"I'd rather be a loser with an outstretched hand than the coolest person in the world with a closed heart." ~ Garrett Bucks, via substack I challenge anyone who grew up in the 70s to hear the words "West Virginia" and not follow it up in your mind with " ...mountain mama / take me home / country roads..." John Denver was an absolute staple of my childhood, and I can sing every word to every song on John Denver’s Greatest Hits,  released in 1973. That album (those specific versions), and a...

The Genius of Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon. This is the fourth in a series exploring the 21 +/- conditions that researchers have identified as helping to facilitate a state of flow. The list of conditions is certainly not exhaustive! I'd love to hear from you if you've found other ways to set yourself up for optimal experiences - please share your thoughts in the comments! Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon  was not a staple of my childhood. I don’t ever remember seeing it or even...

Is being understood the only thing that matters? There are several lovely little trail identifiers and signs along the hiking and mountain biking paths in my community to help mark progress, confirm location, and point you in the right direction. One in particular stands out to me, on the corner of a much-used, family-friendly trail in the network: As seen on the trails. I imagine a group of kids, happily decorating the rocks, lugging them up to the trail, placing them just so.. And then...