Altadena, CA. Nearly a year after the Eaton Fire carved its way through the foothills, the town is still living in its shadow. Eleven months sounds like enough time for life to snap back into place, but for many families, the calendar doesn’t match reality. People are still scattered across borrowed bedrooms, spare couches, and motel rooms that were never meant to be home. Entire neighborhoods feel like they’re holding their breath.

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately asking myself how we decide what’s true. Not in the abstract, but in the everyday moments when you open a browser, type in a question, and get an answer in seconds. What exactly are you trusting in that moment, and why? The answer isn’t simple. Even for people who pride themselves on being curious, educated, and careful thinkers, separating signal from noise has become harder than ever.

Every once in a while, science drops a truth bomb so big it rattles the bones of everything we thought we knew. Here's one of them. The universe is not locally real. A Nobel Prize confirmed statement. Not a poet. Not a guru. Not a barefoot monk on a mountain. A physicist.

There’s something unmistakably different about people who grew up in the 1970s. That decade didn’t just shape a generation; it forged a particular kind of resilience that psychologists are still trying to name. But if you've lived it, you already know exactly what I’m talking about.

The sun just got a little warmer, the vibes a whole lot sharper, and the advice? Well… it just got real. Ask Uncle Gary  has officially landed at SoCal Magazine , Southern California’s Cultural Portal, and is now the proud home of the most straight-talking, heart-listening advice column on the West Coast. From Palm Springs to Pasadena, we’re serving wisdom with a wink, truth with a twist, and compassion with just enough sass to keep things interesting. These are the questions

Why Some People Quietly Steal the Room (and How You Can Too) Ever notice how certain people walk in and the air changes? Not because they’re shouting or peacocking, but because something about them just lands.  They’ve got that invisible pull. The kind that can’t be bottled, branded, or posted with a #mindset caption. Everyone talks about charisma like it’s a genetic gift. It’s not. It’s learned. Practiced. Built from habits so small they barely look like effort. The Real Sec

I came across a line that stopped me cold: “You can silence fifty scholars with one fact, but you can’t silence one fool with fifty facts.”   - This quote’s authorship is uncertain. It captures the tragedy of our time perfectly. Because when critical thinking dies, collective foolishness fills the void. Everyone becomes an expert. Everyone is convinced they’re right, and everyone else, naturally, is wrong. Opinions drown out logic, emotions overrun evidence, and noise masque

by Gary Domasin After reading Michael Slepian’s work on the psychology of secrecy, I’m left thinking less about the secrets themselves and more about the quiet damage they inflict. His book, The Secret Life of Secrets , doesn’t just catalog the kinds of things people hide-it explores what happens when we carry those hidden truths alone, and how that burden can quietly erode our health, happiness, and sense of connection. Slepian’s research is staggering in scope: 50,000 peopl

At 65, Gary Domasin has lived more lives than most. Raised on Hollywood’s back lots in the 1960s, he danced on Broadway, rode the Beverly Hills fitness boom of the ’80s, and taught at some of New York’s most prestigious health clubs and dance schools. He trained celebrities like Tim Curry and Jennifer Aniston, then pivoted, earning a degree in hypnotherapy and psychology from HMI, America’s first nationally accredited college of hypnotherapy.

Take a moment and a deep breath. Look at your life right now. If nothing changes today, where will you be in ten years? Be honest with yourself. The words that follow are meant to be a wake-up call. You can either read them and be motivated to act, or you can scroll on and spend the next decade repeating the same year, over and over again. This past weekend, I saw a man spend ten minutes trying to get approval from someone who clearly didn't care. He kept seeking validation t

This picture means more to me than I can put into words. That’s my nephew, who we lost too soon, and my niece, who still lights up every room she walks into. They’re the reason Ask Uncle Gary exists. See, when you’ve been “Uncle Gary” long enough, you learn that advice isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about showing up. Listening. Offering a little perspective, maybe a laugh, and reminding folks they’re not alone in whatever they’re facing. Every time I sit down to wri