Small Things Are the Big Things

Last night, September 24th, we had the privilege of attending a baby celebration for two dear friends of ours. We first met them years ago as clients at a Heber Meditation Retreat. They showed up with open hearts then… and since that time they’ve married and now brought their first daughter into the world.

There must have been fifty people gathered—simple, delightful, nourishing.

During the evening I snapped this photo with my son and my daughter. We sent it to their grandmother in Australia.

I could pontificate about how the little things are the big things. But if you look at this photo, you already know.

These are the sacred fires that burn the brightest.

—Jason

#SacredRebel #Core4 #HeberMeditationRetreat #FamilyFire #SacredFires #ParentingJourney #CommunityLove

Rest

REST

In the CORE 4 system, Body is the first principle.

Fitness & fuel — keep your body moving and eat right. Simple.

But one thing I forget to mention is rest.

You need to stop once in a while. Stop moving and just rest. Rest longer than you think you need to.

Allow it.

Stephen Covey taught in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that Habit 7 is Sharpen the Saw.

Sometimes the best thing you can do to sharpen your body, spirit, heart, and mind is to rest.

What are you doing here? Go take a nap.

— Jason

#Core4 #SacredRebel #Rest #SharpenTheSaw #ModernDayWarrior #Integration #MasculineRest #SelfCare #HeberCity

Modern Day Warrior Processing

Good morning.

After a big event like Modern Day Warrior there’s always a void. What now? I get this after every peak — clean up, processing, integration. And the honest truth: we often skip those steps. We rush back into life and miss the real work.

In 2020 I came back from a huge experience with a stack of notes. As I read them, organized them, and built practices from them, a thought landed: this is my work.

The degree to which you process your peak experiences is the degree to which you make room for the next peak. The sword — the peak experience — is powerful. But the pen — the processing and integration — is mightier. Use them together and your growth compounds. You become wiser, stronger, and more durable.

If you just finished something big, give yourself permission to slow down. Process. Integrate. The next peak will arrive — and you’ll be ready for it.

Modern Day Warrior — Monday Morning Reflective

Weekend heat fades. What’s left is the truth.

Not the performance, not the hype—just the simple weight of who I am when the music stops and it's time to clean up and assess the progress as well as the damage. That’s where a warrior is forged: in the ordinary moments that try to pull me back to sleep.

Today I choose to awake with this prayer: Thank you for another day.

Then… to stay awake.

I don’t need to fix my whole life before lunch. I need one honest rep:

• One full deep belly breath owned.
• One promise made and kept.
• One small kindness delivered.
• One promise honored when no one’s watching.

Discipline isn’t punishment; it’s devotion. Presence isn’t passive; it’s power. And love—real love—is a daily decision, not a mood.

This morning I return to the basics:

Focus my attention.
Deepen my breath.
Direct my energy.
Stand in my presence.

One true thing, executed cleanly, is enough to move the day.
Modern Day Warrior isn’t an event. It’s a way of showing up when the world thinks you won’t.

And now that Modern Day Warrior X is over… it’s actually just begun.

Let’s go.

Jason

Business - Friday September 19th, 2025

Business – Wednesday September 17th, 2025

I start with my body—because I’m incarnated after all.
Then meditation—let’s find the spirit of things.
Then, settled and grounded, I’m here, I’m now… so let’s connect with those we love.
Finally, let’s fire up this big brain on our shoulders—learn, process, and share.

That’s the Core 4.
Do it every day.
Make it a discipline.
Let it become habit.

Tonight at 6:00PM in Heber City, the 10th Modern Day Warrior begins. A lot is rising, but it’s the basics that carry me through.

Body. Being. Balance. Business.
Let’s go.

– Jason

#ModernDayWarrior #Core4 #Discipline #Embodiment #SacredMasculine #BeingHereNow #SacredRebel

Balance - Thursday, September 18th, 2025

Balance is not a finish line.
It’s a moment.

Like catching your breath between sprints.
Like the exhale after you’ve been holding everything tight.
Like laughing with your Queen in the middle of a storm.

Balance doesn’t mean everything is “equal.”
It means the right thing is getting your attention, right now.

Sometimes Balance is picking up the phone to check in with your kids.
Sometimes Balance is dropping the phone and going for a walk in the mountains.
Sometimes Balance is putting business aside to make dinner.
Sometimes it’s putting dinner aside to chase the fire of your mission.

It shifts. It moves. It breathes.

Today I remember: Balance isn’t something I achieve.
It’s something I practice.

And the core of Balance is HEART. Connection. We all want it, we all need it. We are tribal warriors, all of us. We love our people. So today... and everyday... let them know.

