Whenever I lift my eyes toward the sky, my mood improves. I noticed this a long time ago and always assumed my fondness of the sky triggered it, my inner kid spellbound by…

Susan and I spent a recent Saturday cleaning out a few closets in dire need of organizing. One of the closets was in the…

Six years ago, three friends and I spent a week paddling fifty miles in canoes on the Green River. The stretch of water winds through…

I have a secret to share: I’ve been leading a double life. For many readers of this blog, I’m Christopher Laney, writer. But there’s another side to me…

This week I have a guest post on EXTRAordinary! Inc., the website of an excellent friend, Rich Schlentz. I first met Rich after he hired my wife as a wellness coordinator for one of the...

I'm pleased to announce my guest post on Katherine Jenkin's blog, "Lessons from the Monk I Married." Katherine spent every single day of 2010 blogging about 365 lessons she had learned or…

Several years ago I drove to a friend’s mountain cabin near West Jefferson for ten days to get my novel jump-started. I’d dabbled…

Last Friday morning I flew the Cirrus to Charlottesville, VA to visit a buddy of mine, John Hart. John is an excellent friend and wonderful writer who’s had four books on the New York Times Bestseller List including…

Fitness has been part of my life for a long time. I’ve worked out enough to have a little insight into building muscle. One absolute truth is, muscle doesn’t grow unless you…

If you suddenly found yourself with enough money so you no longer had to work, what would you do with your time? When I ask that question to a variety of people, most answers are not…

There is a person you are meant to be. You know this because you’ve dreamed of it. Perhaps that person is a painter or a photographer. Maybe it’s an entrepreneur or a scientist. But whatever the goal, many of us have…

Who knows why most pilots felt the urge to learn to fly? Perhaps some grew tired of staring at cloud bellies and wanted to see their tops. Maybe others vowed to…

A week ago Friday I found myself at an urgent care facility with my 8-year-old, Cort. Less than 20 minutes before, we’d been at the ballpark waiting for…

I’ve always loved the quote, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” It gets misattributed to…

Inspirational speaker and award-winning author Janae Bower co-hosts a blog currently featuring an A-to-Z series on spirituality. This week's letter is "C"—as in Christopher—and Janae has…

Aviators come from all walks of life with wildly varied personalities. But one thing I’ve noticed is, they all tell great stories. Typically, the longer they’ve been flying, the grander the…

In May 2009, I left a high-paying job to write a novel, and I’ve never regretted it one bit. Navigating the traditional publishing route—versus self-publishing—takes vast patience, but…

There’s an old aviation joke that gets passed down often. It usually surfaces during the required night flight that every student must take during training. Night flights are stressful in a single-engine plane…

Most people I know try to honor the promises they make to others. And if something prevents them from keeping those promises, they feel bad about it. But there is a certain type of promise that most of us break quite often and…

Doubt. It’s arguably the single most insidious obstacle that stands between individuals and their dreams. There’s a universal wind that’s eager to…