all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

Blaze Pascal wrote those words almost 400 years ago and of course he had no idea how much

harder this feat of stillness sitting with ourselves would become. I hope you all are finding

some quiet time this summer. Ideally not in a room. I hope you're outside. Perhaps at a kayak or

on a surfboard or leaning into a bicycle turn enjoying the great outdoors, disconnecting from

the 24-7 news cycle and the endless scroll of social media. Thinking big thoughts, thinking small

thoughts for that matter, finding the stillness that sometimes leads to inside. And if you haven't

done any of that this summer, well maybe this conversation with Ryan Holiday, one of our favorites,

will inspire you. It's May 23rd 2002 and the fans of Milwaukee's Miller Park Boo as Sean

Green steps to the plate. Green's in outfielder with the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers and he's a star

or at least he's supposed to be, but he's been struggling. His batting averages down and the fans

have turned against him. The first pitch is a strike. Green is tall and fast and has a sweet left-handed

stroke. He's always hit for average aiming for singles and doubles but his coaches want him to

swing for the fences to hit more home runs. Green's not on board and he fights back. He knows what

makes him good and that's not it. The second pitch is a strike. Green's battles with the coaching

staff have taken an emotional toll. Baseball was always fun. Now it isn't. His dark mood just

compounds his problems at the plate. Hitting a baseball coming at you at 95 miles an hour is one

of the hardest things to do in sports. It's even harder if you're confused and angry and depressed.

On the next pitch, breaking ball hit past first, a base hit for Green. His tears will score easily.

Green hits a double down the right field line, driving in a run. Next time up, even better.

Next pitch in Green sends a fly ball to Raido. Cho has to go back on the ball,

still going back and this ball is out of here, a home run for Sean Green.

...