When the Story Finds You

Stardate 10.01.2026

This Golden Hour started with the worst sleep report I've seen since I began tracking my sleep with a smart watch.

The numbers were really, really pathetic.

I could have let the report determine the direction of my morning. I did what I normally do. I prayed, meditated, took a shower and headed downstairs for the free breakfast at my hotel.

The greeter checking me in was really friendly. I asked her where she was from.

"Ukraine," she said.

I smiled and said, "Dobroho ranku."

Her face lit up.

That was my first connection of the morning.

Then I sat at the same table with George from Scotland and Santiago from Chile. They were traveling together.

I asked George, "How are you?"

"Can't gramble," he said.

I think he meant "can't grumble."

We started talking. George asked where I was from.

"America," I told him.

"I won't hold it against you," he said.

George also told me some Americans simply say they're from Canada because the accents are similar.

I liked George immediately.

George asked whether I was traveling for business or pleasure.

That's when I pulled Performance out of my backpack.

That caught Santiago's attention.

He became curious about the product and the other DoNotAge® supplements I was carrying. That opened the conversation about why I was in London in the first place.

Santiago was interested, so I showed him the QR code on the outside cover of my cell phone. It took him to my blog site where I publish daily stories.

From there, I showed him how to get to DoNotAge® by clicking the link on my welcome page underneath the photograph of my wife and me outside Blarney Castle in Ireland.

That little photograph suddenly became part of the conversation.

Then I discovered another connection with George.

He's a Star Trek fan. He mentioned Spock and Kirk. He knew the names of the actors.

I had one copy of my book, Live Long and Prosper, left in my possession. I showed it to him.

That was a pretty special moment.

Later, I asked the men if I could photograph them.

They declined and asked to remain anonymous.

I respected that.

Instead, I showed them a couple of my stories about the adventure of getting my laptop adapter across the street. George had something to add.

He told me I should look up the story of how the British electrical adapter came to be.

So now I have another London story to chase.

After breakfast, I moved to the other side of the lobby, set up my MacBook Pro at a high-top table and continued working.

Meanwhile, another piece of the story was already unfolding.

Last night I released the video Alice shot near the conclusion of the DoNotAge® conference. I decided to put it on YouTube and then shared it on Facebook.

That video is different from the other videos I've been making.

It's really a ground-zero video for me.

It explains why health and wellness matter so much to me and why this journey has become such an important part of my life.

I've also been thinking about what comes next with YouTube.

Livestreaming may be my wheelhouse.

I like being able to tell a story while I'm living it. I don't need a complicated production setup. I can walk into a place, experience something, turn on the camera and talk to people.

That's how I've been telling stories on my blog for 17 years. That's more than 6,000 stories about my stumbles, my discoveries, and encounters with amazing people from all over the world.

Maybe video doesn't require me to become someone different.

Maybe it simply gives me another way to tell the stories I'm already telling.

My YouTube channel is still small. There are only a handful of videos, and the page itself is pretty bland.

That's actually encouraging.

There isn't much to reorganize.

I can build it intentionally from here.

Eventually, I can create sections for livestreams, health and wellness, Live Long and Prosper, travel stories and shorter videos. I can make the channel easier for someone new to navigate.

Then a light bulb went on.

Why go somewhere else to livestream?

I'm already sitting at a high-top table in the hotel lobby with my MacBook Pro set up.

What if I simply livestream from here and read today's blog?

The story I'm writing could become the first bridge between my blog and my vlog.

I wouldn't need to manufacture a topic.

I already have one.

And the setting is part of the story.

George suggested St. Paul's Cathedral as a possible place to do a livestream without too much background noise. I've never been inside St. Paul's.

I still want to go.

It would give me a chance to see one of London's great landmarks for myself, and it could become another place to tell a story.

It's only 11:00 in the morning.

This is my final full day in London.

And somehow, I'm already ahead of the game.

Yesterday, I explored the London Transport Museum.

Last night, Alice's video gave me another piece of the story.

This morning, the breakfast greeter from Ukraine, George from Scotland and Santiago from Chile gave me several more.

Now I have a blog story, a potential livestream and a cathedral I've never seen from the inside.

I don't know exactly what today's story will become.

That's okay.

I'm learning that some of the best stories don't begin with a plan.

Sometimes you just sit down at breakfast.

You ask someone how they're doing.

Someone says, "Can't gramble."

And suddenly you're off and running.

I've spent 17 years adapting the way I tell these stories as life has changed around me. YouTube is becoming another part of that process.

For people who have been reading for years, this is simply another chapter.

For someone finding me for the first time, you're catching me in the middle of the transformation.

The stories are still coming.

I'm learning how to tell some of them with a camera in my hand.

And today, I may discover what happens when the story becomes a livestream.

"Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart."

— Galatians 6:9

Join me here:

https://substack.com/@michaelmulliganlivelong

Captain's Addendum

Spock: "Michael, your sleep report appears to have failed to account for the Ukrainian greeting, the Scottish humor, and the Chilean conversation."

Bones: "He's got a point, Michael. I'd prescribe breakfast before making any decisions based on that sleep score."

Spock: "And perhaps one livestream."

Some mornings arrive with a plan.

Some mornings arrive with a sleep report that makes you question the plan.

Then someone says, "Can't gramble," and the day takes over.

I'm grateful for the people who keep showing up in these stories.

I'm grateful for the chance to keep learning.

And I'm grateful for another day to take the next small step.

Stumbling forward, one percent better, one day at a time.