That's the daily practice of the Modern Day Warrior. That's MY daily practice with my Partner (Jennie) and my Posterity (family and tribe).

Being - Thursday, September 18th, 2025

Get Ahead of It

Everyone teaches meditation these days, and for good reason. When I sit, I calm down. I get clear. I get settled.

But I’ve learned this: it only works if I get ahead of it. If I try to meditate once I’m already stressed, it doesn’t hit the same way.

So I do it early. Before the storm. Before the noise. That’s when meditation gives me ground.

And really, that’s the lesson—not just for meditation, but for everything.

• Body (exercise): move before you feel sluggish.

• Balance (connection): reach out before you’re disconnected.

• Being (meditation): breathe before you’re drowning.

Maybe the practice is simply this: take care of your future self, right now.

That’s what I remind myself here. It works if you work it.

Let’s meditate.

— Jason

P.S. Modern Day Warrior starts tomorrow. At 4PM tonight, I’ll share some of what I’ve been doing to get ready.

Body – Wednesday, September 17th, 2025

I’ve always had a love–hate relationship with my body.

I LOVE to move. But I get bored fast. The best exercise for me is sports—because competition keeps my mind sharp.

Then there are seasons where I slow down. Get stuck. Move less and less.
And then—boom—I’m on fire again: kettlebells, punching bag, 26-mile bike rides.

Until injury hits. Or boredom. Or the grind feels empty. And I fall off.

People say, “You just lack discipline.”
And maybe they’re right. Except I can be extremely disciplined when it’s something I love.

So maybe the trick isn’t forcing discipline.
Maybe it’s finding the spark.
The movement that keeps my mind engaged. The game. The competition. The fuel.

When I find that spark, I light up.
When I was younger, our family played football every Sunday at the Wasatch High field. I never felt better.
Five years ago, after a family tragedy, I burned through rage and grief by training four hours a day. That might have been the best shape of my life.

And then… injuries. An MCL tear. A lost tendon. Surgeries. Momentum stolen.

Now I’m finding my way back. Not through grind alone, but through curiosity, competition, anger, joy, rage, delight—whatever lights the fire.

Maybe that’s the real secret.
Discipline matters. But spark comes first.

🔥 This is Modern Day Warrior Week. Body is a huge part of incarnating fully here in this world. But it can be overdone too. The dance is balance—curiosity, fire, then discipline.

Friday night at 6:00PM in Heber we begin. Men sharpening men, forging strength in the body, the mind, and the soul.

– Jason

#ModernDayWarrior #BodyBeingBalanceBusiness #SacredRebel #MensWork #Discipline #Strength

Daily Scrapbook

Who?

Mark W MacInerney

He’s the one who gave me the idea of using Facebook as a scrapbook of my life.

And it stuck.

You complain about the negativity here? The politics, the division, the hate?
I get it. But for me—this isn’t about that.

This is my scrapbook. My living journal. A place to share my thoughts, my gratitude, my awe.

And it ties perfectly into my Core 4 daily practice:

Being: Meditation + Memoirs. These daily posts are me meditating on life (like Jennie’s birthday, or her parent's 60th wedding anniversary, or even the upcoming K-pop Demon Hunters post 😏)… and then memoiring it out.

Balance: Connection with Partner and Posterity. I share about Jennie, my kids, my tribe—and then I share it with you, my Facebook Tribe.

Business: Discover and Declare. Every day I learn something new. These posts are my way of declaring, teaching, and passing it forward.

So yeah—scrapbooking hits most of the Core 4.
Except Body. I don’t usually sweat while typing.

I’ll fix that by hopping on my bike right after I hit “post.”

This is Modern Day Warrior Week, and I’m deep in prep for the 10th Modern Day Warrior Intensive. It lights me up every time to sit in circle with men and sharpen each other in the raw, potent, profound Masculine.

We need more great men in this world, not less.

Thanks for being part of my scrapbook.
– Jason

#ModernDayWarrior #SacredRebel #CoreFour #MensWork #MasculineJourney #DailyDiscipline #GratitudeAndAwe #ScrapbookLife

The Core Four

The Core Four

I used to call it the Power Hour.

Because in just one hour a day, you can build the kind of discipline that turns into a life.

Here’s how it works:

Body – Did you sweat today? Did you fuel yourself with something alive, like a green smoothie?

Being – Did you meditate, even for 20 minutes? Did you capture a few thoughts in a journal—or at least reflect?

Balance – Did you tell your partner you loved them in some real, beautiful way? Did you extend that to your kids, family, or close friends?

