Escape Adulthood

Jason

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31 Things to Do with Extra Copies of The Penguin Who Flew

The Penguin Who Flew is an inspiring book about a persistent little penguin. It's the kind of book that brings light to a world that seems darker than ever. And it offers up encouragement that we all need to hear, no matter how many birthdays we've celebrated. Maybe you have an extra copy (or four) on hand. Or maybe you're a Dream Maker like Marty's grandma and want to encourage as many people as possible. Either way, here's a list of 31 things you can do with extra copies of "The Penguin Who Flew." …

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Thou Shalt Wait to Get Started

[ In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the release of Penguins Can’t Fly this month, this is the third in a series of lessons we can learn from some historical rulebreakers, Wilbur and Orville Wright. ] What are you waiting for? It seems we're always waiting for something before we can begin. We are waiting until we get the degree. We are waiting until the kids leave the nest or until we retire. We are waiting until we know all the steps. We are waiting until we finalize the plan. We are waiting until we feel ready. We are waiting until we feel …

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The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

This past week was...not great. It was already slated to be a busy week during a very busy month. Then, in 72 hours, we went from a simple wellness visit to the emergency room to a training session at Milwaukee Children's Hospital to learn how to check blood sugar and inject insulin into our kid. We interrupt your regularly scheduled life to bring you this important message: your son has Type 1 Diabetes. Just like that, speaking gigs were postponed, daily planners were whitewashed with white-out, and Ben's life changed forever. He's handling it well with a great attitude. I'm so …

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Thou Shalt Go Big or Go Home

[ In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the release of Penguins Can’t Fly this month, this is the second in a series of lessons we can learn from some historical rulebreakers, Wilbur and Orville Wright. ] Go big or go home. It's lionized as the recipe for success; to quit your job, cash in your life savings, and bet the farm. It's also terrible advice. Our movies, history books, and culture are filled with adventurous daredevils who risked it all and overcame long odds. They make for exciting stories that can be told in under two hours, but they are the …

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Thou Shalt Always Trust the Experts

[ In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the release of Penguins Can't Fly this month, this is the first in a series of lessons we can learn from some historical rulebreakers, Wilbur and Orville Wright. ] Is it possible that one lesson we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is to be wary of experts? I doubt it; it's a lesson humans seemed doomed to repeat. If the Wright Brothers had listened to experts over a century ago, they wouldn't have made history. It's not that experts are always wrong. It's just that they're not always right. Lord William Thomson Kelvin, …

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Milkshake Moments

I would like to tell you the story of the greatest milkshake ever made. Although it happened in Wisconsin, the land of dairy cows, it could have been anywhere and it could have been concocted by anyone. It was made in January, a month not particularly ideal for milkshakes, at least in Wisconsin. The hourglass of my father-in-law's life was down to its last grains of sand. Gary suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis since being diagnosed as his marriage was just getting started, And he suffered heroically. I don't think there was a day he wasn't in pain, although most days, you …

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I Got Another Rock

I recently spent time tracing the footsteps of Orville and Wilbur Wright. I had two speaking engagements in North Carolina, less than a week apart. Rather than fly back and forth, Kim and I decided to have me stay down there. She found me a cool place on the Outer Banks, near Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers had their historic first flight. I used the time to think, pray, and make progress on my first-ever children's book about, of all things, a penguin with a dream of flying. It felt perfect, and you can be sure I will be sharing more about my experience in the weeks and months to …

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The Trauma of Editing | “The Penguin Who Flew” Diary #9

The editing process is crucial for making a project as good as it can be. But that doesn’t mean it’s fun or easy. What do you do when it takes the wind out of your sails? This is part of a video diary to take you behind the scenes of the making of "The Penguin Who Flew" by artist, author, and speaker Jason Kotecki.  🐧Visit https://escapeadulthood.com/fly to learn more! #ThePenguinWhoFlew …

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You Can Just Do Things

Brdy is a mountain range located in the Czech Republic that's desperately in need of a vowel. It also contained an area that desperately needed to be restored to its original state as a natural wetland after it had been drained years ago to accommodate a military base. A revitalization project was drafted by environmentalists and funding was secured, but it was mired in red tape, land ownership disputes, and building permit delays. Then, practically overnight, a local beaver colony built the necessary dams in the perfect location without any project documentation and for …

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Childhood Leaves Clues

What's she up to today? We've homeschooled our kids since day one. Our style is closer to "unschooling" than the "schooling at home" version that was predominant during the pandemic. As such there is no set curriculum, no set times, and no set workspaces. I love seeing where my youngest daughter Ginny sets up shop for the day and what fruit will come from her labor. Sometimes it's in the maker space downstairs with the band saw from Grandpa. Sometimes it's on the couch in our library. And more times than not, it's at the kitchen table, surrounded by scissors and markers and her trusty …

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