I have an odd experiment I'd love to try someday. I thought of it during a family visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, after going through a number of exhibits in a row in which the animals were either hidden or off exhibit. (It's hard to tell if the jaguar is sleeping in a corner out of view or at the vet for a check-up.) After a few minutes of fruitless searching, we just shrug our shoulders and head to the next one. So I thought it would be interesting to remove all the animals from every exhibit at a particular zoo. How long would it take for the average visitor to realize that …
Maintain Perspective
Shiny Objects and Our Search for Meaning
They don't make Super Bowl rings like they used to. A recent speaking engagement in Ohio provided me the opportunity to take my son Ben along for a side trip to Canton, home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One of the standout displays was its collection of Super Bowl rings. You can see and compare every ring, from the first commemorating the Green Bay Packers' victory in Super Bowl I, to the one awarded to the LA Rams for winning Super Bowl LVI. The recent versions look less like rings and more like diamond-encrusted paperweights. The Super Bowl LVI ring is shaped like …
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Why “Ugly or Beautiful?” is a Trick Question
One day Kim wrote a social media post about how ugly our backyard is after having been ravaged by a cataclysmic storm. The harsh, violent, apocalyptic hellscape is heartbreaking. And very, very ugly. A well-intentioned commenter felt the need to correct her, "No, it's beautiful." Of course, the commenter is right. It is beautiful, in many real and metaphorical ways. And the photos Kim has taken of the carnage have captured some of that beauty. But you know what? It’s also ugly. Especially in comparison to what it was before. It can be both. It is both. And that's ok. As …
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Lessons From My Older Self
I wanted to share an update with you about what happened in the middle of our season finale 99th episode of Escape Adulthood LIVE. Kim and I had a lot of fun dressing up as 99-year-olds. There was much shenanigating (the first five minutes were worth the price of admission!). Near the end of our "Let's Draw" segment, a severe storm knocked out our power, abruptly cutting the show short. As it turned out, the storm produced a 100-plus mile per hour straight-line wind, which from what I understand is like a tornado but instead of rotating, the wind comes in one direction. Kim ran upstairs to …
The Miracle in Your Mailbox
A stamp is a miracle. For just fifty-eight cents, someone will come to your house to collect a letter you've written and hand-deliver it to the house of someone else anywhere in the country.Heck, back in the old days, you had to be royalty with great wealth and servants at your beck and call if you wanted a personal message delivered to someone in your kingdom.Even now, if you lived in Miami, how much time, money, and effort would it take you to hand-deliver a birthday card to a friend in Seattle? Depending on whether you took a plane or car, and if you had any overnight stays involved, it …
Rest at the Lookouts & Savor the Victories
As the final in a series of reflections on the lessons learned from my family's hike up the Lanikai Pillbox trail, this might be the one I needed the most. When we began the hike, the summit was the agreed-upon destination. Anything less would have been a disappointment. We wanted to see the best view.But it's been said that life is the journey, not the destination, and for good reason. There are a lot of cool things to see on the way, and if you keep your head down, you're liable to miss them. Take the pandemic as an example. We haven't yet reached the destination, but perhaps you …
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COVID Math and Your Mission in Life
Ready for a fun fact about COVID-19 (you know, the virus you've been inundated with information – and misinformation – about for an entire year now that's wreaked havoc on a global scale)? It has been recently calculated that all of the virus circulating in the world right now could easily fit inside a single Coca-Cola can. Yep, British mathematician Kit Yates figured out there are around two quintillion – that's two billion billion – of the virus particles in the world at any one time. Even calculating the fact that the spherical shape and spiky proteins would leave gaps when stacked …
Working All Things for Good
My wife took the beautiful photo that inspired this painting.There was something about this dandelion that captivated me. He’s reaching the end of the line. He is weary, but remains proud and steadfast. Some called him a weed, disrupting the status quo and infecting the neighborhood. But he knows the truth. He has run his race, and is now ready to give it all away, to multiply himself by scattering the seeds in order to bring forth new life. And in the midst of his sacrifice, with the sun setting on his last day, light shines through as a symbol of the grace within. I call this piece “Good …
Dawn Is Coming
It is always dawn somewhere in the world. That fascinates me. When someone is in the middle of the blackest night, someone half a world away is experiencing the joy of a new day. That’s how life is: seasons of light, seasons of dark.I can hardly believe that just a little over a year ago, my family was on Lanikai Beach, watching the sun rise over these two small islands called Na Mokulua, aka the Mokes. I was booked to speak in Honolulu and this trip seems like an even greater blessing considering how this year has unfolded.Some days Kim got up to watch the sunrise while I stayed back as the …
Proof of Life
Every so often in my life, things are going along swimmingly. I know where I’m going, the path is clear, progress is being made. Everything makes sense and the future is bright. I like when life is like that.But then, seemingly overnight, everything goes dry. Sand has obscured my path, and I feel like I’m in a barren wasteland, uncertain of which direction to head. I wonder if all the progress and clarity I’d experienced was merely a mirage, because suddenly all signs of life are absent. I am stranded in the desert and all hope is drying up. Perhaps you’ve felt this way recently. Maybe …
