Hey 👋🏽,

I hate mess.

I was reminded of this on Tuesday when we stumbled up our stairs, soaking wet.

Why have we never done this before?

asked 5yo, incredulous. Mud and mulch climbed up his shins and a small puddle formed around his feet on the living room floor.

When the rain started we opened our 3rd floor window and sat on our knees to look out.

Come ON! Connect with nature.

5yo said, grabbing my hand and sticking it through our porthole as water flew in.

Have you ever run in the rain?

I asked. He shook his head.

Take off your socks.

Sometimes I get stuck in how things are currently done. This is how we do things here: in our family, at our company, on planet earth.

And then someone with new eyes asks why and I can’t remember, or it doesn’t matter, or I finally see the better thing that’s been hiding in plain sight all along.

Sometimes grownups get stuff wrong.

I answered. He left footprints behind him all the way up to the bubble bath waiting for him on the third floor. It took 5 years to make the mess but only 3 minutes to clean up.

Here are a few things I enjoyed this week:

🧠 you can’t tell people anything habit chronicles, 5m

A reminder of the importance of kinesthetic experience and context to try to help people understand - whether you’re teaching someone about writing, racism, politics or otherwise.

What’s going on is that without some kind of direct experience to use as a touchstone, people don’t have the context that gives them a place in their minds to put the things you are telling them. The things you say often don’t stick, and the few things that do stick are often distorted.

❤️ recitatif Toni Morrison, 20m

In Toni Morrison’s only short story, she chronicles the life of 2 women of different but undisclosed races through a series of vignettes from an orphanage to parenthood. Originally published in An Anthology of African American Women in 1983.

+ my family saw a police car hit a black kid on halloween. Then I learned how NYPD impunity works.

+ understanding black lives matter (awesome effort from a company to positively impact change!)

🚶🏽‍♀️do the real thing Scott Young, 5m

A meaningful life depends on doing the real thing. Days wasted on fake activity may keep you busy, but they never seem to go anywhere.

I see you, I love you, don’t forget to capitalize Black ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿,