High School Reunions, Giving Tuesday, & 100 Miles With Cam

NEW WEBSITE

My website’s has the same look for a few years now, so I made a pretty spontaneous decision to remix it.

I figured it was time to make it be less of a free flowing blog (since we have Insta for that, now). Instead it’s part portfolio to show the sort of work I do, and part deep dive into my soul.

HIGH SCHOOL REUNIONS

Everyone knows the high school reunion episode of any show is a good one. Would anyone show up trying to revive decade old drama? Would any dormant crushes awaken as our twenties disappear?

If so, it would’ve gone right over my head. I didn’t even go to this school! At this point, I have far more friends in Deanna’s graduating class than my own. Both our ten year reunions were happening at the same time, so I decided to be a Golden Hawk.

A few observations:

With very few exceptions, the pop music of the era was trash. Nostalgic trash I still know all the lyrics to and can jam along with in an instant, but trash nonetheless.

The shows that make it seem like your reunion will happen in your old high school gym, decorated with school color streamers and stuff like it was homecoming for adults? Those are false. At least they were for me. You’ll get a brewery or club that offers a good price and is hip enough for late bloomers and young parents alike.

Ten years go by fast and slow all at the same time. Part of me has such a distinct memory of moving into my dorm, meeting my new college friends, that it feels like that just happened. But when I think of all the places the past ten years have taken me... that feels like my entire life fits into that window.

Be wise with time. Soon we’ll be celebrating the ten year anniversary of me writing this. (There won’t actually be a party.)

GIVING TUESDAY 2018

I legitimately LOVE that #GivingTuesday is a thing. Over the past few months, I’ve had a blast working on @plantwpurpose’s campaign for this year’s event.

Rampant consumerism can be quite destructive, so giving in a way that simultaneously helps people and the environment is such a good move. This year, @plantwpurpose is aiming to help 250 families overcome poverty by healing their land.

Poverty and environmental problems can seem like such large issues that are out of our hands. I’ve had the treat of meeting a few Haitian families this year who have turned barren hillsides into mini-forests, all while growing more food to eat and sell.

I believe that a little bit of help goes a really long way when you have locals in leadership, good soil, and a generosity of spirit.

100 MILES WITH CAM

Congrats to my buddy @cam8schmidt for completing his quest of a 100 mike run earlier this week, and on your birthday week to boot!

I love cheering for friends who pursue the big goals they’ve got in them. Glad I got to join for a single percent of it.

ITALIAN CRAVINGS

Current craving: Pici. The signature dish of Siena. We had so many plates (and fancy halved wine bottles full of this stuff the last time I was in Italy)

Like most good things in Italian cuisine, the noodles are extremely simple but extremely well executed. Most people make it with just flour, water, and egg- and many don’t even include the egg.

The most common versions of pici are cacio e pepe and ragu. The meat will often be wild game- commonly boar or rabbit.

Unfortunately this item is really tough to find in restaurants outside of Tuscany. If you do luck out and find it in an Italian restaurant, go for it. You’ve struck gold.

SURPRISED BY HOPE & THE WAR OF ART

I’ve fallen really far behind on my reading goals this year. Nonetheless, here are some recent reads:

SURPRISED BY HOPE

“What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether. They are part of what we may call building for God’s kingdom.” 

–N.T. Wright

Book No. 21 of 2018

I forgot how rich and dense N.T. Wright’s writing can be so it took me a good while to get through this, but I’m glad I did.

Many mentors I’ve had passed on helpful wisdom to me that came from this book. It’s amazing it took me as long to start reading it as it did. The big idea it instilled in me is that my faith isn’t an escapist one, where this world is disposable and Heaven is all that matters. Instead, the great hope for the future is one where the current, created world is revived and transformed.

The ideas in the book resonated with me greatly. The one thing I wish was a little different was that I wish it was a little more accessible. The ideas in it are just that important.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THE WAR OF ART

“The opposite of love isn't hate; it's indifference” 

–Stephen Pressfield

Book No. 22 of 2018

So many creatives I look up to really, really admire this book. I see it quoted all the time. And based on those quotes, I thought it was going to be a really good book. But then I read it, and it might as well have been a collection of quotes. The chapters, most of which are just a couple paragraphs long, start to make me think the book would’ve been better as a series of tweets.

I also didn’t find a whole lot of substance in the book. Just pump-up pages telling you to push through the resistance, rewritten a bunch of different ways. I also had problems with one chapter that seemed to be a bit dismissive of mental health.

That said, the book did have a bunch of good quotes to pull from.

⭐️⭐️

FOCUS/EXPAND

There are those times when the best thing to do is to expand your frontiers, try out new things, and discover. These moments come when you’re trying to figure yourself out, or when the old way of doing things won’t work anymore.

Then there are other times when you need to focus on one thing, refine one skill, and to persist down the same path. These happen when you’re trying to establish something, get really good at something, build something or invite more people to join.

My theory is that people go back and forth between these two realms every few years. Focus and expansion. Think of Donald Glover trying to establish himself as a comedian in 2008 (focus) versus swapping out rapper, singer, writer, actor, and Simba hats in 2018. (Expansion.) My other theory is that most people are much more comfortable with one than the other.

In my professional, personal, and creative life, I know I’m supposed to focus on core priorities right now. That takes me out of my comfort zone. Saying yes to one thing often feels like saying no to everything else, and I like having a diverse set of interests and pursuits. But the way to get to that Childish Gambimo sweet spot is to do so one thing at a time.

Anyone else ever think about this stuff?