The Blog

"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 the other day that although "net-zero" may be an ideal objective for our environment, it’s a terrible goal for people.Quite simply, a net-zero life is a life that didn’t matter. It’s a heavy question, but is the world better or worse off because you were here? Granted, the world would have been better off if Jack the Ripper had lived a net-zero life. Special cases aside, it’s my hope that …

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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. Williams, and I just love it.Unless you’re a monk living in a yurt in Tibet, I think we’d all agree that our plates are too full. Not our dinner plates, but the plates piled high with all of the tasks, obligations, and errands that keep us busy.Long gone are the days of sitting on a rocking chair on your front porch shelling peas for supper. Who has time for that? Nowadays we run around like …

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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 reminded of a list I made a few years ago, one that’s more important to me than my to-do list: 10 Things I’ll Miss When My Kids Grow Up. Before I had children, I dreamed of all the fun things we’d do together. But when you’re in the harried, exhausting thick of it, it’s not hard to let those aspirations slide as you slip into survival mode. And as a fairly ambitious entrepreneur and business owner, it’s …

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