One of the many things I’ve learned over the years about happiness is that summarily acknowledging at the end of the day what you’re grateful for can have a net positive effect on your happiness. A simple gratitude journal can do wonders to help put a seemingly negative day in it’s true light. I’ve enjoyed [...]
26 Years
Monday was the 26th anniversary of my birth. It was also my 26th lap around the sun and my 9498th day alive. To much of the world it was just another dreaded Monday. To the universe it was a brief moment in time, experienced and then forgotten. Birthdays are a natural time to review the [...]
You Have Permission to Fail
You have permission to fail. You have permission to not be good. You have permission to try. For anyone starting a new venture this should be a mantra. It’s okay to suck. If you’re sucking at something that means you’re doing it. And sucking at something is better than not doing it at all. As [...]
Forward. Not Sideways.
Sometimes we do things because it makes us feel like we’re being productive. Perhaps you do something on a regular basis that is related to what you want to do but, if you’re being completely honest with yourself, isn’t getting you to where you want to be. Imagine a woman who wanted to be a [...]
Books I Read in 2012
2012 contained many words for me. Words I read and words I wrote. Many of my words were shared on this blog and on my 642 Things blog (as well as several guest posts here, here, and here). I wanted to take the time to share with my readers the books I read in 2012. [...]
Put Your Fucking Pants On
The title sentence has become my new morning mantra. Wake up. Stand up. Put on pants. Lately, my mornings have been fraught with laziness and distraction. I’ll wake up and immediately check email, Twitter, Words with Friends, and anything else I can think of to avoid getting out of bed. This starts a cascade where [...]
Grit and Commitment
This past week has been a change of pace for me. It’s been a good change and one that’s helped me to realize a few things. For the whole month of December I haven’t written my daily stories. (For those of you who have no clue what I’m talking about I’ve been following a book [...]
Becoming a Polyglot
Avant mes 30 ans je vais apprendre le français, l’espagnol, et l’espéranto. Antes de que mi 30 cumpleaños que voy a aprender francés, español y esperanto. Antaŭ mia 30a naskiĝtago mi lernos la franca, hispana, kaj Esperanto. Before my 30th birthday I will learn French, Spanish, and Esperanto. Some of you may know of my [...]
Thoughts on Marriage
One of the things about getting a divorce is that I’ve spent a lot of time reassessing the motivations for why I got married and my current beliefs about marriage. As evidenced by the arguably short amount of time I was married there were several problems with my marriage. But perhaps it’s final trajectory could [...]
Bills and Pain: The Same Thing Twice
I’m sitting at my desk writing this with my left wrist wrapped in a bandage. Periodic jolts of pain pierce the area between my palm and forearm causing me to make micro-adjustments to my positioning to avoid future strikes. But they come again no matter what. It’s fitting I should be experiencing this right now. [...]
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About Me
Welcome to Engineering the Uncommon. My name is Taylor and I'm on a mission to do something different with my life. I'm an engineer, a writer, and all around polymath. I write about topics that interest me as well as ways to live consciously, deliberately, awesomely, and without limitations. Spend some time checking out the content and please feel free to contact me through, email, Twitter, or Google+.
