Bought a traveler’s notebook for my Field Notes. Currently have three inside. Love having all my various notes under one roof as it were.
Bought a traveler’s notebook for my Field Notes. Currently have three inside. Love having all my various notes under one roof as it were.
No one grows within their comfort zone, and nothing great is achieved by playing it safe. Growth requires stepping into the unknown and embracing the discomfort. As I set goals and create systems for 2025, I need to remember that progress demands risk, effort, and the courage to face failure.
Positive start to the day when a personal favorite, Holst’s The Planets: Jupiter came on the radio during my morning commute. Even if you’re not a classical fan you’ve probably heard this one before.
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.” — Joseph Campbell
From the always great Sloww Sunday Newsletter by @SlowwCo
Christmastime at the local brewery/coffee shop.
Standardized teaching without teacher innovation is to real learning what an assertion without an argument is to critical thinking—hollow. It risks reducing learning to a surface-level exercise that fails to engage students or adapt to diverse needs. It lacks the context that fosters curiosity.
When takers are glorified and creators ignored, society loses its soul. Contentment lies in what we give, not in what we guard.
“I’m Thinking of Ending Things” ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This movie seems simple, but it’s not. Surreal, dreamlike, absurdist. One of those films you just have to watch for yourself.
Key quote: “It’s a uniquely human feeling that things will get better…Humans can’t live in the present, so they invented hope.”
Scalability is the holy grail in nearly every field—and for good reason. It’s given us incredible innovations and tools. But not everything is meant to scale. Education, for one, loses its essence when treated as a one-size-fits-all product. Its magic lives in the personal, unscalable moments.
Notes to self: Don’t take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from.
Every Sunday morning we have our weekly coffee meeting in this spot. Great way to start the week!
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” - Henry David Thoreau.
Feels like a daily inventory done with this rubric might be …uncomfortable.
For 4 months I’ve eliminated sugar and gone low carb. Mostly reversed a type 2 diagnosis. For Thanksgiving I had 2 heavy beers and some pie. While my glucose remained stable, I ended up with a huge headache and feel lousy today.
TLDR; Sugar is poison y’all.
The past is nothing more than a mental picture. Yet, we often choose to treat it as if it defines our reality. Worse still, we edit and distort that picture, amplifying the negatives. Over time, this distorted past clouds the future possibilities we could envision for ourselves.
Preview of this week’s newsletter on the power of visualization. coaching.stevepbrady.me/essays/vi…
Our book faire haul from the local library. Not bad for $15.
Found the following via Steven G. Harms here.
I see man’s happiness frustrated until the time arrives when he is judged, given social honor and respect, not by what he has accumulated but by what he has given to his society. This ideal is posited not for itself, but because I know that the frustration of the creative act is the cause of our hatred for each other, and hatred is the cause of our fears. We reward our dealers, our accumulators, our speculators; we penalize with anonymity and low pay our teachers, our scientists, our workers who make and do and build and create. And so the urge that is in all of us to give and to make is turned in upon itself, and we accept the upside-down idea that to take and to accumulate is the great good. And whether we succeed in that or not, we are sooner or later left with the awareness of our emptiness, our inner poverty, and our isolation from mankind. When a man reaches that knowledge and has the sensitivity to feel the loss of his true self deeply, he is a tragic figure; but not unless he tries to find himself despite the world can he raise up in us the actual feeling that something fine and great and precious has been discovered too late.
Arthur Miller explains ‘Death of a Salesman.’ The Atlantic. 2024, February 28
When society prioritizes taking and accumulating, people are left feeling empty, disconnected, and isolated, even if they manage to achieve material success. This emptiness becomes pointedly tragic for those who realize their lost potential to give and create. True fulfillment comes from recognizing and embracing one’s inner desire to contribute meaningfully to society—something that we often overlooks until it’s too late.
“I have now reigned above fifty years in victory or peace; beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honours, power and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity. In this situation, I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: they amount to Fourteen.”
Finally go out to the board walk trail on Lake Williams today.
Just finished “The Master Key System: The Original Unabridged and Complete Edition” I’ve always been fascinated by the New Thought movement and this is one of the foundational texts.
Yes, I’m one of those people. Even my protein is pumpkin spice. Sorry not sorry.
Spent my Monday holiday morning writing and client prospecting, but now it’s time to afternoon hockey. Let’s go Bruins!
It’s a raw and gloomy day today in my corner of New England. But Saturday the foliage was glorious. Hoping we get one more good weekend before the inevitable shedding of color.
“It was the time of year, the time of day, for a small insistent sadness to pass into the texture of things. Dusk, silence, iron chill. Something lonely in the bone.” ~ Don DeLillo, White Noise
The new Timex Deepwater looks pretty good and has solid specs. But $480 seems a little steep considering what you can get from a lot of microbrands these days.
