Posts with Category Simplify

Good People: A Doughnut Economy

What does an economy of living within the means of our planet look like? Welp, according to economist Kate Raworth it looks like a doghnut. Kelsey and Jay are joined by John Motlotch and Scott Truex of the Sustainable Communities Institute for a discussion on Raworth’s TED Talk.

Topics we discussed and relevant links:

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“Each Land has the Magic” to Help in These Troubling Times

During this time of self-isolating, curve-flattening, and social-distancing, we find ourselves removed from the comforts and relationships of our normal world. We may feel alone, isolated, distant, afraid, and flattened. 

COVID-19 is a reminder that we are part of nature whether we understand that or not. A tiny little life-form previously unknown to us has brought our world to a stop. I have friends in Kenya that are bracing for the impact. My friend in Colombia, Maria, is on lockdown and playing Scrabble with her roommates. And here in Indiana and across the United States we are half-heartedly hunkering while the virus closes in around us. 

Nature Therapy

But removed from our day-to-day world, and as disjointed as that…

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It’s HUGE to Feel small

 

I laid on the bottom of the ocean and stared into space. 

The surface of the water was so still and flat that it ceased to exist. The light of the stars traveled unimpeded trillions of miles, through the Earth’s atmosphere and 20 feet of water. 

I held my breath, the sound of my heartbeat joining the primordial hum of the Atlantic. 

I pushed off the bottom. Underwater like in space one is weightless.

That night off the coast of Key West, I slowly kicked towards constellations, no difference between air and space. I swam into eons and lightyears, not an observer of the universe but part of it. 

I stood in my…

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Life finds energy

Each month I chat with folks I work out with at my CrossFit gym and share our chat on the gym’s blog. I always love having an excuse just to sit and listen to someone and to learn from their journey.

It’s important to be reminded that every single person has a story. This month I talked with Libby Hobson who just became a mom and who showed me that balloon twisting is an art. Her story made me reflect on randomness of our lives and the importance of connecting with people no matter where we end up.

Here’s how I ended her story:

Libby’s story reminded me of a quote that gets thrown around a lot by basketball coaches and players. Here’s IU coach Tom Crean with a recent version:

“The…

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Change Starts with a (Fair Trade) T-shirt: Nerding out over at prAna

Rocking my prAna Fair Trade T-Shirt at the Midwest Writer workshop. Apparently I’m about to drop an F-bomb.

 

This afternoon, I’m visiting Fair Trade USA’s headquarters, so I though I’d share the post I wrote for the clothing company prAna:

Change Starts With a T-shirt

The post covers how a T-shirt changed my life and how excited I am that Fair Trade certified clothing exists….

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Think like a 3rd grader

Third graders think farts are hilarious. Me too!

That’s why I knew I had to share my anti-flatulence underwear story with the third graders at Fort Recovery elementary.

I held up my “Gas Eaters” and asked them what they thought they were. There were the typical guesses (adult diapers), but then I called on a bright-eyed girl sitting on the floor in the back.

“They go over your underwear,” she said, “so you can dance in the rain and not get your underwear wet.”

That was a response I had never heard before, and I loved it. And here’s the thing…none of the kids laughed at her. They thought it was quite possible that these were my dancing-in-the-rain underwear.

Kids aren’t bound by reason or logic; they are freed by curiosity and imagination.

I…

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You’re $100 away from making your own dream job

100 startup

I get asked all the time, but I have no idea how many countries I’ve been to. It’s probably somewhere around 60.

One thing is for sure; it’s way fewer than Chris Guillebeau. The dude is going to EVERY country and he’s just a few away from being done.

When I first heard about Chris’s goal – travel to every country on the planet – I rolled my eyes. What value is there in popping into a place for a day or two? In some countries it takes me that long to work up the nerve to cross the street. I’m more of author Tim Cahill’s philosophy: “A journey is best measured in friends and…

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7 reasons we became a single car family

IMG_5007

I bummed a ride to the airport from a buddy that works in Indianapolis the other day.

He drives a shiny red sports car that makes me want to buy aviator glasses and gun it. He got a great deal on the car. The car barely had any miles when he bought it. The previous owner just drove it on weekends.

That’s right, the dude had a weekend car.

Contrast this with the reason I was bumming a ride: We recently downsized to one car.

A month ago we sold Annie’s Chevy Cavalier, which she bought in college. The average household has 2.28 cars and now we have 1. I thought I would share why we made this…

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