Spice Up the Dog Days 🌭 of Summer: 10 Things Worth Sharing

Check out my summer Spotify playlist.

Newsletter #005

This blog was adapted from my monthly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here.

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It’s hot in Kansas. I don’t really like the phrase “beat the summer heat” – I think you just have to give in and let the sweat overtake you. Heat is like quicksand. The more you struggle, the deeper you fall into the trap.

On that note, a few things that might make the Swamp Ass™ more bearable:

1. Make a Mixtape. Folks of a certain age will remember the joy of making an actual mixtape. For me it wasn’t cassettes, but blank silver CDs that I spent hours burning songs onto. I have so many memories of driving around to mixes made by my closest friends. A MIXTAPE IS NOT THE SAME AS A PLAYLIST. A true mixtape must 1) have a meaningful theme or goal, such as to win someone’s love or strengthen a friendship 2) be played in order, not shuffled 3) be limited in length. In 2004 this meant 80 minutes max 4) have a smooth, up-and-down rhythm containing a range of emotions 5) introduce the listener to something new or showcase your obscure musical knowledge. Anyways, I made you a mix on Spotify. Click here to listen – and for the love of Tom Petty, please do not shuffle.
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2. Buy a Hotel with your friends. I understand this is aspirational, but it made me very happy to read about this group of friends who revived an entire town by renovating a crumbling resort.
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3. Ask someone: “What are you thinking about lately?” I saw Trevor Noah ask Simon Sinek this one time and it struck me as a lovely question. Trevor told Simon that he admired how thoughtful he was. He knew Simon would be focused on something interesting and have a good answer to the question. Less woo-woo variations include: What movies should I watch? and What music are you listening to lately?
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4. Take a walk. Several years ago, my co-workers and I would extend our lunch break by walking a few blocks around the office. “It makes the ideas twice as good,” we said to justify it. I think we were actually right. A phrase has been stuck in my brain recently: “The Walk is the Work.” I’ve always felt a little guilty for dipping out in the middle of the day just to walk. But I’m trying to remember that I need the walk. It creates space for ideas, re-energizes my brain, and enables me to do the work well. The work is not as good without the walk.
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5. Go Turtle Hunting. One day, Joshua The Mailman yelped at me across the cul-de-sac to say hello. It sounded exactly like “The Turtleman” and I had flashbacks to this video I have watched a hundred times. “They think I’m crazy, but they cain’t help but like me.”
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6. Re-read an old favorite. I recently picked up The Perks of Being a Wallflower for the first time in almost 20 years. It was formative for me in high school. Charlie is just a weird kid trying to sort through how to be a good human and take care of his friends. On second read, it was crazy to think about how different of a person I am – but that I could still love the book just as much. A favorite quote: “So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be.”
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7. Print your photos. Pics hit different when they’re printed. When I die, I want my family to find shoeboxes full of random photos so they can look at them and share stories and have a piece of my life to keep. Prints are so much better than looking at a phone. Phones are too small and they don’t allow for time with a photograph. Most importantly, you can’t hang your phone on the refrigerator. Bonus points: print duplicates and mail them to family members. My favorite website to print photos is mpix, because you can add the old school white border.
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8. Practice something. “Mastery is the best goal because the rich can't buy it, the impatient can't rush it, the privileged can't inherit it, and nobody can steal it. You can only earn it through hard work,” writes Derek Sivers. Lately I am trying to practice my golf swing by hitting wiffle balls in the backyard. I’m learning to keep a commonplace notebook in which I write favorite quotes or thoughts. And I’m trying to become a morning person. “Once you've started, you're halfway there.”
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9. Stop somewhere mid-roadtrip. Sometimes I get too in-the-zone while we’re driving somewhere – I focus solely on getting there and refuse to jeopardize efficiency. We even stop at the same places every trip out of habit… down to the same gas stations. But, recently, we added 2 hours to our trip from Colorado to mosey around this giant antique mall. It was great! We stretched our legs, found some treasures, and saw parts of Colorado Springs that we’d never been to. My favorite roadtrip interruption: touch a river.
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10. Listen for the “dawn chorus.” I mentioned that I am now a #MorningPerson (if you say it enough, it becomes true). This is mainly a productivity thing as it’s impossible to find large chunks of working time during the day when my 2nd grader is out of school. But before getting to work, I’ve been stepping outside for a few minutes to sip coffee and enjoy the morning. The first few times, I kept wondering why the birds were so much louder than normal. Apparently, this is a thing. Birds communicate the most as the sun comes up – hence the name, dawn chorus.
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Thanks for reading. I hope this makes your summer more interesting. Now that school is out, I spend most of my day yelling, “WHO LEFT THE DOOR OPEN?!” So the playlist is helping.

Cheers,

Justin

Listen to the Mixtape:

New work for Brand Camp!

Check out this bright and optimistic new logo and visual identity for Brand Camp. I’m really proud of how it turned out.