Escape Adulthood

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Archives for March 2018

Joseph Basehart, March 2018 Adultitis Fighter of the Month

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An Adultitis Fighter is someone who rallies against rules that don't exist and engages in ruthless, senseless acts of silliness that undermine Adultitis and its unadventurous version of adulthood. Once a month, we shine a light upon the most remarkable among us, holding them up as a dazzling example of what we should strive for in this epic battle against a formidable enemy. Joseph Basehart is a real clown. Seriously. They get a bad rap sometimes, but the clowns I've met who take their craft seriously are some of the best Adultitis Fighters around. Even sad clowns have a way of connecting with people and lifting their spirits. My first experience with Joseph was seeing a display he put together at a bookstore in the Denver airport. It featured my book, Penguin's Can't Fly, and it was pretty clear that he was all-in on the Adultitis-fighting bandwagon. Since then, we've exchanged emails back and forth and I've been able to experience his joy-filled spirit and unique perspective …

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What We Lose as We Grow Up (and How to Get it Back)

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"The Captain" by Jason Kotecki. 20 x 20 Oil on canvas. Original is SOLD. Prints and canvas reproductions available here. I present to you a painting I made of a pirate ship sailing in an ocean of milk amidst floating Cap'n Crunch cereal. I thought long and hard about conjuring up some deep meaning on this one. Something that would make you shake your head in amazement and say, “Wow. He is a truly brilliant artist and thinker.” But you know what? There isn’t any deep meaning. The truth is, I was thinking about Cap'n Crunch cereal, which I love, and thought about a tiny pirate ship sailing in a bowl of it, which would be neat. But then I thought, what if the ship was normal-sized and the whole ocean was milk and it had giant pieces of Cap'n Crunch floating in it? That would be weirder, and possibly neater. So that’s what I did: gave myself over to pure whimsy. As we get older, Adultitis takes over and kills our whimsy. We grow increasingly skilled in the art of taking …

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Why You Shouldn’t Accept That Promotion

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What idiot says no to a raise? Chip Gaines, co-star of the hit TV show Fixer Upper, writes this about his dad in the book Capital Gaines: "When I lived at home, he was willing to forego promotions and advancements at work just to have more time to throw a baseball with me in the evenings. He was teaching me the game, but on another level, he was showing me how to be a man and a father. He taught me the value of investing in one’s family above anything else.” We almost always consider promotions and advancements at work to be the best thing for ourselves and our families. And they might very well be. But more impressive titles, bigger paychecks, and better offices are also good for our pride. Sometimes a promotion serves no one but ourself. Look, struggling to make ends meet is never fun. Growing into an opportunity that gives us some financial breathing room and provides our family more options can be a real blessing. But we should never lose sight of the fact that the …

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Why Do Buffalo Roam?

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"Roam" by Jason Kotecki. 30 x 24 Oil on canvas. Original is SOLD. Prints and canvas reproductions available here. Starting at younger and younger ages, kids are expected to begin thinking about what they want to do with their lives. I feel bad for them, because between increasing homework loads and more demanding extra-curricular commitments, they are given less and less free to time to figure out who they are, and what lights them up. No matter how old you are, a little space to roam can make a big difference. After three grueling years producing his show Sam and Friends, Jim Henson was burned out and ready to give up on puppetry. Then he left for a yearlong walkabout in Europe. He took in puppet performances throughout the continent, impressed by how appreciated the art form was outside the United States. “Until then, I hadn’t taken puppetry all that seriously,” Henson said. “It just didn’t seem to be the sort of thing a grown man works at for a living.” But Henson …

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Lessons in Adultitis Fighting from the Revolutionary War

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"War Games" by Jason Kotecki. Digital. Prints and canvas reproductions available here. I was thinking about the American Revolutionary War the other day (because I like keeping up on current events), and a few things struck me. I imagine it would have been easy for the American colonists to look at all the advantages held by the British and wallow in the land of “Must Be Nice”... They have the most powerful navy in the whole world...must be nice. They have way more professionally trained soldiers than we do...must be nice. They have a ton of money to buy food, supplies, and mercenaries for hire...must be nice. They have sweet red road uniforms...must be nice. It’s easy to lament the advantages other people enjoy and languish in envy and disappointment. This only serves to assure defeat. The truth is, everyone has a must be nice (probably several), and we are better served spending our time figuring out what they are and using them to our full advantage. …

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