In March of 2015, we set the table for the exchange of wisdom and starting inviting numerous voices to come and help light our path.
Here are some of our guests thus far:
We’ve also prepared a seat just for you.
And, of course, your friends as well.
Come one.
Come all.
What we look for we find.
If you want bad news, there’s plenty of it.
And if you want to experience some good news, you can find that too…if you’ll just look around.
I look and listen a lot and now I plan to start sharing what I’m finding, seeing, and hearing for you to enjoy and share in.
Yes! There is music amidst the noise and it’s good, it’s true, and it’s beautiful.
Here we go! (click the links!)
Logic Says Be Happy to Be You on CBS Sunday Morning // Loved this story!
USC’s long snapper, who is blind talks about his inspiration story to field – ESPN// This is such a good story!
Reading Information Aloud to Yourself Improves Memory – NeuroscienceNews.com // You know your talk to yourself…now it’s ok (and good) to read to yourself.
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs raised their kids tech-free — and it should have been a red flag – BusinessInsider.com // Interesting data.
Moses Sumney performs on NPR’s Tiny Desk Conert Series // Hold onto your soul…Moses is going to make it fly!
We need to profess some truth.
If today is just like last Monday, we’re going to go to sleep tonight frustrated, unengaged, unfulfilled, unsatisfied, and without joy.
And even worse, we might just wake up tomorrow with regret.
If we want a different day, then we need to look differently, take different steps, and create different action.
Have you tried empathy?
Have you accepted the law of process?
Have pursued plans b-z?
Have you owned your responsibility?
Same old same old is on me. It’s on you. It’s on us.
It’s pretty easy to see the current state of our collective and habitual yes’s. We don’t have to look far. Unfortunately, you’re probably even looking at it directly right now….the screen.
Facebook, ‘likes’, tweets, retweets, Netflix, and the NFL…these screens have captured our yes’s.
This collective yes, has caused us to collectively say no to life. By life I mean the depth and width and color and flavor of the human experience. The space where we can hold beauty, walk with mystery, embrace paradox, and pursue unity in-lieu of uniformity.
When we say no to life, we stop the progression towards something better and more beautiful than we can imagine. On the other hand, a yes to life is a yes to resurrection, renewal, communion, diversity, and togetherness – the themes of all great stories we share and remember.
So what happens if we start to collectively say no to such things? Of course quitting cold turkey probably isn’t the fix here. But what if little by little, your no’s offered you more space to say yes.
Could some silence in the morning be the seed sown to reap your music throughout the day?
What if you read the classics instead of scrolling through everyone’s SOS plea via their latest “I’m a victim” rant?
Could a note written to a friend move them more than a casual text sent with emojis?
What if you just started with saying no to Cyber Monday?
We have to say no to say yes.
Regret.
It’s the most excruciating sting in the human experience.
What we didn’t say or convey. What we didn’t do or create. What we kept in our head and hearts instead of handing off to another.
These are the roots of so much that stings in our lives.
So before the clock hits 5:00,
…before you head home,
…before you turn on Jimmy Fallon and fall asleep,
…what will you do to avoid the sting?
…Who will you connect with?
…How will you touch the world, your industry, or your neighbor?
In the end, I’m glad I did > I wish I had.
Ashton.Gustafson 