“Everyone has inside himself a piece of good news! The good news is that you really don’t know how great you can be, how much you can love, what you can accomplish, and what your potential is!” —Anne Frank, teenage author (1929–1945).

Many years ago I wrote my first book, not because I wanted to be an author, but because something deep inside compelled me to write. I then set the manuscript aside and went on about my life. The conception was accomplished, but there was a gestation period that would have to be honored.

Twenty years later, The Barefoot Warrior was released on Amazon.com

Why did it have to gestate for twenty years? Why did it release after my second book, The User’s Guide to Being Human: The Art and Science of Self?

Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend who had purchased The Barefoot Warrior. She had begun to read it, and shared that she now understood why many of my closest peeps called me Ky, rather than the other names that family members had given me in my early years such as Jimmy at birth, and then Scott upon adoption. Her excitement filled me with a sense of joy that felt brighter than sunlight. Thanks for that, A.

The force that had compelled me to write The Barefoot Warrior was not about being a successful author. It was about revealing certain aspects of my innermost experiences to the world in a naked and vulnerable way. It took twenty years for me to actually open myself to be seen in such a way. This was a gestation period with a timeline of its own.

Yesterday, I felt seen in a new way. Yesterday a dream came true.

Today, I’m riding a twenty foot wave with joy and delight. Today, I’m on top of one tiny surface of ocean in one tiny corner of the world. Today, I’m totally stoked!