Latest Dispatches

Cody, that’s just it! They get both sides. That kind of relationship is really important to have.

I was watching a virtual conference today and one of the hosts told a story about a live episode of a video podcast she was recording from home and how while she was recording her dog took a dump on her bed right behind her. That’s when I thought, you know what, if my kids run into the room and say poop while I’m on a call, I’m not going to sweat it. And you know what? That happened today.

From every talk I’ve listened to that begins with the idea that in order to even start to comprehend the contents of the talk, it has to start with a radical shift in mindset and after all of the articles and books I’ve read that talk about mindset, I’ve come to realize that mindset is a punchy way to say attitude.

After a really fun but long and tiring trip to the zoo today, I took a nap. The rest of the day I spent talking about music with my best friend and sharing albums we are listening to.

My first semester of college I took an ethnography class and the first reading assignment was about a people called the Nacirema. The reading described their morning ritual in strange detail. Everything seemed obscure but after the fifth or sixth paragraph something started to sound familiar.

A great thought occurred to me in conversation today. We are pushed to choose a side even when we are not sure if we should. You even learn in college writing classes to choose an argument because writing is weakest when it toes the line. (Here comes my third Hamilton reference in a row) “If you stand for nothing, what will you fall for?”

The most powerful line in Hamilton is during Leslie Odam Jr.’s singing of Wait For It. The line goes, “I am the one thing in life I can control/I am inimitable, I am an original.” The truth and self-belief in the way he delivers that one line makes the show.

I’ve had a personal wrestle with money for most of my life. Sometimes it’s been good. Sometimes it’s been bad. I’ve learned more hard lessons with money that easy lessons.

Complaints are fine. Complaints are feedback. Opportunities to be heard over dissatisfaction. Opportunities to improve when you’re on the receiving end. However, complaints implicitly contain a solution. If a customer comes up and complains about service, the provider has a responsibility to resolve the complaint to the customer’s satisfaction. In a relationship a complaint would provoke some type of improvement on the part of the couple.

I just watched the Evolution of Hip-Hop on Netflix today and was reminded, once again, of my people’s struggle to remain heard in the face of oppression.

I appreciate how honest this is.

Is focus all that it’s cracked up to be? I’m the type of person that has to go down every rabbit hole to see the dead ends or to find the secret gems. I hope it pays off.