Greetings! I began my writing career in 2015 following the death of my beloved mother. The lessons and world views she instilled during my life as I grew and developed maintain a strong thematic presence throughout much of what I write. Her emphasis on the importance of love, kindness, and concern for all is the primary influence behind my material focusing on occasionally uncomfortable topics like emotional vulnerability, abuse, and existentialism. It isn't all mopey, though - I do like to let the hair down and writing about the fun things in life. Like owning an adorable dog that has enormous, "I just saw a ghost" eyes, for instance. While I use this website predominantly for hosting poetry and/or thought pieces, my primary commercially-marketed project is a sci-fi/fantasy series of novels which I originally self-published. The first is titled Continuity and was published in 2016. A sequel, Continuity: Coalescence, was released two years later. I'm thankful to say both were recently picked up by a traditional publisher, Wild Ink Publishing that will be releasing one, consolidated version of both in December 2024. Announcements on this moving forward will also be posted here. As far as the rest, I'm an ex-Vanderbilt baseball player (c/o '09) with a degree in Economics & Corporate Strategy who is ironically trying to forging a career that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with either of those things. Before my scribbles began, I was an insurance agent for the better part of a decade. Other than that, I enjoy simple living along with my aforementioned co-author, Pip the Pekingese! Thank you for visiting the website. I hope you enjoy your stay, and I look forward to connecting with any and all. No matter who you are or what you believe, you are warmly welcome! M.E. Shao
“The ability to convert ideas to things is the secret to outward success.” – Henry Ward Beecher The quote you just read is something that I’ve always tried to remind myself. The more and more I think about wanting to be successful, the harder it seems to get. I think we all fall victim to … More Imagining vs. Experiencing
All of this political junk going on made me write this. People are becoming entirely too divided over who supports who. So here’s what I think, if anyone cares. I’d like to take a moment to write about something that constantly troubles me. Something we all know exists, yet can’t truly get a complete grip … More Politics
“Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well, and live broadly. You are alive, and living now. Now is the envy of all the dead.” I’d like to take a moment and … More World of Tomorrow
This whole Apple thing has the country reeling, once again introducing a dilemma that can divide and polarize our opinions. Most people haven’t been affected by it (and simply don’t care), which I can totally understand. It’s easy to go about life and not concern ourselves with things so far away in proximity and principle. … More This Apple Thing
Have you ever looked in a mirror and wondered who you are? I mean really wondered. So many times I’ll step out of the shower, towel myself off, and turn to the mirror and be like – who is this guy? I’ll look at him and wonder what’s going on in his head. That might … More Meet Yourself
People want things to change. They’ve made that abundantly clear. From the social movements we see today (BLM, Young Turks, change.org, etc.) to the constant bantering on social media, its clear that people are fed up with the powers that be. If so many people desire this, why hasn’t anything meaningful been accomplished? To be … More Why the World Won’t Change Until We Do
Purpose. Everything we do should have one. I spend a lot of time wondering what goes through the heads of people like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs (RIP), Mark Cuban, etc. Why have they risen to such monumental heights? The more and more I think about it, I always end up with the same answer. They … More
Wow. If you haven’t watched “Making A Murderer”on Netflix, go watch it. This will contain spoilers. My first reaction (which was undoubtedly the intent of the filmmaker) was that of sympathy. This guy got seriously screwed by the system back in the 80’s. That much is certain. But after finishing the last installment (of which … More Steven Avery – Reaction
I write a lot about trying to find a common ground for humanity – in terms of our evolution and progression as a species. If you look back, we slowly inched forward as a civilization and then BAM, in just a few hundred years we got the Renaissance, Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution, Information Age, etc. We … More Space!
I’ve always thought its a good idea to keep track of the happenings in any given year so I know whether or not I’m actually doing anything with my life. Not exactly a groundbreaking idea or anything, I know – but its still helpful. So now that I have this blog, I can post my … More 2015 – A Year in Review
How the World Should Work 