Business – Did you discover at least one new thing today? And did you declare it, share it, give it away?

That’s the Core Four.

Simple. Daily. Repeatable.

Not flashy, not sexy—but it builds the endurance and integrity of a Modern Day Warrior.

Singles every day. That’s how you win the long game. ⚔️

#ModernDayWarrior #CoreFour #SacredRebel #MensWork #DailyDiscipline #SacredMasculine #SimpleNotEasy #ShadesOfIntimacy

Forgiveness for Others

I didn’t want to write about forgiveness today.
Everyone already knows who I’ve had to forgive in my life.

But what if I’ve missed a part of forgiveness?

We usually say: forgive so you feel free.
So you no longer hate. So you can move on. So you’re healthy and happy.
It’s for me, right?

But what if forgiveness can also be an act of service?
What if it can help someone else?

This weekend I got a message from God:

“Your journey with your father isn’t over.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah—I thought—I’ve already done the work. Forgive him, right?
But the whisper said something different:

He doesn’t just need to be forgiven for what he did.
He needs forgiveness for who he believes he is.
He believes he never should have been born.

So here’s the choice:
Do I let him lie in the bed he made?
Or do I give him a gift he doesn’t deserve, and maybe can’t even receive—
but one that could still lighten his soul?

That’s what God asked me to consider.

So this is what I say to my father, even beyond the grave:

I’m sorry.
I forgive you.
Thank you.
I love you.

Not just for what you did to me, but for everything you ever carried.

What a way to start Modern Day Warrior Week. ⚔️

– Jason

#ModernDayWarrior #SacredRebel #Forgiveness #FathersAndSons #MasculineJourney #MensWork #HealingLineage #DisciplineAndEndurance #SacredMasculine #ForgiveAndRelease #MensCircle #ForgivenessJourney #WarriorSpirit

Peaches and Pears

Peaches & Pears

My neighbor just knocked on the door with a box of peaches and pears from his trees.

Simple. Sweet. Abundant.

And it hit me: this is life. This is polarity.
The fruit of one season, received in another. The masculine work of planting, tending, harvesting. The feminine sweetness of ripening, offering, nourishing.

Both matter. Both needed.

Too often we chase one without the other. All grind, no sweetness. Or all sweetness, with no roots. But the truth is—we’re meant to taste both. To grow and to receive. To plant and to savor.

So this morning, I’m eating peaches and pears. Falling in love with the gifts right in front of me. And remembering that real abundance isn’t out there—it’s in the ground under your feet, and in the hands willing to share their harvest.

#SacredRebel #MasculineAndFeminine #Integration #TribeAndFamily #ModernDayWarrior

Can you fall radically in love with all of it?

The storms and the sunshine. The laughter and the grief. The birth and the death.

Every man has the gift of alignment—of finding his source first, before he speaks, before he acts. From that place, even the hardest truths land as love.

Charlie Kirk is gone. That’s fucked. But what if we choose to align to the best of him—his courage to speak, to question, to stay in the fire of conversation?

We can mourn his death and amplify his life.
That’s how we fall in love with all of it.

#SacredRebel #Integration #ModernDayWarrior #FallInLoveWithAllOfIt

🔥 Integration & Reflection (Friday, Sept 12 – Modern Day Warrior)

The last few weeks have been full.

Burning Man storms and dust.
A 60th anniversary.
Board game convention.
Jennie’s birthday week.
Our 14th wedding anniversary.
Peter's birthday party.
And the tragic events that have rocked us all—the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Storms and celebrations. Dust and laughter. Hardship and play. Tragedy.

That’s life. That’s tribe. Good or bad... this is the ALL OF IT.

Can you radically fall in love with ALL OF LIFE?
To hold, sustain, and broadcast a different vibration of powerful love—even amidst the static and discordant frequency of the world around us?

And the work of a man is to integrate it all.
Not just the wins. Not just the high points.
But the storms, the doubts, the exhaustion.

This is the work of a Modern Day Warrior.

Because life comes in waves—
and we either drown in it, or we learn to ride it—
holding focus, celebrating fully, loving fiercely, staying steady when the storms hit.

That’s what Modern Day Warrior is about.
That’s what I’ll be leading Sept 19–21 in Heber.
Not theory. Not lecture.
A fire-tested experience.

Men need this.
I needed this.
And if you’re ready—you might too.

#ModernDayWarrior #SacredRebel #SacredMasculine #Integration #SacredScrapbook #TribeAndFamily #MensWork #HeberCity

14 Years of Sacred Union

14 years.

Not perfect years. Not always easy years.
But sacred years.

