<![CDATA[In Search of Gumption: In Search of Gumption]]>https://gumption.ink/s/musingshttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JUYs!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fef2752e9-3f90-4e00-9853-8e5fb9b43554_400x400.pngIn Search of Gumption: In Search of Gumptionhttps://gumption.ink/s/musingsSubstackMon, 18 May 2026 11:37:33 GMT<![CDATA[A Happy New Yurt!]]>https://gumption.ink/p/a-happy-new-yurthttps://gumption.ink/p/a-happy-new-yurtSun, 29 Dec 2024 20:33:29 GMTAlas…I have found it.

Thank you Google Maps.

I am indeed ‘Done’ and yes…

I can see how drained my battery is.

Thank you, dearest reader, for hanging in there with me through all the ups, downs, and wild turns and curves of the year.

After 396 days on the road since October of 2023, I am…home. I am now settled in San Rafael in a real home, and my boat and …

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]]><![CDATA[Wrestling with Grandma]]>https://gumption.ink/p/wrestling-with-grandmahttps://gumption.ink/p/wrestling-with-grandmaSun, 16 Jun 2024 17:01:13 GMTIt is a bright sunny morning, the spring is plush with the invigorating smell of flowers and the birds are cheerfully chirping. A little girl is born to three siblings in a stable upper-middle-class family in Cairo, Egypt.

The year is 1938.

1940 is the year her father dies of pneumonia.

She isn’t even two. The family had to hustle because the mom could not work at that time. They lived below their means. She never got all the toys, food, and luxury trips her sisters got.

Perhaps what was worse than poverty, was watching her mother go through that long, deep, and sorrowful heartbreak. Her first few years of life, were her mother’s worst.

That was her childhood. She sought the attention and love a baby needs from one parent only. Her father’s death remained to be the worst thing that happened to her. As time passed, the pain receded, but never quite stopped.

The family survived.

The girl grew up and took care of her mom until she died.

The girl married a military engineer and photographer

and they built a stable upper-middle-class family in the late 1950s and early 60s.

Grandpa and Grandma crushing it in the 60s

The girl was now a mother and had two daughters of her own. It is a happy story, but our girl-now-mother finds herself anxious all the time. Every moment is a threat to one of her family members, every sound is a thief trying to rob her family of their peace.

However, the family lived very peacefully. With this new family, our girl-now-mother lived the lavish lifestyle her sisters had once experienced. She can offer that un-lived life now to her two beautiful daughters. They traveled the world, they educated their own daughters.

Family Portrait - Hawaii - 1980 something

Now, in the 1980s, both daughters have their own families.

Our grandmother-then-girl could not be happier. At the same time, her anxiety grows exponentially. There are now two son-in-laws and five grandchildren, and that means more threats of her losing someone.

She exerts all her might on keeping them all safe, until one day she started feeling confused. It suddenly felt like her family could not understand her. Not her husband, not her two daughters, not her two son-in-laws, and not her 5 grandchildren.

The doctors say it is somewhere between Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. For the first time, her whole family is there for her, but suddenly she is the one who can’t be there for them.

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]]><![CDATA[Mourning the Displaced]]>https://gumption.ink/p/a-short-ode-for-the-displacedhttps://gumption.ink/p/a-short-ode-for-the-displacedSun, 09 Jun 2024 17:00:11 GMTDeja Vu. Here we go again. The Israeli military struck dozens at the a UN-run schools complex where civilians were sheltering.

Displacements.

Destruction.

Fuck, man!

Black smog rising from charred and decomposing human flesh.

Shit, man!

*Blip*

Swipe away the News.

“Hey Siri, play Akua Naru on Spotify.”

🤖 Ok,Omar…Playing Barbie Girl by Aqua…🤖

“NO SIRI…I SAID …

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]]><![CDATA[My Memorial Day of Corporate America]]>https://gumption.ink/p/my-memorial-day-of-corporate-americahttps://gumption.ink/p/my-memorial-day-of-corporate-americaSun, 26 May 2024 21:53:04 GMTExactly five years ago, San Francisco’s sun smiled down hard on a beautiful Memorial Day, after our summers of smoke and fires. I remember ‘twas noon of that Monday, the 27th of May of 2019.

