Sometimes a smell or a moment triggers a distant, intangible memory (is it?) that gives me a jolt of joy.
Product & Startup Builder
Fences: Movie Recommendation
A stunningly acted piece about the limits of love, loyalty, loss, fathers, mothers, sons, men and women
Trusting Your Gut?
That feeling you get when everyone warns you about someone's character and contributions (or lack-thereof) and you decide to go out on a limb and give them a chance anyway (thinking maybe they just needed the right environment to thrive) but in the end you are wrong and it bites you in the ass.
Sometimes going with your gut and ignoring everyone makes you look like a genius. Sometimes it makes you look like a fool.
EllenTV: A Wonderful Story
This is a wonderful story that tugs at the heartstrings. The problem is, though, that this kind of generosity shouldn't be so rare that it invokes tears and cheers on a television show for just a limited group of kids. Government is how we scale compassion and civilization. While I'm happy for these kids, I'm heartbroken for the millions of others left out in the cold by the American system. That's what social programs are for.
Immersing Yourself
Every once in a while I find myself either deliberately or accidentally immersed in something. Right now it's Aaron Sorkin (again). By night I watch his lessons on Masterclass and on my morning walk I'm listening to the West Wing podcast. There are many worse things to be immersed in.
Extraordinary People In Ordinary Circumstances
"Most stories are about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. I like to write about extraordinary people in ordinary circumstances" Aaron Sorkin about The American President and The West Wing
Painting (everyone) With The Same Brush
Taking the worst of a group, and applying it to the rest, is at the root cause of many issues in our society today.
We can say it's "their" culture that encourages it, and in some cases that might be true. But what is also likely true, is that in any sufficiently large group of people, there will be crazy, disgusting, violent or abhorrent behavior.
No group can be fully protected from this. Every race, culture and company has this.
The solution is not pretending that we can eliminate all exigent circumstances, but rather designing and consistently applying fair, rapid and effective corrective measures when they occur.
- Inspired by a conversation with Jona, Trump and countless other examples of bad generalizations going on right now.
Joy is . . .
Joy is getting home early on a rainy Friday evening for a long weekend.
Apocalyptic Worldview
This is the apocalyptic worldview behind the trump administration. "Alt-right" is the same as "wrong". I wish I could pin this to the top of my feed. It's probably the most fundamental and important video there is for this Administration. The rest is just symptoms and noise distracting from this core philosophy.
Wishful Thinking
There's the things you want to be true, and then there's the actual truth.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Happy Valentine's Day to you all.
To those of you in love; cherish it. Lean into it. Recognize that it's a choice you make every day. A choice that should help you evolve, grow and experience the world in ways that aren't possible alone.
For those of you searching; relish it. You have infinite possibilities. Recognize the abundant love you have from your friends and family. You will one day find the next soul to elevate your experience and, if only just for a while, give you a taste of immortality.
Monday Morning Thought
Monday morning thought:
Whenever I start blaming other people for things, if I take a little time to reflect, I generally realize how I'm at least partly responsible, reacting to something I dislike in myself or showing a lack of empathy.
This morning I was lamenting how people tend to get the outcomes they deserve either through inattention or poor choices. This was a disturbing thought because it's actually a fundamentally conservative idea. Although unrelated to the specific subject I was thinking of, by logical extension, It suggests that poor people, for example, are that way because of bad choices or some kind of cultural defect rather than a lack of opportunity and education.
In my case I was thinking about this because I was upset at some of the choices people around me were making.
After ruminating on it for a while I've come to realize that I'm making some of those same choices in my own life. I was able to understand how my own behavior, seen from the outside, might actually appear as the same frustrating and inexplicable "poor" decisions to others.
Let he without sin cast the first stone... or some such metaphor.
CNN: Fareed Zakaria & Steve Bannon
Fareed is one of the most thoughtful voices on CNN. This piece is great. He actually takes a moment to thoughtfully look into and explain Steve Bannon.
We Need To Talk: Anxiety
Very grateful that my Anxiety is a tiny fraction of this. We need to talk about it more though.
(Link to article: “Anxiety Is An Invalid Excuse.”)
Knowledge is Free
Just a reminder that knowledge is free and opportunity is abundant. Especially if you are amongst the lucky ones who can afford internet and have the cognitive capability to read and comprehend this post.
Here are 250 Ivy League courses you can take online right now for free
Let Your Legacy Inspire Others
Feels. Sometimes the legacy we build is not the things we make but the people we affect
Trump: Amateur Hour
Trump Administration: Amateur hour
US institutions: Some of the strongest and best in the world - despite being put to the test in every way in the last 12+ months. Very relieved to see them kicking into action.
BTW for those who keep saying "stop protesting, he's the president now": The citizens of a democracy - and their right to assemble and voice their opposition - are themselves the most important institution of all. Voting every 4 years is not your only duty in a democracy. It's about showing up each and every day.
Trump (Dis)Approval Ratings
Despite the way CNN is framing this, these numbers are actually horrific. For example, the chart they show has an X axis that starts at 40 (massively exaggerating the relative percentage of his unpopularity).
The story is not that Donald Trump has a historically low approval rating. The story is that almost half of America is perfectly fine with the job he's doing.
Trump Supporters: I Am Taking You Literally
If you voted for the President because you believe in fiscal conservatism, you should be furious that your tax dollars are going to build a wall that will have zero impact on the effects of immigration.
If you hate the left because of how "Political Correctness" censors free speech, you need to be asking yourself if you're okay with the President censoring communications from MULTIPLE government organizations like the National Park Service, the EPA and more.
If you voted because you hated Secretary Clinton's email server, I expect you to be calling your representatives to ask why Steve Bannon and others continue to use their unsecured personal emails and why your president is still using an unsecured Android device.
If you believe that fertilized eggs are people but refugee children are not, you need to stop acting like your concerns are religious.
If you voted because you believed they would better protect you against terrorists, you need to ask yourself why it's okay that your president just took away $130 million in anti-terror funds from New York with his punishment of Sanctuary Cities.
If you are angry that your insurance is too expensive, you should ask why your senators are repealing ACA without a replacement, an action that will leave 20 million people without insurance at all.
If you believe the Clinton Initiative provided unequal treatment to countries that supported their foundation, you should be livid that your president has moved to block visas from Muslim countries like Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, but not places where he has business ties like Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
This is an opportunity to prove that you voted for the reasons you told me you did. I am taking you seriously, I am taking you literally.
(Copy and Paste on your page)
No Evidence of 3 Dimensional Thinking
Instead of helping to lift American workers out of poverty of mind, spirit, healthcare and training - he's slashing and burning all sources of "competition".
As Spock would say in Wrath of Khan: No evidence of 3 dimensional thinking.