, I returned from a two week trip back to my birth country of Scotland.

I took the trip with my good friend, Sam Fiorella, who had wanted to do this trip for a few years (he was meant to do it two years ago for his 50th birthday).

Given my own 50th is fast approaching this October, I revisited the idea with him, and we took off an adventure of whisky tasting, scenic views, a trip to his beloved Liverpool FC near the end of the trip, and a stayover in Amesterdam on the last night.

An...

Time Flies When You’re Not Blogging

So I was looking over my last few posts (as I’d realized I haven’t blogged in a while), and I was surprised to find that in the last three months, I’d only blogged four times.

Just once a month, if you ignore the first of these four posts which was an update post, versus a topical one.

At first, I won’t lie – I kinda panicked. Given (up until the last year, anyhoo) I’d been a prolific blogger, often publishing multiple times a week, to drop to almost one a month seemed alien.

It’s not that it...

Forever Chasing Shadows

From the moment we can, until our moments are no more, we’re forever chasing shadows.

As children, we chase the shadow of ourselves that the streetlight throws in front of us.

As teenagers, we chase the impossible date with the most popular boy or girl.

As adults, we chase the dream job that never happens, or the pot of gold we never reach.

We know – subconsciously or otherwise – that some shadows can never be caught, and yet we chase them anyway.

And the damage is catastrophic.

People chase...

On Hot Tubs and Getting Older

Next year, I’ll be 50. What the f…?

I remember being a young man in my early 20’s, and thinking 30 was old. My 20’s and 30’s were probably my peak, at least physically.

To even consider being 50 was… no, it wasn’t even considered. It just wasn’t an age to understand.

Now, a couple of decades later, and I’m thinking – how did this creep up?

Was I just not paying attention? Not accepting it was coming? Not growing up, and still thinking of my peak years? Although one look in the mirror can easi...

When We Use the Wrong Kind of Glue

For the longest time, I’ve been a Samsung guy when it comes to Android smartphone choice.

I never really had brand loyalty before when it came to phones – I’d simply use what I needed at the time, which resulted in me switching between Nokia, BlackBerry, Motorola, and more.

Then I got a Samsung S3, and I was hooked, and stuck with that brand for years.

Recently, my phone died, and – since I was now on a new network that wasn’t restricted to phones or service contracts – I decided to look arou...

Looking After You

Just over a week ago, I posted this update over on my personal Facebook account:

Used to be social media was the connector. A great way to make new friends, learn new things, and grow in ways you wouldn’t have otherwise.

Now it mostly resembles a toxic train wreck, with so many using it to spread hate, fear, ignorance, and lies, while belittling others as much as they can.

Maybe it’s time to just close the whole thing down and walk away.

It came as a result of a lot of things:

I’ve been “d...

Belief, Ego, and Remarkability

Everyone has greatness in them. The challenge is how we express it. We can push ourselves to rise to the challenge, or we can encourage others to greatness.

By doing this, we can encourage ourselves at the same time.

Everyone also has an ego.

Some are kept in check – some are left to rage uncontrollably. Some have a happy medium in-between.

Are our ego’s stopping us from being remarkable?

Often we don’t like to admit we don’t know something. We want people to think we’re invincible, that thei...

I Was a #MeToo Guy, and I’m Sorry

For the past few days, I’ve watched female friend after female friend post the same update.

#MeToo.

Each update has seen these brave women opening up candidly and honestly about the abuse they’ve suffered at the hands of men.

From unwanted advances to violent assault and rape, and every shitty experience in-between, it’s been a sobering and raw thing to watch unfold, and my heart aches for each and every one of my friends, and their friends, and all the friends of friends I do not know, yet s...

Finding Moments of Silence in a Sea of Noise

The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it. ~ Sydney J. Harris

We live such busy lives. We run from meeting to meeting, sales call to sales call, school event to school event, all without question.

Instead of questioning the validity of these sprints, we simply brush reasons aside, because it’s just what we do, right?

While it may be part of our everyday life, it doesn’t mean it has to be part of our everyday acceptance of busyness over silence and time to regroup.

In fact, not taki...