Finding Meaning in Unpredictable Times
From the tides of uncertainty, a deeper current emerges...
When the world spun off its axis in 2020, we all lost something. A rhythm. A plan. A sense of direction. For me, it was the illusion of control. The carefully constructed life script—career goals, retirement plans, even next month’s to-do list—began to unravel. In its place: a question. Quiet at first, then louder. Then screaming.
What now?
My wife and I packed our van with paddleboards and kayaks and pointed the nose south. Not toward an answer—but toward the ocean. Toward movement. We didn’t need solutions. We needed to remember. Who we are, where we belong, and what truly matters when the rest falls away.
What we found wasn’t stability. It was rhythm. The ebb and flow of tides. The grace of dolphins at play. A dusty tiki bar filled with sunburned strangers who welcomed us like family. No long-term career goals, no five-year plans—just people floating through life, together, on purpose.
Meaning isn’t found in milestones. It’s not waiting for us at the top of some career ladder. It’s in the salt on your skin after a long paddle. It’s in the taste of cold beer after a hot day. It’s the way the sea mirrors our moods—calm one moment, chaotic the next—yet always alive, always moving.
The old script says: Work hard. Retire later. Take one vacation a year if you're lucky.
But I don’t want a life I need a vacation from.
I want a life that feels like one.
I want meaning not as a goal but as a practice—woven into the now.
So no, I can’t predict what comes next.
But I do know this:
If the world is going to change, I want to meet it barefoot, sun-kissed, and fully awake.
🌴 If this resonated with you...
My book, Oceans of My Mind, was born from this journey—both literal and internal. It’s a collection of essays written from the Florida Keys, where I went in search of freedom, clarity, and a new rhythm of life.
The book dives deep into themes of nature, uncertainty, and how to find meaning when the world no longer makes sense. If you’ve ever felt the pull to leave it all behind—or just wanted a reminder that you’re not alone—you’ll find a kindred spirit in these pages.
You can support my work (and fuel more wandering and writing) by grabbing a copy by clicking HERE. Every purchase helps me keep doing this full-time.
Thank you for reading, for being here, and for believing there’s more to life than the script we were handed.
—Scott
The wilderness journey. Appears in every way possible, Scott, that you’re lighting the way literally, into that courageous step into a grand unknown of boundless possibility, no longer trapped inside a endless cycle of repeated knowns, simply appearing different. I love how you use the natural world to paint wonder into what so many consider unbearable, that passage through life beyond comfort zones of comprehension and simply guided by a deeply abiding trust in the benevolence of the universe. I’d call that welcoming the loving embrace of God but it’s fine if you don’t. Our individual definitions toward describing transcendence are always going to fall short.
Wow, just discovered your work this evening and it really resonated with me. You have a genuine skill and gift with the way you create words and this piece...just WOW. Thank you.