James, this is a magnificent piece of writing. I can’t recall heart and financial advice being linked together so lovingly like this. It’s almost shocking in it’s wonderful-ness. It’s not often people pour out their hearts so directly, so generously, with respect to business. Just… wow. Beautiful. Thank you for this.
Kathy, your comment means so much to me. And that you call it magnificent - I’m all that more appreciative. You know what it’s like to work with a piece for a while. That’s what I did with this one. I felt like I wrote 20,000 words to get it down to the right 1,700 and in just the right manner. Thank you again 🙏❤️.
Gosh I loved this James. This especially resonated like a siren through the mist: “for where there was a worry, there was a want—a longed-for wish. Hidden behind a fear? An envisioned future.”
And the ending was just superb.
It’s a treat to see how heartfelt you are with your work and this is a piece I’ll return to as I begin to evaluate what sort of company I want to join, career I want to embark on.
Thank you for this (: always brings a smile to my face to see a new piece from you
Tommy, thank for the reply. Interestingly for all of the time I spent rewriting - with the help of Jack and a few others - I cut and changed that passage a few times, but in the end it came back in, just as my muse had delivered it through me about three months ago. Funny how that works huh? As well, the ending came to me before I even started the piece, which was also lovely - because, for me, if I know where a piece is going to end, it makes it easier to work toward that point.
Thanks for being such an inspiration Tommy. I hope your time in Newfoundland is deeply serving to you.
It's funny, how some pieces keep coming back. I'm glad it made it in there. One surprising thing from working with Alex Dobrenko on that one essay, was the parts I cut myself were often his favorite (but I think they're silly or stupid or tangents or too specific)
Newfoundland has been good. Hope to catch up soon, perhaps in late August or early September (:
Tommy for sure about catching up later this month or next. I also still owe you a yes or no on the dates in October on Bainbridge. I haven’t forgotten that. Take good care.
James, this is incredible. From a writing perspective, I cannot believe how much you changed this essay from one of the earlier drafts I was lucky to read. The ability to rewrite and reorder your essay until it arrives at a place where you feel good enough to share it is the mark of a true writer. And you turned this essay into something beautiful.
Besides your fantastic writing that brings this piece to life, I love the core idea of this essay. The message that will sit with me is the impact we can have on the hearts we interact with each day. You and your team, because of your core values and collective self-awareness surrounding the impact of the work you do, touch hearts with each interaction. You, as an individual in your roles as a husband, father, writer, boss, and friend, leave an imprint in the wake of your words and actions. As do we all. We have the power to touch all of the hearts we come across. But how we move them, for better or for worse, is up to us.
Jack, I so appreciate you and your contribution to the piece. And your feedback at a high level.
While I didn’t reorder the piece in the exact way you suggested, your suggestions resulted in a reordering, which led to some new depth based on that reordering.
And that the essay had the described impact on you was/is what I had hoped people would take from it, so my heart is warmed.
I really appreciate the contribution you are to my life Jack. 🙏
And thank you again for working with the not-so fashioned written ball of clay early on.
Jack - I want to thank you again for this piercing insight:
“We have the power to touch all of the hearts we come across. But how we move them, for better or for worse, is up to us.”
When I read your thoughtful comment the first time I didn’t internalize it. And something sparked in a conversation I was having with a client today and this sentence showed up for me and I couldn’t remember it exactly. I came back to reread it. It’s so essential. Thank you again. 🙏
That your heart lives in mine, and that mine lives in yours, and it has ever been thus since I met you "in the corporate world" so many years ago, is, and has been, one of THE greatest blessings and privileges of my life. I bow to you. Also, may I thank you for putting your heart, your attention, and. your intention in your writing and allowing your written communications to make such a difference in our lives. Your writing is so beautiful!
Oh, Amba, yes in those same recesses of the corporate world is when our hearts connected. Probably about 30 years ago.
For anyone reading this comment - Amba’s heart and her contribution to awakening hearts - has helped my heart grow in capacity and in ways I could not have imagined.
Amba, I’m so deeply touched by your heart and am honored to carry your heart in me. 🙏 Namaste.
This is now the third time I have read this and each time when I concluded reading, I wiped my eyes and sat with astonishment - astonishment that with each essay you write, you somehow become a better writer than you were in the essay prior and that each story you tell is heartfelt beyond measure.
Janet's experiences are some of my greatest fears - losing the love of my life and losing the life I envision for myself. My heart aches for her and my heart sings for her that she has found a way to continue life with Cort in her own way.
I feel so happy to know you and share in this sphere of love you hold for the people in your life.
