About 2 years ago I was visiting Prague, and I had the opportunity to go to a raptor sanctuary. While there, the group got to see, hold and interact with all sorts of amazing birds, from owls and eagles to falcons and hawks.

It was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had.

However, out of everything I did and heard that day, one thing in particular stood out to me. The guy overseeing the experience, the owner of the sanctuary, said this: “Raptors are LAZY. You wouldn’t believe how lazy. Watch.”

And then he proceeded to show us just how lazy these birds are 🤣 Continue reading…

A slow and painful death is the absolute worst kind of death, and what could possibly be more slow and painful than toiling away in a cubicle for 8+ hours per day, 40+ hours per week, 48-50 weeks out of the year, for 40+ years of your life? I can’t think of anything.

Ironically, at the time it was instituted, the 9-to-5 workday and the 40-hour workweek actually represented a dramatic improvement over previous conditions. Go figure! But that was then, and this is now. Times change, and the world needs to keep pace.

There is nothing inherently wrong with working from 9-to-5, and there is nothing inherently wrong with a 40-hour workweek. The problem, as with all traditions, lies in blind adherence to said tradition.

Traditions limit your mental framework, often trapping you into a myopic point of view that defensively excludes all alternate possibilities. THIS IS THE WAY THINGS ARE SO STOP ROCKING THE DAMN BOAT BLARGHHH!!! Continue reading…

As a kid, I was raised in a partially religious household. My Mom was devout Mormon (still is), and I believe my Dad was agnostic (if anything, he never really discussed it). He supported my Mom’s decision to make my sister and I go to church, but for the most part didn’t really take part (he was more the “church of the outdoors” sort on the weekends).

Because of this scenario, I went to church for 3 hours almost every Sunday of my life, spent 4 years in seminary studying scriptures, and even ended up serving a 2 year, full-time mission for my church.

At this point in my life, I’m no longer religious (for a huge number of reasons, enough for an entire book), so I won’t dive into the many whys here.  Continue reading…

I’ve always liked acronyms, and I’ve come up with the perfect one to encapsulate the 4 main types of tradition that dominate our lives:

• Cultural
• Religious
• Ancestral
• Personal

CRAP. A fitting acronym for most traditions, in my opinion. You see, when I hear the word tradition, another more insidious word comes to mind: Routine.

To the creative, the adventurous, and the free spirited, the word routine absolutely reeks of inhibition, boredom, and staleness.  Same old, same old. Gag. Continue reading…