One of Jason's '8 Secrets' is to live passionately. Kids just do this. They do not need to be told to 'look alive.' So many times, as adults, we walk around kind of numb to life. A fellow blogger reminded me of this in a recent post. …
Live Passionately
Pie Anyone?
I had a very miserable piece of pie the other day. You may have heard of the flavor: humble pie. Yes, I was looking through pictures of our Seattle trip with some friends when I realized that I, too, am struggling with a case of Adultitis. Admittance is the first step, right? The picture I shared a few blogs ago with me holding the large fish from the Pike Place Fish Market struck a chord with me. I’ve seen that face before. Who does that remind me of? It's someone very familiar. Then it hit me. …
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 …
Feeling Crabby
Got back from Seattle yesterday. A full day of speaking engagements on Sunday wore me out, but they went really well. I'd like to welcome all of the new Kim & Jason readers in the Pacific Northwest...thanks for the warm reception! I'm glad to be home for a sense of "normalcy" before Kim and I are off to Rhode Island and Boston in a few weeks, but I can't wait to go back to Seattle for another visit. Great city, great people. It reminds me of Madison on steroids. …
Smelly Hands
As some of you know from Jason's blog, we are currently in Seattle, WA. Jason is putting on four speaking programs here in the Emerald City. One of the things I was looking forward to the most about visiting Seattle was getting the chance to see the fish being thrown at Pike Place Market. Who would’ve known that by the time it was all said and done, I would be holding one of those famous fish. The smelly hands that followed the experience were well worth it. Speaking of smells, Jason and I commented on the amazing mix that filled the air at the market. There were fresh flowers, a plethora of …
Real Sophistication
By whose standards do we measure true sophistication? Today I 'caught' a man, about mid-40's, in a suit and tie sneaking some notes on a hotel lobby piano. He had a childlike smile on his face until he noticed Jason and I in his peripheral vision and then he quickly left. The other day I saw a guy driving a convertible at 6:15 am wearing a Santa hat. A few weeks ago I saw a 'Harley guy' decked out in leather from head-to-toe, with a stuffed bear strapped to the back of his motorcycle. “The most sophisticated people I know- inside they’re all children. We never really lose a certain …
Suprise Your Brain
Maybe you're a businessperson trying to figure out how to appeal to a younger demographic. Maybe you're a teacher wondering how to connect more with students. Maybe you wish you could be more like those people you know who always seem to be enjoying life enthusiastically. Or maybe you woke up this morning and just felt, well...older. In her blog Creating Passionate Users, Kathy Sierra poses the question: "Is there something you loved to do when you were younger but that you stopped doing? Did you stop doing it because you truly outgrew it... or because you got older?" …
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: …