I watched one of my favourite movies with my kids this weekend. Dead Poets Society. I remember seeing it for the first time as a 16-year-old high school student and it made such an impact on me. Continue reading
Month: August 2019
In Stumbling on Happiness Daniel Gilbert writes, “For most of recorded history, people lived where they were born, did what their parents had done, and associated with those who were doing the same. Millers milled, Smiths smithed, and little Smiths and little Millers married whom and when they were told. Social structures (such as religions and castes) and physical structures (such as mountains and oceans) were the great dictators that determined how, where, and with whom people would spend their lives, which left most folks with little to decide for themselves. But the agricultural, industrial, and technological revolutions changed all that, and the resulting explosion of personal liberty has created a bewildering array of options, alternatives, choices, and decisions that our ancestors never faced. For the very first time, our happiness is in our hands.” Continue reading
My brother is a high school drama teacher and playwright and he said something to me recently that really hit me. He said that in order to find happiness you have to have struggle. And this is an issue with many people as the world we live in allows us to move through it with very little push back. Immediate gratification, everything online at our fingertips, same day shipping, participation medals, no consequences for bad behaviour or missed assignments. Without the storm we don’t notice the sun. Continue reading
Josh Waitzkin, chess prodigy and author, said that before his son was born he remembers hearing parents say, “The weather is bad. It’s raining. We can’t go outside to play.” So when he became a dad, he made it his plan to see all weather as good weather for exploring. Chaos over control. He and his son Jack have never missed a rain storm or a blizzard. Because it’s always a good time to play. Continue reading