Work Is A Primary Expression Of Who We Are

“The forest will provide.” I’m in love with the idea of trusting my environment––and the people in it––to nourish and support me. Whether it’s borrowing an extra pair of yoga shorts from the lost and found, depending on my improv partner to say the next line or leaning on a teammate during a during an exhausting client presentation, knowing that my back is always had is a beautiful (and new) thing for me. Having operated my existence as a one-man show for so long, the experience of real, constant human support in every area of life is pretty cool. Inspired by the changing seasons.

“Start exercising that muscle.” Aspiring is for amateurs. Whatever we want to become, all we have to do is start doing that thing. Not believing in our hearts, not affirming to ourselves in the mirror, not writing down our goals and not telling people our plans. Physically doing. The moment we take action on something, we earn the right to tell people that we are that something. It’s a simple, binary equation. Either we are or we aren’t. Action doesn’t have a preheat setting.

“Selling out means buying in to someone else’s system of values, rules and rewards.” You can still take the money. You can still work for clients you don’t love. You can still take an advantage of the opportunity. You just have to stay consistent with your beliefs. I’ve taken plenty of gigs I wasn’t super excited about, but none that I was ashamed of talking about. Except the one time I gave a speech at that Nazi rally, but I let it slide because those guys had amazing cupcakes.

“Work is a primary expression of who we are.” Regardless of the job we do, regardless of the payment we receive and regardless of the place we do it, anytime we do what needs to be done, we show the world who we are. Work is the great revealer. The old saying that how you do anything is how you do everything, is completely true. Inspired by the sheer pain of volunteer management.

“To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed.” The most satisfying part about the wedding planning process is deciding which of the bullshit institutional marriage rituals don’t hold any meaning for us. Garter tossing and cake eating are the most awkward, pointless wedding customs on the planet, and everyone knows it. Everyone. For our wedding, we’re creating our own customs and not marching in lockstep with a culture that doesn’t matter to us. Amen. Inspired by a speech by cartoonist Bill Waterson.