Youthful Life: X

"The fundamental job of a toddler is to rule the universe" Lawrence Kutner Kids are truly awe-inspiring people . There's something about them and their fresh perspectives on the world that adults just don't quite get. The ways they understand or at least approach understanding the world has just as much nuance as it does randomness. When we take the time to pay attention there is much to be learned. I had the opportunity to spend a few a days taking care of two year-old nephew, affectionately referred to as the Little Prince by me, myself, and I. In that time I took so much from spending time with him, other than reaffirming how truly phenomenal he is as a person, just the applicable things he's learning/being taught and their implications for my life is an adult-in-progress. Patience, patience, patience. In a world where I am constantly moving, zooming, speeding, to an fro I had to adjust to his pace. The few moments I found myself getting frustrated with ...

Truth - Siblings are the best gift your parents can ever give you. A question I often as people is whether they are an only child or not. As someone who often gets mistaken as one, the question gives some insight. I always follow up as to how close they are with their siblings, an even more telling answer. Everyone's familial situations are different. Deeply messed up stuff happens, and the people who are related to us can be awful. When families have healthy relationships though, the results can be truly awe-inspiring. You never know joy until you become an uncle. "When I was young, an eccentric uncle decided to teach me how to lie. Not, he explained, because he wanted me to lie, but because he thought I should know how it's done so I would recognize when I was being lied to." Brian Eno Being an uncle is by far my favorite personal identity. Beyond being a son to wonderful parents, and brother to four of the most dynamic people I have ever known is something ...

Truth - There's a big difference between being in love, and loving someone or something. Oftentimes the two seem to conflated as one in the same but there is a nuanced distinction to be made. Love is not just a feeling but also action, thought, and belief. Love is the ways in which you treat certain people because of and in spite of the love you have for them. Love is more than picturesque imaginations of romantic-comedy style dates, bouquets of overpriced sweetly fragrant crimson red roses, or decadent boxes of silky smooth assortments of chocolates. Love is dynamic. Love is powerful. Love is timeless. Love is an unwavering belief in someone else. So ask yourself, do you love love, or love someone? "True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about but few have seen"  Francois de la Rochefoucauld The millennial generation has garnered a reputation for our apparent lack of commitment to just about anything and everything. We're critiques as being incapabl...

Truth - Each and every person has something they are particular gifted with. The greatest disappointment in life is not being able to discover what you're talented with and/or using it to the fullest of its potential. While some people are task oriented and can get things done others are cartographers, charting the path that gets those task runners where they need the be. Oftentimes those qualities are mutually-exclusive but what happens when those people collaborate or someone comes along who has been infused with both sides of a false dichotomy ... simple, foresight turns into dynamic action. You can argue you are able to do without having a plan, but having a plan and not doing anything with it comes to the same result. Both are necessary to see something through to completion. This is vision. " Visionary people face the same problems everyone else faces; but rather than get paralyzed by their problems, visionaries immediately commit themselves to finding a solution....

The 20s are all about giving your love. Love. What a powerful word. What does it mean to love or to be loved? Everyone has their own definition and it feels different for each and every one of us. You have to love yourself before you can love anyone else or expect anyone to love you for that matter. Self-love is the most important love because it's where all other love comes from. When you love yourself, then and only then are you able to give your love. But love isn't always given freely; sometimes it has to be earned. This is not one of those times. This is baby love.  For as long as I can remember I have loved kids but specifically babies and particularly newborns. It's such a weird thing to say but it's the absolute truth. When I was in high school I volunteered in a maternity ward for just over two years and absolutely loved it. Every Wednesday my parents would drop me off and for a solid three hours I would get to be the best version of me. I donned my teal...

Being a teenager is all about being young, a little bit wild, and a whole lot of free. Teenagedom is the quintessential time to be the best you possible. That means the perfect blend of spontaneous and responsible (in the most young adult of ways). Just because we're in college does not, I repeat NOT give us a free pass to be a bunch of rambunctious idiots. AKA yelling YOLO and then proceeding to do something absolutely foolish is not acceptable. I like to think we can all be better than that. I don't know where you're livelihood comes from but I just take a swig from the fountain of youth. The word youth is not synonymous with maturity, but everyone (adults, and young people) alike are pretty sure it is. I'm here to prove it wrong. Drinking from the fountain of youth doesn't entail downing jaeger bombs and doing keg stands until you spew alcohol out your ears. It's about being young, as in open-minded, curious, and interested about the world around you. I w...

Being a teenager is all about feeling a whole lot of nostalgic and kickin' it a little bit old school. The summer is the perfect time to rediscover the things that used to give you so much joy as a little kid. It's so crazy to realize just how old we really are, and to notice the things that brought us proud, bright and white smiles were so simple. Now our lives are perpetually complicated and unbelievably boring. Time to break the cycle, and do things like you used to. Throw it on back and turn some heads. The importance of childhood is immeasurable. It's where the good in people originates, in my honest opinion. Everyone has at least some good memories of their childhood, as long as you can hold on to those, you can always go back to those when you need to. Childhood is what makes us innocent, oblivious, and carefree. It's the times where we're free just to be ourselves, be a little wild, and sometimes even ridiculous. You can always tell when people are more...