Marriage isn’t a fairy tale. It’s storms and stillness. Fire and ashes. Laughter and tears.

It’s two people choosing — again and again — to stay. To lean in. To sharpen each other.

Jennie is my Queen. My fiercest mirror. My wild swamp woman. My softest place to land.

And this is the work, brothers. This is Shades of Intimacy. This is Modern Day Warrior.
To hold the container. To show up with presence. To listen when it’s hard. To bring direction when the way is foggy.
To lead — not by control — but by strength of heart.

Our life has been an adventure.
We’ve done the wild things — Burning Man dust storms, sexual fire, sacred risk.
We’ve done the simple things — porch stillness, yard work, cats curled at our feet.
We touch. We talk. We move. We confront our own bullshit and keep growing.

This path of polarity has been profound. It’s not just therapy — it’s a spiritual practice that is relentlessly practical. It creates a charge, a fire of attraction that most couples lose. That fire fuels not only our intimacy, but our voices. Our gifts. Our offering to the world.

14 years in, I can tell you this:
If you step into the fire of marriage with awareness, it will burn away who you were… and forge who you were meant to be.

And when you do it right?
She fills it with radiance.

The fire continues.

#ModernDayWarrior #ShadesOfIntimacy #SacredRebel #SacredMasculine #SacredFeminine #JennieAndJason #SacredUnion #MarriageJourney #14YearsStrong

Shades of Intimacy Birthdays

I’m getting older. Time flies. We get busy. And birthdays? They can get swept under the rug.

“Happy Birthday!”

Done. Move on.

And sometimes we even say — “don’t celebrate me, I don’t like getting older.”

Bullshit.

We aren’t celebrating getting older. We’re celebrating LIFE. That person. Their radiance. Their presence with us.

So when Jennie’s birthday rolled around this year, I made a point to slow down and make it matter.

Thursday: dinner at home and a shoulder rub. Simple. Real.
Friday: a drink and late-night Modern Day Warrior talk. Jennie’s not just my Queen, she’s also my fiercest counsel — never afraid to tell me when an idea doesn’t fly.
Saturday: the surprise party. We moved it from the Grand America to stay home with the cats. And it was perfect. I asked everyone to bring gifts — because who gets gifts anymore? At first Jennie blushed, but soon she was glowing, showered in love and laughter.

A house full of friends. Connection. Magic.
And the next day? Board games. Brass Birmingham. Terraforming Mars. Bombusters. A four-day celebration of life, love, tribe, and play.

I love this woman with all my heart.

And here’s the lesson, brothers: this is Modern Day Warrior. This is Shades of Intimacy. Creating the container. Feeling past the surface wants into the deep heart of your woman. Orchestrating the moment. And then stepping aside so she can fill it with her radiance.

If you do it right? She will. (Wink).

Jason

P.S. - If you want to learn how to create this kind of container, join me at Modern Day Warrior, Sept 19–21 in Heber City.
________________________________________
#ShadesOfIntimacy #ModernDayWarrior #SacredRebel #SacredMasculine #SacredFeminine #JennieAndJason #QueenEnergy #SacredUnion #MarriageJourney #TribeAndFamily

Modern Day Running

Ever feel down?

Go for a run. Or a walk.

Just move.

That’s my advice. Not from a study, not from a podcast. Just my life.
This morning I woke up heavy. Stuck. Worried about my son. Worried about the world. Charlie Kirk just got murdered by an assassin with a rifle at a public meeting.

So I laced up and ran.

And the weight broke loose.

Feeling shitty? Move.

In stillness, the masculine finds focus.

And then—it MOVES.

It’s polarity.

It’s life.

It’s the way through.

And if you want to move even more—come to Modern Day Warrior September 19–21 in Heber City, Utah.

I’ll be leading it. And we’ll be moving.
________________________________________
#ModernDayWarrior #SacredRebel #SacredMasculine #MoveYourBody #RunThroughIt #Polarity #MensWork #SacredFire #HeberCity #JasonSacredFire

Modern Day Warrior Awareness in Times of Violence

Charlie Kirk was shot today.

I condemn the shooting. Period.

What I notice though, is how quickly the machine spins up. Conservatives condemning the violence… and then blaming Democrats. The left condemning the violence… but forgetting how their rhetoric has inflamed. The right condemning violence… while ramping up their own rhetoric about ICE raids, soldiers on the streets of our cities, and harsher punishments.

It’s easy to point fingers. It’s harder to pause.

As Jesse Elder said today — your emotions are a currency. Fear, outrage, helplessness, that quick desire to do something. And that currency is manipulated by media on both sides. It’s designed to move you, distract you, and funnel you into reaction.

