Escape Adulthood

Archives for January 2014

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10 Reasons You Should Attend The Escape Adulthood Summit

Last year's Escape Adulthood Summit was really something special. Over 40 like-minded individuals from 8 different states came together in Madison for a life-changing weekend of fun, inspiration, and magic. It was, in a word, awesome. This year, our goal is to make it awesomer. There are 70 Golden Tickets available, but 50 are already gone, many claimed by people who've attended a previous Summit. Here are 10 reasons why you should consider joining their ranks: 1) The community. It can be terribly lonely when you feel like you’re the only one who sees the value in silliness, the …

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Meet Tara Ingalls

The Small Rebellion is a playful group of escape artists who share a joyful, indomitable childlike spirit and are not afraid to let that spirit come out to play! They’re united by a common goal of fighting Adultitis and the doo-doo heads who embrace its ideals. Quite frankly, they’re pretty much the coolest people on the planet. Here's one right now... • My name is... Tara Ingalls. • My hometown is... Sheboygan, Wisconsin. • My biggest dream...is to live on the beach 1 month out of the year. • My inspiration...comes from doing crafts with my three young kids. • When I was a kid, …

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Never Say Never

"I’ll never marry a blonde.” I’d said that many times. Don’t get me wrong; I didn’t have anything against blondes at all. It’s just that even though all of my friends had a thing for blondes, I was always more of a brunette guy. All of the girls I’d ever dated were brunette, except for one blonde I went to homecoming with sophomore year. Looking back now, I can see that this probably had a lot to do with the women I fancied in my youth: From Princess Leia to Lois Lane to my second grade teacher whom I had a second grade crush on. The punch line, of course, is that my wife is blonde. And …

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Pick Yourself

Times have changed. Back in the day, a college degree pretty much guaranteed you a decent job...somewhere. Not anymore. Paradoxically, the opportunity to chase a dream and create an amazing life have never been better. Not long ago, the gatekeepers ruled everything. They decided what music should be played, what books should be written, what art should be displayed, what news should be shared, what agendas should be pushed, what business ideas were valid, and what dreams should come true. You pretty much had to wait for someone to pick you, whether it was to to attend their university, …

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Office Staff Uses Tiny Spoons and Ugly Wrap to Upend Traditional Luncheon

An organization I spoke to last year traditionally celebrates the holidays with a luncheon and gift exchange. Pretty typical stuff. The only problem is that Adultitis LOVES typical. Typical is only a hop, skip and a jump away from a rut, and as Ellen Glasgow says, “The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions.” Fortunately, after hearing one of my programs on Curing Adultitis, Janet Mincks and her team decided to go in a different direction with their holiday party. It has been 4 months since you spoke to us at our All Staff Professional Development Day. What an …

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Let’s Be Young

A few years ago, Kim and I took a plunge. For years, we had dreamed about hosting some sort of live event for the kind of people who get giddy about making Adultitis all hot and bothered. The Escape Adulthood Summit was born, and it exceeded our wildest expectations. Last year, we did another one, and that one was even better. Number three is six months away, and -- BAM! -- we're determined to kick it up another notch. This year we have live butterflies on our team. Oh yeah, baby. The Escape Adulthood Summit is a multi-day event based on four cornerstones: Community, Inspiration, Magic, …

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On Making Progress

My daughter Lucy is five. Getting her to go to bed has been a struggle since the Johnson administration. Andrew Johnson. I know that seems impossible, but when you calculate it in sleep deprived years, it adds up. We’ve made progress on all fronts over the years, but there’s always...something. The latest challenge is training her that when she has to go potty in the middle of the night, she doesn’t have to wake me up to ask me a series of unimportant questions like “How long is it 'till morning?” and concluding with the ever-present, “Is that all the questions?” She has traces of …

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Twenty Questions to Start Your Year with a Bang

Are we afraid of curiosity because of what it (supposedly) did to the cat? I’m searching for a reason to explain why kids are insatiably curious, while adults tend to grow less so over time. We’re conditioned in school to believe there is only one right answer and everything else is wrong. But that's not really true in the real world, is it? For example, what's the correct way to raise a kid? To find a job? To make dinner? To propose to your sweetheart? To host a wedding? To be a good parent? There are a lot of right answers to those questions. The beginning of a new year is a popular …

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