Escape Adulthood

Live with Less Stress & More Fun

Archives for August 2018

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Ruby Faye Smith, August 2018 Adultitis Fighter of the Month

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. Kim and our daughter Lucy had a really neat experience meeting Ruby for the first time. It was on a week night at around 9 pm. A mutual friend (Cheri Neal - a recent Adultitis Fighter of the month) was shocked to learn …

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Is Kitchen Dancing a Good Idea?

"In This Kitchen We Dance" by Jason Kotecki. 20 x 20 Oil on canvas. Original is SOLD. Prints and canvas reproductions available here. I painted this for my wife's 40th birthday. It's one of her favorite quotes, and it perfectly captures the spirit that fills our kitchen. As kids, we danced all the time. We danced when we were excited. We danced when we were happy. We even danced when we were bored. Why did we ever stop? Maybe we started worrying about looking foolish. Maybe we’ve discovered that the world isn’t as carefree as thought it was. Maybe we are afraid of pulling …

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Why Pessimism is a Lousy Strategy

"Half Full" by Jason Kotecki. 12 x 12 Oil on canvas. Original is SOLD. Prints and canvas reproductions available here. I like to think of myself as an optimistic person. After all, I am a lifelong Cubs fan who always believed in the hope-filled power of next year. Then again, when they lose three games in a row these days, feeling certain that they’ll never win another game again seems pretty pessimistic. The truth is, I’m probably a little bit of both. The optimistic side of me believed that Penguins Can’t Fly would be a New York Times best seller. It wasn’t. This defeat, along …

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2018 Escape Adulthood Summit Recap

The theme for the sixth Escape Adulthood Summit was "Shine On." It's always good to be reminded that even on the darkest days, the sun isn't gone, it's just hidden. This Summit was a call to look for the light during our seasons of darkness, and to bring light to others, by sharing our talents and kindness. For the third consecutive year, it was held at The Barn at Harvest Moon Pond, which is a beautiful spot in the middle of Nowhere, Wisconsin, miles away from the Adultitis-ridden pace of everyday life. As always, the line of people waiting to enter buzzed with …

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The Consequences of Your Courage

We just wrapped up Escape Adulthood Summit #6. I’m definitely tired, but also overflowing with joy from being around such awesome people that renew my hope in humanity. As Kim and I pulled away from the barn in the big yellow rental truck, she said, “Even if we never get to do another one, no regrets." She was referring to a discussion we had back in 2011, on a chilly night in a cozy cabin in Alaska. We talked about regrets that night, and asked, "If we only had one more year together, is there anything we’d regret?” The only thing that came up was the “live event.” For years, we …

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