Haley, I’m grateful for you, and your GIANT heart. People in our lives are associated with specific times, or places, or things. Like my best friend and roommate in college Greg, who I met during fraternity rush, I can’t separate from all my fraternity memories.
With you, you were there in the starting blocks of my writing journey with Write of Passage. And you’ve been a partner along the way. I’ll never forget your presence in our first Zoom room, and the time you spent editing drafts of my early essays. And the conversations we prioritize with each other.
I’ve read every piece you’ve published. Each has contributed to me and my writing and still does. I can’t separate your heart from the words I’ve written.
Last, my fear is the same as your fear and Janet’s experience. My answer, the best one I have come up with, is to surrender to, and be fully present in each moment, since we don’t know when our circumstance might change. ❤️
James, again I’m in awe of your heart, and your ability to get to the important stuff. I’ve been given a couple rocks by special people, a couple are hearts, but all are pieces from the earth, that signify our connectedness. I go to the river with Tanka and have started looking for heart and special rocks, a tradition your family practices, one I am taking on. As your sister, you are a major influence in life and perspective, you have changed me for the better, and you are one of my best assets, and fiercest advocate, I love you dearly.
Katy, I cannot imagine journeying through my life without you by my side and your heart inside of mine. You are both a tender and fierce teacher and a profound mentor to me. I love you so ever much. 💖💖
This is such a beautiful essay but more than that, it reveals what a beautiful heart you have in serving your clients and your family. You are providing so much more than the average financial advisor! I loved so many parts of this essay but most of all your care.
Hi Serena. Thank you for reading and for the kind words. 🙏🙏. It is truly a treat to work with so many wonderful hearts. And to have three most precious ones at home - at least for four more years until my twin girls graduate from HS. 😞
What a beautiful essay. As I grow older, I've noticed that while outward beauty may fade, the wisdom and compassion within my heart continue to deepen. Perhaps this is what aging is meant to do.
“The wisdom and compassion of the heart continues to deepen.”
What a wonderful perspective Mary Ann. It’s why, if we were asked if we could go back in time to be younger physically, most of us would say no, because we’d have to give back that depth in our heart we’d discovered and cultivated. And for me that’s not worth trading.
Linart, I so appreciate you and your sharing. I often think of your commitment to your family - reflective of your huge heart too ❤️. Thank you for reading and commenting. 🙏
Wonderful piece. It's so easy to get lost in the noise -- the market, the election, the Fed, yadda yadda -- and never truly be present. A potent reminder of what can happen when we listen and try to understand the other person.
Also, I love that you started out with a physical crystal ball - "The crystal ball always sat there, reflecting our images, revealing nothing." - which already revealed the most important idea in its reflection.
Frederik - thank you - I wish I had thought of your line "which already revealed the most important idea in its reflection." Such a great perspective. Ironically, what I left out is that the reflection from a ball is an upside-down reflection :)
You're one of a kind, James. Thanks for sharing this with us. I loved the way you reframed the questions and moved the conversation from external fears to internal intentions. "The right questions, ones that mattered most and ones that only clients could answer, were questions that tapped into intentions and aspirations that lived inside." Father, coach, advisor, friend... we are lucky to have you.
“External fears to internal intentions” that’s a better way to say it - thank you. And isn’t that really our aim in all of life - to overcome our fears, act with intention, and then surrender to the mystery?
Thank you, John for being such an inspiration in my life. I’m so fortunate the universe connected us. 🙏
Dear James, I needed to let this beautiful essay settle in my mind for a few days. It is profound, and helped me realize that the deceased hearts I thought I had lost these last few months aren't gone, but just in a different place in my bowl. Thank you for that, and know how blessed I feel for having met you all those years ago. I appreciate your contribution to my bowl of hearts!
Loys- you bring a smile to my face and warmth to my heart ❤️. Thank you for reading and for commenting. One of the reasons I write is to discover what’s inside of me. It was through writing this that I realized how many hearts inside of me - that I think about, that influence and guide me, are no longer beating, but are are still alive in me. I’m so pleased that this perspective touched you and resonated with you. 😊.
Beautiful writing James. Your heart radiates love, joy and compassion. And your eyes sparkle reflecting the depth of your being. A loving heart truly makes the world go ‘round. Thank you, buddy.
My goodness, your clients are lucky to have you.
Charlie - I so appreciate that. 🙏. Thank you for reading.
James, this is a magnificent piece of writing. I can’t recall heart and financial advice being linked together so lovingly like this. It’s almost shocking in it’s wonderful-ness. It’s not often people pour out their hearts so directly, so generously, with respect to business. Just… wow. Beautiful. Thank you for this.