That was my last moment as an enlisted full-time soldier with a salary, benefits, and the delicious pride of corporate social validation.

I was the shit, man. Senio…

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]]><![CDATA[Musing #41: Creativity is your only way out. ]]>https://gumption.ink/p/41-creativity-is-your-only-way-outhttps://gumption.ink/p/41-creativity-is-your-only-way-outSun, 25 Jun 2023 17:03:02 GMTHappy Sunday folks. Welcome to the new subscribers, and thank you to the OGs who are still here with me. I am raising some money to print the book and produce Season 3 of the Gumpcast.

If you dig the content…

Please Support the Gumption

This is how I look like when you guys support the channel.

Musing #41: Creativity is your only way out.

You have built a career or a business. You ha…

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]]><![CDATA[#40: How will reading fiction improve me?]]>https://gumption.ink/p/40-why-should-we-read-more-fictionhttps://gumption.ink/p/40-why-should-we-read-more-fictionSun, 16 Apr 2023 17:01:01 GMTSometime along med school I decided that reading fiction was a waste of my time, an indulgence, hours of my precious time that don't teach me anything about science or how the world works.

Today, I no longer practice medicine, 75% of the books I read every year are novels and I have dedicated a large part of my life to writing one myself!

Some of you ma…

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]]><![CDATA[#39 How do you get better at anything?]]>https://gumption.ink/p/39-how-do-you-get-better-at-anythinghttps://gumption.ink/p/39-how-do-you-get-better-at-anythingSun, 09 Apr 2023 17:00:20 GMTWhat if life is an intricate calligraphy whose beauty we can only admire when completed? How do we know that we are pushing ourselves to the next level, even if the whole picture isn't drawn yet?

person holding black paint brush while painting black text on white paper
Photo by Niketh Vellanki on Unsplash

Here are some reflections on my writing journey so far that you can apply to anything you are trying to learn.

1- Heart firs…

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]]><![CDATA[#38 How do you get back on your feet again?]]>https://gumption.ink/p/38-how-do-you-get-back-on-your-feethttps://gumption.ink/p/38-how-do-you-get-back-on-your-feetSun, 26 Feb 2023 18:01:21 GMTIn case you haven’t noticed, this project is about what keeps us going, and is born out of my irrational need to write a novel. I am on the third year of a 10-yr commitment that I continue to carve out of my life for my writing journey.

Writing a novel is not easy, but neither is excelling at work, nor having deep meaningful relationships. Today I will s…

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]]><![CDATA[#37: When is it time to quit? ]]>https://gumption.ink/p/37-when-is-it-time-to-quithttps://gumption.ink/p/37-when-is-it-time-to-quitSun, 05 Feb 2023 18:00:59 GMTAs a writer, I do not want you to quit reading this email until you have made it all the way to the very end.

I can promise you wisdom, entertainment, or knowledge. I can try all sorts of tricks such as cliff hangers to keep you scrolling down. I can tease you and appease you, but ultimately….

You will only continue reading if you are yearning for someth…

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]]><![CDATA[Musing #36: Here is my first book]]>https://gumption.ink/p/36-here-is-my-first-bookhttps://gumption.ink/p/36-here-is-my-first-bookSun, 01 Jan 2023 21:51:58 GMTWelcome to a whole new gumption! I hope that this blog has lifted your spirits as much it has for me. Thanks for your support over the past two years.

I am thrilled to present you with my first book today: An Ode to Heartbreak.

This fulfills my promise, commitment and declaration to myself of one book per year, for the next three years. This is not the …

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]]><![CDATA[33. A stream once ran here]]>https://gumption.ink/p/33-a-stream-once-ran-herehttps://gumption.ink/p/33-a-stream-once-ran-hereSat, 31 Dec 2022 23:33:00 GMTOn walking in our shadow, and letting the water flow where it wants to.

**Audio version to be released soon, Subscribe to get notified, or read the poem below**

person standing on gray stone fragment
Photo by Taylor Grote on Unsplash

A stream once ran here

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]]><![CDATA[32. Two Wings]]>https://gumption.ink/p/32-two-wingshttps://gumption.ink/p/32-two-wingsSat, 31 Dec 2022 23:32:00 GMTOn the wings of acceptance and compassion.

