The Rebel Onion Newsletter

08/20/2026

My father knew every word by heart.

I was sitting with a guitar at a family BBQ on the water when someone asked me to play an original song. Halfway through the first verse, my mind went blank. I stopped strumming. Complete silence.

Before panic set in, my dad turned from the grill and sang the next lyric out loud so I could pick it back up.

He had never directly told me he listened to my music. But in that moment, I realized he knew every single word.

Sometimes the person you thought wasn't listening turns out to be your biggest fan. Don't stop creating just because they didn't say it out loud.

🎵 Song: "Fuego de mi Corazon" by Martin Casado

Read the full essay, "The Tropism Layer: What You Called a Distraction Was the Signal," at therebelonion.com.

08/20/2026

My dad doesn't say son you did great. He tells strangers, and they tell me later. That's how he is. I stopped waiting for it a long time ago.

Years ago I looked in his car's CD rack, back when that was a thing, and my Spanish album was in there. Didn't say anything. Later at a BBQ at his house, his friends asked me to sing one of my songs. I got the guitar. Started one. Forgot the lyric mid-song.

From the back of the crowd, my dad sang the line so I could pick it back up.

He knew the whole album by heart.

Plants lean. They don't debate whether to. A signal reaches them and they turn toward it. Silently. Slowly. Over years. That's tropism. And most of us have been calling our own lean a distraction our whole lives.

What have you been drifting toward for decades that you've been calling a phase, a hobby, a thing you should probably outgrow? Somebody in your life is listening. Somebody knew the whole album by heart. You just didn't know it yet.

Week 65 is live. The Tropism Layer.

therebelonion.com/the-tropism-layer-what-you-called-a-distraction-was-the-signal-65

The lean isn't laziness or procrastination—it's data. Week 65 explores following your internal signal, reframing "chance" occurrences through the lens of divine choreography, and realizing the audience you thought was missing was listening the entire time.

08/20/2026

My father knew every word by heart. “Hey! Play one of those songs you wrote!” 🎸

Midway through, my mind went completely blank. I forgot my own lyrics. Awkward silence.
Then my dad turned around from the grill and sang the next line. He knew the whole song.
Sometimes the person you thought wasn’t listening is actually your biggest fan. Don’t stop creating just because they didn’t say it out loud.

🎵 Song: “Fuego de mi Corazon” by Martin Casado

🧅 This video is inspired by Week 65 of my weekly newsletter, exploring why we lean toward what we love. Read “The Tropism Layer” at therebelonion.com

08/20/2026

My dad never told me he liked my music. He told strangers who told me later. That’s how he is. I stopped waiting for it.

Then one night at a family BBQ, I forgot a lyric mid-song. And from the back of the crowd, my dad sang the line so I could pick it back up.
He knew the whole album by heart.

Featuring the original track “Fuego de mi Corazon” by Martin Casado.

Week 65 just dropped. The Tropism Layer.
🌱 What you’ve been calling a distraction your whole life is actually the signal
🎸 The nine-year-old who marked A, B, C, bridge on record inserts. That kid never left.
📀 The CD rack story. The audience you never knew was listening.
🎙️ Being Coached: Larry on his biological father’s deathbed message and divine choreography
📖 Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. The treasure was under the sycamore tree the whole time.
🎬 Behind the build: hardest video I’ve made. The father-son BBQ scene with the actual studio track underneath.
💡 One question at the end that’ll expose what’s been pulling you for decades

65 weeks in. Following the lean. Same signal, different costume. Link in bio.

MensMindset

08/13/2026

You have had years of experience, hard lessons, and real life force inside you ready to be seen.

Photosynthesis doesn't store light—it converts it immediately! But most of us let the digital noise, social media, and constant overstimulation steal that energy before we can ever use it.

Stop keeping your past as a safety net, waiting for the "right time." Stop storing... start converting. Cut through the distraction. Step out into your light. You're ready!

Every week, an original video sequence accompanies a deep-dive newsletter essay. Read Week 64 at therebelonion.com.

08/13/2026

A leaf takes raw light and makes food. Not stores it. Makes it. That's the whole alchemy the tree is built around. You can't skip the step. Sunshine on a rock doesn't become anything.

Sixty-four weeks of layers. Songs still playing in cars a decade later. Client work paying the bills. Losses. Wins. Whole seasons stacked inside me. The question isn't whether I have material. It's what I'm converting it into right now.

There's a mirror in this one and I couldn't dodge it. What are you storing instead of converting? Because if you convert it, you can't use it as a backup anymore. Once it becomes fuel, it stops being a floor. It becomes a launchpad. And launching is scarier than sitting.

I'm asking myself. You should ask yourself too. Not to shame anyone. To find out what's still in the pantry that could be feeding you today.

Week 64 is live. The Photosynthesis Layer. Also marks 17 years since I started Nitram Design on 8/8/2008. Fitting week to say it plain: stop waiting for the breakthrough. You are the breakthrough.

Stop storing. Start converting. Week 64 explores moving from underground root-work to active photosynthesis—focusing on present light, clearing out the pantry, trusting the process, and turning raw experience into immediate fuel.

08/13/2026

You have had years of experience, hard lessons, and real life force inside you ready to be seen. ☀️
Photosynthesis doesn’t store light—it converts it immediately!

But most of us let the digital noise, social media, and constant overstimulation steal that energy before we can ever use it.
Stop keeping your past as a safety net, waiting for the “right time.” Stop storing... start converting.
Cut through the distraction. Step out into your light. You’re ready.

🧅 This video is part of a weekly newsletter series exploring identity, focus, and personal growth. Read Week 64: The Photosynthesis Layer at therebelonion.com WEEK 64 Check it out!

08/13/2026

You’ve been storing your best material for years. Waiting until you’re ready. Until the timing’s right. Until it feels safe to convert.

The leaf doesn’t wait. It catches light and makes food that same afternoon.

Week 64 just dropped. The Photosynthesis Layer.
🌱 The move from underground root-work to actively converting what’s landing on you right now
☀️ Real light vs screen glare. Why most of what you’re consuming isn’t feeding you.
📖 Alan Harrington’s The Immortalist on rejecting the slow decay and engineering your own expansion
🎙️ Being Coached: suit up, show up, and trust the process is already meeting Monday’s client
🎬 Behind the build: the onion sprouting into full sunlight for the first time
🎂 8/8 marked 17 years of Nitram Design. Stop waiting for the breakthrough. You ARE the breakthrough.
💡 One question at the end that’ll expose what you’ve been holding in the pantry as backup

64 weeks in. Leaves out. Present light only. Link in bio.

PersonalGrowth

08/07/2026

You spent years going deep for a reason.

Then somewhere along the way, the depth stopped being preparation. It became a comfortable place to hide.
A root goes deep for one reason. To feed what grows above the surface. If you’ve been calling it getting ready and it’s really been staying safe, this one’s for you.

Week 63. The Root-Gift Layer. Link in bio. therebelonion.com

08/06/2026

For a while I thought getting quiet meant laying low. Re-planting. Shedding old behaviors. Going deep into the soil. Staying underground.

Then this week I saw it. At some point depth stops being preparation and starts being a comfortable place to hide.

A root only goes deep for one reason. To feed what grows above the surface.

Week 63 of The Rebel Onion is live. Full deep dive at https://www.therebelonion.com/the-root-gift-layer-the-deep-ones-feed-the-field-by-habit-63/