Kathy, your comment means so much to me. And that you call it magnificent - I’m all that more appreciative. You know what it’s like to work with a piece for a while. That’s what I did with this one. I felt like I wrote 20,000 words to get it down to the right 1,700 and in just the right manner. Thank you again 🙏❤️.
Gosh I loved this James. This especially resonated like a siren through the mist: “for where there was a worry, there was a want—a longed-for wish. Hidden behind a fear? An envisioned future.”
And the ending was just superb.
It’s a treat to see how heartfelt you are with your work and this is a piece I’ll return to as I begin to evaluate what sort of company I want to join, career I want to embark on.
Thank you for this (: always brings a smile to my face to see a new piece from you
Tommy, thank for the reply. Interestingly for all of the time I spent rewriting - with the help of Jack and a few others - I cut and changed that passage a few times, but in the end it came back in, just as my muse had delivered it through me about three months ago. Funny how that works huh? As well, the ending came to me before I even started the piece, which was also lovely - because, for me, if I know where a piece is going to end, it makes it easier to work toward that point.
Thanks for being such an inspiration Tommy. I hope your time in Newfoundland is deeply serving to you.
It's funny, how some pieces keep coming back. I'm glad it made it in there. One surprising thing from working with Alex Dobrenko on that one essay, was the parts I cut myself were often his favorite (but I think they're silly or stupid or tangents or too specific)
Newfoundland has been good. Hope to catch up soon, perhaps in late August or early September (:
Tommy for sure about catching up later this month or next. I also still owe you a yes or no on the dates in October on Bainbridge. I haven’t forgotten that. Take good care.
James, this is incredible. From a writing perspective, I cannot believe how much you changed this essay from one of the earlier drafts I was lucky to read. The ability to rewrite and reorder your essay until it arrives at a place where you feel good enough to share it is the mark of a true writer. And you turned this essay into something beautiful.
Besides your fantastic writing that brings this piece to life, I love the core idea of this essay. The message that will sit with me is the impact we can have on the hearts we interact with each day. You and your team, because of your core values and collective self-awareness surrounding the impact of the work you do, touch hearts with each interaction. You, as an individual in your roles as a husband, father, writer, boss, and friend, leave an imprint in the wake of your words and actions. As do we all. We have the power to touch all of the hearts we come across. But how we move them, for better or for worse, is up to us.
Jack, I so appreciate you and your contribution to the piece. And your feedback at a high level.
While I didn’t reorder the piece in the exact way you suggested, your suggestions resulted in a reordering, which led to some new depth based on that reordering.
And that the essay had the described impact on you was/is what I had hoped people would take from it, so my heart is warmed.
I really appreciate the contribution you are to my life Jack. 🙏
And thank you again for working with the not-so fashioned written ball of clay early on.
Jack - I want to thank you again for this piercing insight:
“We have the power to touch all of the hearts we come across. But how we move them, for better or for worse, is up to us.”
When I read your thoughtful comment the first time I didn’t internalize it. And something sparked in a conversation I was having with a client today and this sentence showed up for me and I couldn’t remember it exactly. I came back to reread it. It’s so essential. Thank you again. 🙏
James,
That your heart lives in mine, and that mine lives in yours, and it has ever been thus since I met you "in the corporate world" so many years ago, is, and has been, one of THE greatest blessings and privileges of my life. I bow to you. Also, may I thank you for putting your heart, your attention, and. your intention in your writing and allowing your written communications to make such a difference in our lives. Your writing is so beautiful!
Oh, Amba, yes in those same recesses of the corporate world is when our hearts connected. Probably about 30 years ago.
For anyone reading this comment - Amba’s heart and her contribution to awakening hearts - has helped my heart grow in capacity and in ways I could not have imagined.
Amba, I’m so deeply touched by your heart and am honored to carry your heart in me. 🙏 Namaste.
James -
This is now the third time I have read this and each time when I concluded reading, I wiped my eyes and sat with astonishment - astonishment that with each essay you write, you somehow become a better writer than you were in the essay prior and that each story you tell is heartfelt beyond measure.
Janet's experiences are some of my greatest fears - losing the love of my life and losing the life I envision for myself. My heart aches for her and my heart sings for her that she has found a way to continue life with Cort in her own way.
I feel so happy to know you and share in this sphere of love you hold for the people in your life.
Haley, I’m grateful for you, and your GIANT heart. People in our lives are associated with specific times, or places, or things. Like my best friend and roommate in college Greg, who I met during fraternity rush, I can’t separate from all my fraternity memories.
