Smart companies know the advantages of adding a little dash of childlike nostalgia into their business plan. In fact, some companies have constructed entire business models around it. Take Ethel's Chocolate Lounge, for example. Described as a "new place to chocolate and chitchat," these lounges have combined the very childlike loves of great chocolate and fancy tea parties and added a grown-up spin. They're based in Chicago area, but I wouldn't be surprised if they started springing up elsewhere. …
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High-Class Ho-Hos
Some people assume that "escaping adulthood" requires a complete departure from grown-up tastes and sophistication. Hardly. Let's be honest; we may have enjoyed the delicacies produced by our Easy-Bake oven or our Snoopy Sno-Cone machine, but it wasn't like we had free range of Mom's oven or blender. I'm not advocating a return to a barbaric and unrefined lifestyle. I'm just not a big fan of boorish adult pretension. I think it's really cool when people find ways to add a dash of childlike spirit into the ostentatious havens of Adultville. Like gourmet cooking. …
Props to the Box
I have mentioned the National Toy Hall of Fame before. I am happy to report that there are some new inductees. This year's class includes Jack-in-the-Box, Candy Land, and (drum roll please) the cardboard box. …
Laughing More
My sister-in-law Katie does this thing every once in a while where she will demonstrate a bunch of different types of laughs. Unless you are the Grinch with a serious case of Adultitis, it is hard not to laugh along with her. Laughter is contagious, which is why this new trend of 'laughter yoga' is catching on. Have you heard of it? Elina Valkonen shares in a recent article in SixDegrees Magazine that the 2,500 laughter yoga classes worldwide are really helping to improve peoples' health, relationships, and overall mood. …
And Who Are You?
Dad's working late -- again. Mom's picking the baby up at day care and dropping Sissy off at soccer. Junior is in his room playing video games. Who knows when they'll next be all together under the same roof. Spending time with your family. Now that's a novel concept. It didn't used to be, of course. It sounds like it still isn't in Germany. According to Nick Medinger, marketing director of Funagain Games: …
The New Bouncer
It's fun when you spot some childlike playfulness in the most unexpected places. Jason and I spotted this little guy in front of a restaurant in Newport, RI. Looks like R2's taller brother. …
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 …
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?" …
Childlike v. Businesslike
What did YOU have for lunch two years ago today? Adam Seifer could answer that question. He's the CEO of New York City-based Fotolog, a photo-blog web service. He has taken a picture of every meal he's eaten during the past three years, and posted them for all to see. I found out about this from Inc. Magazine, which adds, Most of Seifer's favorite pictures were taken on major life-changing days, like a shot of a sandwich held above his newborn daughter's incubator at the hospital -- his first meal as a father. …