Family – Fired & Free

Get Kicked in the Face

My daily meditation practice consists of around 45 minutes in the morning, before my kids wake up (and all hell breaks loose) and 45 minutes in the evening, before I go to sleep for the night. It’s as basic of a practice as one can find – I sit on a plastic foldout chair in […]

by Fired and Free

Building a Boat

After years of building, I have a boat. Not a literal boat, but a figurative one – a metaphor for my life. During my early adult years, this boat began as a wooden dingy – quick, small, fragile, and full of leaks. As I got older, the craft got faster, more agile, yet nearly rudderless […]

by Fired and Free

Beware of DNA Results – It Might Change Who You Think You Are

My name is Dan D’Agostino. On my birth certificate, it says Daniel in place of Dan. For most of elementary school, I signed my name as Danny on book reports and other assignments. In 4th grade, I decided I had matured sufficiently to begin signing my name as, “Dan the Man.” While I wish “the […]

by Fired and Free

Men, We Need to Talk

My last post, Craving Community, wasn’t the most uplifting to write. Maybe you are someone who enjoys reading about the loneliness of a random blogger, but it didn’t feel great admitting to the internet that I’m a bit lonely during the hours of 9am and 3pm (when my kids are at school). With that said, […]

by Fired and Free

Hope or Desperation

I haven’t written a post in a while mainly because I haven’t been feeling creative. Even now, I worry that this attempt will turn into yet another draft in my MS Word docs that never sees the publish button. Where has the creative juice gone that brought you such epics as Last Life and Marry […]

by Fired and Free

Our Imperfect Lives

Have you ever heard something so profound that your life was changed on the spot? Maybe it was a powerful sermon in church or a motivational speech from a coach. Or, maybe it was the first time a crush said they, “liked you”. Or, maybe it was the first time you heard, “Luke, I am […]