Lifestyle Design

"Shade Tree" by Jason Kotecki. Acrylic on watercolor paper Can something be good for the environment, but really bad for people?Yep.In discussions about how to best care for our planet, you’ll often hear about the importance of carbon neutrality, which refers to having net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. Net-zero is the result when there’s neither a surplus nor a deficit of something specified when gains and losses are added together. It is often used to describe buildings that produce enough energy (as through solar panels or passive heating) to offset any energy consumed.It occurred to me …

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"Ice Cream of Liberty" by Jason Kotecki.Watercolor and colored pencil on paper. My family loves teasing me about how, when I was a wee lad, I’d cry over the simplest decisions. Being forced to choose between a vanilla or chocolate ice cream cone caused a full-on existential crisis.I like to think I’ve made progress in this area over the past forty years, but some decisions are still hard.Although the choice of ice cream flavor doesn’t have as much gravity for me as it once did, the fact remains: The only hard choice is the choice between two good things. That observation comes from Roy H. …

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For better or for worse, my to-do list does a bang-up job of keeping me busy. I add to it, celebrate when tasks get crossed off, and stress over the ones that linger too long. It can often feel like I am the servant of my to-do list.Adding a layer of regret prevention has helped it to serve me.Recently we were explaining the concept of “decades” to our kids and how we were starting a whole new one. It occurred to me and Kim that when this one is over, we’ll have two teenagers and Lucy will likely be moved out. Yikes.  Meanwhile, I'm still over here clinging to the 1980s and 90s.I was …

[Read more...] about Regret Prevention 101

The best parts of life aren’t always planned.But they can happen on purpose. I recently spoke at a nursing conference in Honolulu. My family was put up in a room with a breathtaking view in a huge Hilton resort on Waikiki Beach. It had five pools, twenty restaurants, oodles of neat shops, and all kinds of organized activities you could sign up for. For us, it was…meh. It was a lovely property, but Kim and I have come to learn that massive hotels, cruises, and all-inclusive resorts are not our thing. Places that cater to tourists are often missing the authentic sense of culture that come …

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"Shelter" by Jason Kotecki. Digital art. All of our technological advancements are supposed to give us more time. Instead, we fall for the temptation of trying to pack more tasks into the time we’ve saved. Last month I was booked to speak in Hawaii. I was able to take Kim and the kids along, and the week before the engagement, we played in the sun and surf of Lanikai Beach. I made a special point – a very concerted effort, indeed – to refrain from checking email, surf the internet, or scan my social media feeds. Somehow, the world continued to rotate on its 23-degree axis. The sun …

[Read more...] about Are You Bad or Just Busy?

There is a sign at the General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee that I love very much.  It’s visible right after you go through security and are collecting your shoes, belt, wallet, phone, keys, rubber duckie, ping pong paddle, and other essentials. It simply says, “Recombobulation Area.” The fact that it’s printed in a plain, bold, official-looking font makes me love it all the more. (Comic sans would just ruin it.) Now, “recombobulation” is not technically a word, but what else do you call it when you’re trying to regroup yourself after feeling discombobulated thanks to …

[Read more...] about Does Your Life Have a Recombobulation Area?