a more condensed long form post and a reminder:
Reminder - Call for submissions
As was posted here, we’re accepting submissions for the Remarkable Fools Journal. Deadline is March 21. People will be notified pretty quickly after we get it. Theme: What was embarrassing then is funny now: stories from high school / post secondary / coming of age. Length 3 to 500 words. Form. yes please? Reply to this message to send in your stories
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On certainty
I view certainty as a bit of a character flaw. Well…
That’s not entirely true.
And?
It’s not entirely false either.
Every day I show up to disrupt peoples’ sense of certainty. I show up, disrupt, then support them in tolerating the visceral sensations and monkey mind thoughts that come with uncertainty.
Certainty, or the longing for it, aches with a pleading desperation.
Certainty. Death. Taxes.
You’d better get good at grief and loss.
I struggle regularly with certainty.
Every couple of years.
At very inopportune times.
I feel certain.
Very certain that the contents of my lower digestive tract are indeed gaseous.
When in fact they are not.
This is a truth that becomes abruptly, shockingly, embarrassingly painful.
I start to adjust. My gait changes. Legs held in oddball ways, struggling to maintain a sense of dignity.
Struggling to keep the fabric of my pants far away from the backs of my thigh.
The material may brush up against it.
And?
It must not stick.
I remember the milk I had in my coffee - despite that dairy thing I have. I should have known better. Instead, I acted with the certainty of a televangelist and forced the issue.
The results? Predictable.
This happens with alarming regularity.
It seems that every time I act with absolute certainty anywhere in life, I need to take a shower and change all of my clothes.
When I’m a bit cautious, a bit curious and I really pay attention to what’s going on and where I am, these things happen less.
Have you ever acted with certainty with less than stellar results?
Weekly Playlist:
Pitchfork Economics: Billionaire Venture Capitalist Nick Hanaur talks about why people like him should pay more taxes and people like you should have more in your pocket.
Seems a bit much to understand?
They explain things in pretty clear terms. Check it out:
Weirdo video of the week
One of my favorites, Lenny Shultz.
Lenny did stand up in New York, and some television work, all while maintaining a job as a phys ed teacher.
That’s remarkably foolish.
Go crazy Lenny!
I share this a whole lot. You should too. There are few things funnier than a grown adult pretending to be a chicken…
One Derful Thing
In the spirit of Lenny, find some times today to pretend that you are a chicken.
Or a rooster.
But not a duck.
If you’re alone, walk around imagining that you’re a chicken.
Make chicken noises, scratch the earth. (or the flooring depending on where you are)
If you’re with people, what happens, or when, would making a chicken noise, a chicken face or doing a chicken walk be something you could pull off?
Could you find a way to add a chicken to an interaction without going to the ordinary Bok bok mocking of another person?
How can you be a chicken today
How are you already a chicken?
I spoke chicken to my children once they hit the teenage years. They ignored me when I spoke to them normally. So, I would flick my head back a la Joey from Friends (which would have normally been followed with a " How YOU doin? ). Instead, I kept the tone and said " Bok Bok? "
After a few failed attempts and WTF looks, I got a factual "Bok Bok" back. And it begins. My children's second language is chicken.