On September 25th I blogged about the best reality show on TV, Three Wishes. This show consistently served up large doses of hope and joy every Friday night for the last three months. I am angry and saddened by the news that NBC has canceled the show. Tonight is the last episode. …
Dream Big
Silly Ideas
Maria pointed me to a post on the Kat's Paws blog about an article that ran in The Boston Globe. It's about a 45-year-old guy named Peter Lewis who built a treehouse in his backyard. A glorious, wonderful, 250 square foot, two-story treehouse featuring a wood stove and retractable staircase "to keep the girls out." Lewis, a writer, uses the getaway as a place to get some work done. And sneak in a few naps. As I travel around the country encouraging people to escape adulthood, I am always mindful of the people with suspicious looks. The ones who think that "escaping adulthood" is marked by …
Scrapbook Away Adultitis
Attention scrapbooking aficionados! Michelle Thompson at Scrapability has taken the 8 Secrets from Childhood from my ChangeThis manifesto (free download) and applied them to the art of scrapbooking. She correctly (and wittily) states, "The link into any seri-arse scrapper’s identity -- the ability, just for a bit, to escape adulthood, remember your childhood and simply 'to play'." I think scrapbooking is indeed a great way to tap into that childlike creative spirit in a "grown-up" way. Definitely more productive than sitting in front of the boob tube. Here's Michelle's scrapbooking slant …
Wonder Full
I dug up this quote my brother sent me a long time ago. It is from the television show The Wonder Years, which depicted a gentle, nostalgic look at Baby Boom youth and adolescence. Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers; the next day you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. …
Dreaming is a Responsibility
This post relates to our most recent podcast about immunizing your kids from Adultitis. I link to a Daily Guideposts article written by Mary Engelbreit. Mary is an artist whose warm and charming style is the star of an extremely popular stationery line. In the article, she shares stories about her upbringing, and the ups and downs of "making it" as an artist. One thing that stuck out to me was the variety of advice she received from the "grown-ups" in her life. Her high school guidance counselor, after hearing that Mary wanted to illustrate children's books, offered this advice: “You can’t …
I Wish I May, I Wish I Might
What would you do if Amy Grant or anyone, for that matter, showed up in your town and offered to fulfill your one special wish? If you didn’t get a chance to see the first episode of the new show, 'Three Wishes' I strongly urge you to tune in on Friday night. (8 pm Central time, NBC) It’s a show about hope. Amy and her crew roll into a new town every week and grant the wishes of three people. NBC literally sets up a tent in the middle of town and folks line up to tell their wishes, knowing three will be selected. …
Erase Your Way of Thinking
A reader pointed me to a column by D.L Stewart of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Mr. Stewart eloquently describes the nostalgic details of the first days of school: Like Christmas Eve and the night before milestone birthdays, the first school day after summer vacation was a special time. It may have been the end of freedom, but it also was the renewal of hope. The promise that this school year would be different from all the ones that came before it. A fresh start. On the first day after vacation, clothes were unwrinkled and unstained. School bags were filled with fresh supplies: …
The Best Gift Ever
Jason and I are 'wish granters' for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of WI. This is such an unbelievable volunteer opportunity. We get to work directly with wish families to help them through the wish process. By definition this job means we get to talk with the wish child about his/her one special wish, sometimes brainstorming wish ideas with the family and we help them fill out the necessary paperwork. In addition, the job allows us the opportunity to humbly walk into someone's life at a particularly dark time and add a small bit of light and hope. This job has given Jason and I a lot to think …
Letting Kids Be Kids
I'm in a bit of a pickle. A few months ago, I stumbled across a story about a new corporate-sponsored theme park (aren't they all?) in Florida. I've refrained from blogging about it because I'm not sure what I think about it. Here are the details: Wannado City, as it is called, offers 3- to 13-year-olds a "taste of the grown-up world" by offering them the opportunity to try out more than 100 professions. For instance, a child could pilot a Spirit Airlines jet, write an article as a Miami Herald reporter, bottle Coca-Cola, or soar to great heights in flight simulators from Spirit Airlines. …
Coming Out of the Closet
I can only smile when I think about the admission made by Maria Seriego (see my previous post) and this recent comment made on this blog by Sameer Borate: Just read your Manifesto today. I’ve been suffering from Adultitis for the past 6 years (I’am 32 now). The symptoms had already started when I was 25. The surprising thing is that I knew that I was slowly morphing into some stupid, dumb adult but was unable to do nothing. …