Yesterday, August 8th, was Escape Adulthood Day. You won’t find it on any calendar, unless it’s a Celebrate Everything calendar (the 2027 edition is coming soon!) We invented it because the idea that you can’t make up your own holidays is a rule that doesn’t exist. It coincides with the launch of our website and the publication of the first Kim & Jason comic strip.
Despite our business evolving in many ways over the years, the paper airplane remains our symbol.
I can’t think of anything more appropriate.
From watching birds to the development of the airplane to the exploration of outer space, flight has always been a source of wonder for mankind, and the paper airplane embodies it.
Imagine a squadron of paper airplanes encircling a classroom or cubicle farm, representing an escape from the tyranny of Adultitis, especially if the paper is a test, homework, or a bank statement. It becomes a small rebellion against taking oneself too seriously.
Although seemingly silly, rudimentary, and unimportant, a paper airplane represents powerful truths. In many ways, the paper airplane is the ultimate reminder.
The paper airplane reminds us that with a little imagination, we can rise above our circumstances, challenges, and limitations.
The paper airplane reminds us that if we don’t like how things are, we have the power to change them.
The paper airplane reminds us that even basic, boring, and unremarkable things can be transformed into something interesting and fun.
The paper airplane reminds us that although we might want to crumple up and throw away the things that bring us pain, the more rebellious act is not destruction but turning them into something uplifting.
Then there’s this peculiar quality about paper airplanes.
Even children can make one, and they are more inclined to do so than any grown-up. But adults have the ability and skill to optimize them to become well-engineered flying machines. The paper airplane reminds us that a successful life requires both a childlike spirit AND the knowledge and maturity of adulthood.
The paper airplane represents freedom, reminding us that we can’t control life’s winds, and that the truest freedom comes when we surrender to the mighty winds of the Holy Spirit.
The whimsical, unpredictable flight path of a paper airplane adds a magical spark of serendipity to life.
At its core, the paper airplane reminds us that we can fashion what we have — our circumstances, resources, talents — into something better.
And we don’t need anything we don’t already have.
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