The journey from awkward gamer nerd to merman yogi wizard. wtf?

The wealthy and poor have more in common than just the sun and moon. I know this because I’ve been both.

By today’s standards, my upstate New York childhood was off-grid: our well-water stank like hard-boiled eggs, and the septic tank’s warmth awkwardly melted the three feet of snow that blanketed our wooded wonderland a quarter of the year.  And now? I practice meditation and yoga every day on pristine California beaches, beneath $15M bluff-side, architecturally stunning vacation homes of the world’s elite. WTF.

In the Spring of 2019, I left LA, my marriage, and my dream job at SpaceX, to step back from the grind and understand how I went from acne and video games to holy-fucking-shit-this-is-my-life!? Well, I’m sure glad to be here. *hi-fives a dolphin*. I believe everyone else has the potential to reach their dreams. How?

Education, namely books, teach humanity the building blocks of civilization: reason, empathy, and imagination. Community, namely mentors, guides humans to actualize their dreams through validation, love, and support. I know this because this is my story and the story of anyone who’s ever made it from nothing.

My life is a front-row seat to the dramas of socio-economic mobility, corporate innovation, masculinity, and the human mystical journey. At the intersection of these topics exist profound insights about the countless social, economic and political issues plaguing our society. In my humble opinion, the most glaringly obvious solution to such issues is education (books) and community (mentorship). Public libraries are the heart of this solution. 

Compelling people to books and community is my life’s problem statement. The future of our declining American empire, the future of human liberty, undoubtedly depends on education and community, depends on libraries. Whether you’re rich or poor, the most powerful tool we have as humans are our minds and our (real) social network. Without them, we are mere primates. My name is Gregory Israel, welcome to my blog.