One of the things that's been really cool for me here at the blog is watching the crowd that hangs out here develop.

The big thing I set out to do with the site was create a place I'd want to hang out online. I hang out at some pretty good places, but I wasn't able to find anywhere that was unabashedly pro-victory, pro-winning, very expansive, practical, pragmatic, and says it like it is. There's plenty of places with good people online, but not too many where people are willing to take the heat for saying it like it is. I try to do that - say it like it is, even though you sometimes suffer for it.

The community's really responded - I think there's a lot of people who've been looking for something like this. I know I searched for it, couldn't find it, and that's why I started building. So it's been thrilling having all sorts of smart people write great letters and emails to me, great comments, great stuff happening.

I love it, I feel so blessed. The site's my site - it's got my name on it. But the community can transcend that, and that's why I'm so thrilled that I can feature great comments and letters.

One such talented person is Jess, our resident merchant marine. She's left a number of really insightful comments, and it's a joy to read her thoughts. She's talented writer and talented thinker. Here's some of her latest insights from a letter, reposted with permission -

I recently started reading about Miyamoto Musashi and Bushido after reading a post you did on the topic. Did you know that many Japanese executives practice martial arts in the mornings before work, as a part of developing their business strategy/abilities? I thought that was quite a bit of dedication, very impressive. Also indicative of how the teachings of war/warrior's strategy can apply in so many endeavors outside of war and battle. My favorite concept to consider of late is "Even though it is a path of 1000 miles, you walk one step at a time. Consider this well." The simplicity is astonishing when you consider the depth, and breadth of what it can cover. This specific idea helps me on the days that are less than ideal. I've been considering how I'd rather be working somewhere else, but that there is a possibility that I am right where I need to be, that there is some valuable thing to learn here not found elsewhere. I'm working on making that happen, making this one 'step' count. Some of the Bushido concepts (especially on focus and not wasting time, as well as presenting a facade of strength and not giving into weak moments to summarize roughly) are really helping me reach that goal. I've opened my eyes to a lot of things I've missed in the past due to my focus being elsewhere, or not done in earnest. Thanks for that post.

Good stuff. If you like it, you'd also like the previous top level posts that featured her insights -

Letter From a Merchant Marine
“Reacting to an emotional event with blatant disregard for said training is similar to not having had training at all”

Finally, she's got some really good comments here too, though I don't know an easy way to see the comments by anyone in particular... there's been lots of smart comments by Jess, Phaed, Michael, Evgenij, Stephanie, and so on - if anyone knows an easy way to view all of a person's comments, please let me know in the comments or via email, and there will be much gratitude from me. In the meantime, I recommend you read Jess's comments when you see 'em, because they're really smart, and thanks again for the insights Jess.