With you, you were there in the starting blocks of my writing journey with Write of Passage. And you’ve been a partner along the way. I’ll never forget your presence in our first Zoom room, and the time you spent editing drafts of my early essays. And the conversations we prioritize with each other.
I’ve read every piece you’ve published. Each has contributed to me and my writing and still does. I can’t separate your heart from the words I’ve written.
Last, my fear is the same as your fear and Janet’s experience. My answer, the best one I have come up with, is to surrender to, and be fully present in each moment, since we don’t know when our circumstance might change. ❤️
James, again I’m in awe of your heart, and your ability to get to the important stuff. I’ve been given a couple rocks by special people, a couple are hearts, but all are pieces from the earth, that signify our connectedness. I go to the river with Tanka and have started looking for heart and special rocks, a tradition your family practices, one I am taking on. As your sister, you are a major influence in life and perspective, you have changed me for the better, and you are one of my best assets, and fiercest advocate, I love you dearly.
Katy, I cannot imagine journeying through my life without you by my side and your heart inside of mine. You are both a tender and fierce teacher and a profound mentor to me. I love you so ever much. 💖💖
This is such a beautiful essay but more than that, it reveals what a beautiful heart you have in serving your clients and your family. You are providing so much more than the average financial advisor! I loved so many parts of this essay but most of all your care.
Hi Serena. Thank you for reading and for the kind words. 🙏🙏. It is truly a treat to work with so many wonderful hearts. And to have three most precious ones at home - at least for four more years until my twin girls graduate from HS. 😞
Thank you again. ❤️
I can tell you take good care of the hearts around you @James Bailey!
What a beautiful essay. As I grow older, I've noticed that while outward beauty may fade, the wisdom and compassion within my heart continue to deepen. Perhaps this is what aging is meant to do.
“The wisdom and compassion of the heart continues to deepen.”
What a wonderful perspective Mary Ann. It’s why, if we were asked if we could go back in time to be younger physically, most of us would say no, because we’d have to give back that depth in our heart we’d discovered and cultivated. And for me that’s not worth trading.
Thank YOU for helping me to see this. 🙏❤️
Very true!
This piece is HEARTFELT. Love it James.
Jeff, Thank you - very appreciated.
To have a heart that cares deeply for the people you are serving—both at work and at home. I'm happy you shared this story, James.
Linart, I so appreciate you and your sharing. I often think of your commitment to your family - reflective of your huge heart too ❤️. Thank you for reading and commenting. 🙏
Wonderful piece. It's so easy to get lost in the noise -- the market, the election, the Fed, yadda yadda -- and never truly be present. A potent reminder of what can happen when we listen and try to understand the other person.
Also, I love that you started out with a physical crystal ball - "The crystal ball always sat there, reflecting our images, revealing nothing." - which already revealed the most important idea in its reflection.
Frederik - thank you - I wish I had thought of your line "which already revealed the most important idea in its reflection." Such a great perspective. Ironically, what I left out is that the reflection from a ball is an upside-down reflection :)
You're one of a kind, James. Thanks for sharing this with us. I loved the way you reframed the questions and moved the conversation from external fears to internal intentions. "The right questions, ones that mattered most and ones that only clients could answer, were questions that tapped into intentions and aspirations that lived inside." Father, coach, advisor, friend... we are lucky to have you.
“External fears to internal intentions” that’s a better way to say it - thank you. And isn’t that really our aim in all of life - to overcome our fears, act with intention, and then surrender to the mystery?
Thank you, John for being such an inspiration in my life. I’m so fortunate the universe connected us. 🙏
Dear James, I needed to let this beautiful essay settle in my mind for a few days. It is profound, and helped me realize that the deceased hearts I thought I had lost these last few months aren't gone, but just in a different place in my bowl. Thank you for that, and know how blessed I feel for having met you all those years ago. I appreciate your contribution to my bowl of hearts!
Loys- you bring a smile to my face and warmth to my heart ❤️. Thank you for reading and for commenting. One of the reasons I write is to discover what’s inside of me. It was through writing this that I realized how many hearts inside of me - that I think about, that influence and guide me, are no longer beating, but are are still alive in me. I’m so pleased that this perspective touched you and resonated with you. 😊.
This was wonderful James!
Hi Alex, thank you for reading and letting me know. I appreciate it.
Beautiful writing James. Your heart radiates love, joy and compassion. And your eyes sparkle reflecting the depth of your being. A loving heart truly makes the world go ‘round. Thank you, buddy.
DW, our hearts are one in contributing to the world going round 🤗. Thank you, pal