A Modern Day Warrior takes a different path.

Awareness: See what happened. A man was shot. This is real, it’s tragic.

Presence: Feel what stirs in you. Don’t look away, but don’t get swept into the mob.

Pause: Notice how the machine wants your energy, your outrage, your attention.

Direction: Ask, “What do I need to do right now? For myself? For my family? For my tribe?”

That’s Warrior awareness.

That’s Warrior leadership.

The left has rhetoric that burns. The right has rhetoric that punishes. Both keep the fire raging.

My choice — as a man, as a husband, as a leader — is to not let my outrage be used as fuel for someone else’s machine. My choice is to focus on what keeps my tribe strong. My choice is to stay awake, stay present, and keep moving forward.

Because Modern Day Warriors aren’t just fighters. We are guardians. Of our homes, our families, and our own damn souls.

#ModernDayWarrior #SacredRebel #Awareness #Presence #Direction #TribeAndFamily #SacredMasculine #SacredLeadership #CharlieKirk

From Desert Dust to Table Dice

We pulled in from Burning Man Tuesday night August 26th —dust still in our pores—and by Friday morning August 29th we were in Layton, Utah at Salt Con, the End of Summer board gaming convention.

Masculine focus that had been used to survive storms was now used to crush enemies across the table. Friends gathered, dice rolled, and the zone took us.

It was pyretic. Flames of rage at bad moves. Laughter at absurd twists. Joy in victory, humility in defeat. And through it all—connection with Tom, Chrystal, and Porter.

Around the table we opened our hearts, even as we tried to beat the hell out of each other in a dozen complex games.

Does it get any better?

From a 60th anniversary dinner… to the desert storms of Burning Man… to dice, laughter, and tribe around a table. Life is full of surprises, twists, and delights.

As Ferris Bueller once said: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while… you could miss it.”

—Jason

#SaltCon2025 #BoardGameLife #SacredRebel #MasculineFocus #SacredMasculine #ModernDayWarrior #TribeAndPlay #JennieAndJason #FromDustToDice

Picture 1 - Tom Mecham overseeing his Rail Empire in Brass Birmingham. Notice how serious he is.
Picture 2 - Jason and Porter at the same game of Brass
Picture 3 - Tom pointing out his ONE POINT VICTORY over Jason!
Picture 4 - Afternoon of gaming with the guys, the ladies arrived. Chrystal Mecham smiles as we play Terraforming Mars!
Picture 5 - The Saturday Mega Game of Mosaic!
Picture 6 - Jennie congratulating Jason on his epic Mosaic Victory! (She was NOT happy!)
Picture 7 - THE game.... Dune Imperium Uprising!
Picture 8 - Chrystal Mecham and Porter realizing there is no way to beat Jennie.... (Jennie won the game at 10 points, with All the rest of us at 9 points! Epic game!)
Picture 9 - The all important reserved table!!!! We play in the private room at our own table! (I'll explain why in some future post).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENNIE

This post is being posted September 9th, 2025. Her birthday was last week!

This is Jennie.

This photo was taken Saturday, August 23rd in the middle of an epic dust storm at Burning Man, Black Rock City. 50 MPH winds. Whiteout conditions. Playa dust in every fold and crack.

And there she is—smiling.

This photo captures just a sliver of what we all know about her:

Her strength.

Her resilience.

Her beauty—shining through no matter what.

Look at her eyes. You can see the loyalty in them. The depth of her love. And if you look closely, you’ll catch it—that glint. The mischievous feminine trickster. Wild Swamp Woman is still in there, even in the driest, harshest winds of the desert.

We met on Match.com back in August of 2007. Eighteen years ago.

We dated for four years before getting married on September 10th, 2011.

And somehow… our marriage is still as fresh and exciting as it was back then.

We still sit on the porch with our cats.

She’s still my Bliss Bunny.

We still follow the Wizard on wild adventures across the world.

And each year, my gratitude for her deepens.

She is a magical creature that God sent to me.

I manifested her. She manifested us. We aligned.

And every time life tested us, we found our way back to sacred union—two sovereign souls choosing love again and again.

I’m grateful.

I’m happy.

I love her.

And I genuinely enjoy her.

She’s better—far, far better—than I ever expected.

So here’s to you, Jennie.

On your birthday, and every day…

You are grace. You are power. You are beauty.

And I get to walk beside you.

#HappyBirthday #BurningManQueen #WildSwampWoman #SacredUnion #DesertDustAndMagic #EighteenYearsStrong #StillRising #SacredRebelLove #Jennie