Fall 2024 Update
In May, I took a break from my career and created an atmosphere of space, focus, purpose, and curiosity while I considered how best to fulfill my life mission of inspiring people to believe in themselves. Six months into this endeavor, I find myself deeply immersed in this journey, filled with new ideas, and even more enthusiasm for what’s ahead. I promised you updates along the way, and I’m excited to finally share a bit of the journey with you.
Contents:
Space. Focus. Purpose. Curiosity. - An update on the principles that have guided my journey
Cast of Characters - Max, Gavin, Aaron, Dave, Joshua. Tokyo, Amsterdam, London, Seoul, Osaka, Busan
Collection of Creativity - Books & a company
Space. Focus. Purpose. Curiosity.
Space.
Vast areas of unconquered time on a calendar — to have ownership over that real estate is empowering. But it shrinks by the second — a fleeting resource begging to be filled with innumerable quantities of stuff. My body first filled it with sleep - after far too many years with far too little of it, it overcompensated with far too much. I knew that would happen so I gave it a window of time. Then, I started filling space with a cast of characters and writing books.
Focus.
There’s this vacuous area of my brain that can only be filled with uninterrupted dedication to a single topic. And when that topic is the human across the table from me, it makes for far stronger relationships. When that topic is a creative endeavor like a book or a company, it becomes some of the most rewarding, fun experiences of my life. So I focused intently that same cast of characters and writing books.
Purpose.
I like mission statements because they become a filter through which all questions can be considered. They help answer the question, “Why?” My mission is to empower people to believe in themselves. I’ve spent the last 48 years creating ways to believe in myself and the most rewarding part of my career thus far as been creating ways to turn that mirror of self-belief around so that others can see the power they hold in themselves. This mission has evolved to empower people to believe in others. Belief in self is incumbent to belief in others, but it requires an entirely different set of tools. My purpose is hell bent on creating ways to empower humans to believe in others. I’m writing about it in The Infinite Now and I’ve created Superlative.City, a consulting company that perpetuates this mission.
Curiosity.
The most rewarding factor of writing books is research. Eastern mysticism and the differences between the various sects of Buddhism, women’s competitive rock climbing, measuring quantum conductivity, fae folklore, the neurochemical chain of events that happen when exiting flow state, the list goes on and on. I find this level of curiosity so incredibly rewarding, and within it are lessons relevant to my every day life. And then there’s people. Curiosity about the people you know and the people you don’t know. Letting go of the rules and judgments about people and just being open and curious is a fabulous adventure.
A Cast of Characters
I enjoyed people in fabulous places this year. The most fabulous of them was right here in Seattle, during a delightfully sunny summer with daily coffee dates, happy hours, dinners, and nearly two hours every day on some type of trek. I also enjoyed spending time with people in Europe, Montana, Japan, Oregon, and Korea.
A passionate student of cities, urbanism, and density, I arrived in Tokyo for the first time and realized I didn’t know anything about cities, urbanism, and density. I soaked in every second of Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, and Busan. It feels like I expanded my philosophy of the built environment tenfold in just over two weeks. And I’m hungry for more.
Barry Bob & BoBo Almost Ruin Christmas
Barry Bob & BoBo Almost Ruin Christmas
The result of a vivid dream, this 50 page children’s holiday fairy tale adventure tells the story of two elven friends who nearly destroy — but ultimately save Christmas. While remaining unpublished, it is a gift to my dear friend and the book’s namesake, Barry Blanton.
An excerpt:
“Barry Bob and Bobo, having rarely left the heart of their tree, knew nothing of the outside world and didn’t think anything of it at first. They were proud that their tree was a safe haven for magical creatures. It fed them and made them strong. They celebrated that Santa had joined their realm, but the voices of the other magical creatures united in protest that the tree had trapped Santa.”
The Infinite Now
The story of a young woman who continually runs into her own limitations, The Infinite Now is a sci-fi novel set in a multi-verse where inner power can be found by discovering the titular destination.
Writing this story has been very slow-going as I learn my way through the process, but it is extraordinarily rewarding. Every twelve hour writing session is filled with expeditions into destinations unknown. I emerge bleary-eyed, heart-filled, and brain-expanded. My goal is a book of approximately 500 pages or 150,000 words. My first book was 15,000 words, so this is 10x the adventure. And seemingly 20x the time.
Superlative.City
I’m proud to introduce you to my consulting company, Superlative.City. I’m jumping back in…but just a bit. But I have big ideas. Ideas inspired by Gehl People, Dunn & Hobbes, and Graham Baba. Visit my website to get a taste of what I’m working on. I’m available for limited engagements.
Services - You’ll see familiar development consulting offerings plus management consulting.
Superla-what? Check out the About section to discover how I came up with such a name.
