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 that both Kim and Lucy had never heard someone yodel before and this needed to change! So, she called up Ruby and away they all went to her house for a spontaneous visit. Not only did Ruby welcome the three of them with open arms, she enthusiastically played a song for them on her guitar (“Hey Good Lookin’”) before yodeling beautifully in her pajamas...at 9:30 PM! Yep, Kim knew immediately …

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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 something. The kitchen often serves as the primary gathering place in a home. From time to time, our kitchen hosts spontaneous dance parties. If a favorite song comes on, we crank the volume, and our family of five casts our cares to the wind and shakes our booties to the music. Mind you, these dance parties are mostly devoid of any talent (although my son Ben has some sweet moves), but they are …

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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 with a number of other epic failures in my career, add up to bolster the popular argument that I should minimize the chance of pain and defeat by keeping my expectations low. This strategy of operating with low expectations is employed by many. The thinking goes that if you don’t get your hopes up about something, then you won’t be as disappointed if it doesn't work out. And if it turns out …

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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 anticipation, Golden Tickets in hand. Attendees were treated to some of the most delicious gourmet cotton candy, compliments of Jo and her son from Sugarsmith. Once the door opens, the wild rumpus begins, and guests are treated to a goodie bag filled with fun stuff for fighting Adultitis. Two of Madison's best food carts were on hand to serve lunch. And it just …

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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 dreamed about hosting an in-person conference for Adultitis Fighters. We had experience organizing events and attending retreats. What we didn’t have was the certainty that anyone would come to ours. We doubted whether or not we’d even get one person to sign up. Long story short, we did. Every single Summit has sold out so far. And every one has been special in its own way. At the beginning, I …

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