**Audio version to be released soon, Subscribe to get notified, or read the poem below**

white Buddha statue on body of water
Photo by Mattia Faloretti on Unsplash

Two Wings

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]]><![CDATA[31. Art]]>https://gumption.ink/p/31-arthttps://gumption.ink/p/31-artSat, 31 Dec 2022 23:31:00 GMTOn releasing the creative juices.

**Audio version to be released soon, Subscribe to get notified, or read the poem below**

green and red heart shaped textile
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Art

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]]><![CDATA[30. Do You Have Kids?]]>https://gumption.ink/p/29-do-you-have-kidshttps://gumption.ink/p/29-do-you-have-kidsSat, 31 Dec 2022 23:29:00 GMTOn forgetting to call mom.

**Audio version to be released soon, Subscribe to get notified, or read the poem below**

four children standing on dirt during daytime
Photo by Ben Wicks on Unsplash

Do You Have Kids?

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]]><![CDATA[28. Sage]]>https://gumption.ink/p/28-sagehttps://gumption.ink/p/28-sageSat, 31 Dec 2022 23:28:00 GMTOn surrender.

**Audio version to be released soon, Subscribe to get notified, or read the poem below**

white and yellow smoke illustration
Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash

Sage

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]]><![CDATA[29. Silence]]>https://gumption.ink/p/28-silencehttps://gumption.ink/p/28-silenceSat, 31 Dec 2022 23:28:00 GMTOn what comes up when you give silence a chance.

**Audio version to be released soon, Subscribe to get notified, or read the poem below**

silhouette photography of person
Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Silence

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]]><![CDATA[27. Heart break hotel]]>https://gumption.ink/p/27-heart-break-hotelhttps://gumption.ink/p/27-heart-break-hotelSat, 31 Dec 2022 23:27:00 GMTOn environments that heal us.

**Audio version to be released soon, Subscribe to get notified, or read the poem below**

man sitting on chair holding and surrounded by people
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Heart break hotel

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]]><![CDATA[26. They say kill the Ego, but…]]>https://gumption.ink/p/26-they-say-kill-the-ego-buthttps://gumption.ink/p/26-they-say-kill-the-ego-butSat, 31 Dec 2022 23:26:00 GMTOn not murdering your ego.

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]]><![CDATA[25. The surgeon's blade]]>https://gumption.ink/p/25-the-surgeons-bladehttps://gumption.ink/p/25-the-surgeons-bladeSat, 31 Dec 2022 23:25:00 GMTOn healing a broken heart, twice.

**Audio version to be released soon, Subscribe to get notified, or read the poem below**

Photo by philippe spitalier on Unsplash

The surgeon's blade

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]]><![CDATA[24. Check In #3 : Keep Moving, Keep Healing]]>https://gumption.ink/p/24-check-in-3-keep-moving-keep-healinghttps://gumption.ink/p/24-check-in-3-keep-moving-keep-healingSat, 31 Dec 2022 23:24:00 GMT
assorted-color heart shape candies on teal bowl
Photo by Laura Briedis on Unsplash

Check In #3 : Keep Moving, Keep Healing

"Ready for this?"

"As ready as I will ever be."

"Is the mdma kicking in yet?"

"Just a little."

"Ok so I thought for this divorce ceremony we could start by calling in the spirits to help us. Please don't roll your eyes. Can you just take this seriously?"

"Yes, yes I can. Tell me what to do."

"Which spirit would you like to call up from your family to be with us?"

"Grandpa. He was so creative and supportive and I need both."

"Great I will call on my Great grandma. Please help us remain kind and loving even in this separation."

"What was that thing call again?"

"Palo Santo.."

"I thought it sends away the spirits?"

"The unwanted ones..."

"Oh I see..."

"Ughh....I know what you are thinking"

“Whaa..? How can you? How can you know what I am thinking?"

“First, I know. Secondly, your body says it all. You are not coming from a loving place."

“What does that even mean? Where is that loving place that you talk about? And what do you want me to say? No jokes? No play?"

"Ok enough. Let's start with gratitude. Thank you great grandma and grandpa for supporting us through this difficult conversation. Is there anything you would like to say?"

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