Uncorking a Story
Short-Form Reflections from the side of my personality I like to call “Open Mike”
Featured Reflections
What if the small things are really the big things?
Warning, this post was inspired by a pumpkin. More on that later. As another Thanksgiving weekend wraps up, I’m filled with a wide range of emotions. I was happy to have had the kids home for an extended period of time and now sad that they have all started to head...
What would you do with an extra hour?
Today we were given the gift of an extra hour in our day. If today were yesterday, I’d be writing this at 1:05 in the afternoon. Instead, my fingers are touching the keyboard at 12:05. Last night I jokingly said to my kids, “We gain an extra hour tonight, but we...
Signs, Signs
So I got me a pen and a paper And I made up my own little sign I said, "Thank you, Lord, for thinkin' 'bout me I'm alive and doin' fine" The lyrics above are from a song called Signs, written by Les Emmerson of The Five Man Electrical Band. It was repopularized by the...
Bubbles Up
We just passed the three month anniversary of my brother’s passing and, to quote the late Jerry Garcia (one of my brother Gregory’s favorites), “I want to know, where does the time go?” How could it have been three months? It’s still so surreal that my brother, my...
Greg Carlon: Simply the Best
On Sunday, I was getting ready to go for a run through Waveny park here in New Canaan when my mother asked me, “Michael, are your shoes tied?” I thought, that is a funny question to ask a 48 year old man, and it stayed in my head as I was starting my run. As I ran...
Help me Help some Kids
As many of you know, I’m an avid runner which is ironic because, when I was a kid, I hated running. I was slow, it just wasn’t fun, and I avoided it like the plague. Something happened in high school, though. My twin brother Jimmy joined the cross-country team, which...
You Can’t Rush the Sunrise
I’m a morning person. Dracula is more of a morning person compared to most of the people I know, which I suppose is fortunate for me as I can devote the time I’d be chit chatting with other humans to getting some writing done. Some people cannot handle the energy I...
7 Beliefs, with Mike Carlon
We have a tradition in my house on Christmas Eve where the five of us head to the family room after dinner and watch The Polar Express. Even though the kids are now twenty, they still want to gather together and watch this uniquely animated film with their parents—if...
Living Life at Slack Tide
The first sign that my emotions weren’t regulating well today was when I started to cry while listening to a Jimmy Buffett song. Seriously, who does that? It wasn’t one of the “songs you know by heart,” which can’t help but put someone in a good mood. Take for example...
Much More than The Entertainer
I was invited to speak at a conference in New York this week about lessons I’ve learned while talking with all the wonderful authors I’ve had the honor to interview on Uncorking a Story. One of my clients is also attending this event and let it slip yesterday that...
Tell Someone that they Matter
I know that many of us have a tendency to, every now and then, engage in a little negative self-talk. For me that takes two forms, the first being imposter syndrome. Even though I’ve written eight novels, run my own business, and have the opportunity to chat with very...
Farewell, Roo Roo
I’ve known this day was coming for a very long time—it’s quite rare that golden retrievers live to almost sixteen years of age, though our Reilly has. We adopted her from a rescue service after she had just turned two and she was in every first day of school picture...
The Agony of Da Feet
Ever since I was in high school, I’ve loved running. When my grandmother was dying during my senior year, I used to go on long runs to deal with the grief I was experiencing. I wouldn’t listen to music, I’d just concentrate on my breathing and lose myself in the run....
Funnies from Florida
I just spent a week in Florida visiting my parents and came to the realization that, even though my children are on the cusp of leaving the nest, God doesn’t want my parenting skills to go to waste. My mother, who always had a voracious appetite, eats like a bird and...
Sunday Reflection, Thank You Nicole
It may appear as if I am two days late with this week’s entry, but I have a story about that. You see, I needed it to coincide with today’s episode of Uncorking a Story, which profiles an author named Aileen Weintraub who wrote a memoir about being on bedrest during...
Living in the Moment
Met fans will recount the 1986 season the way some people might recount the day they got married. We had waited so long for a World Series title (maybe not as long as the Red Sox) and this team of misfits (substance abuse was rampant on that roster) pulled it together...
Hold Me Close
When I was out for a run this morning I decided to listen to U2s Songs of Innocence album. On it, there’s a song called Iris (Hold me Close) in which Bono sings about missing his mother and his faith that, even after the “stars go out,” he will see her again. It’s a...
10 Insights from our biggest year
I learned many personal and professional lessons in 2021. I was truly blessed to interview so many amazing storytellers this past year and am forever grateful to all the publicists and producers who introduced me to all of my amazing guests. This was Uncorking a...
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