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POWER OF HABIT
I have started to reread Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit. It’s a fascinating book and so incredibly relevant. And here’s what I mean by relevant: “One paper published by a Duke University researcher in 2006 found that more than 40 percent of the actions people performed each day weren’t actual decisions, but habits.” (xvi) Let that sink in: almost half of what the average person does during any given day is simply acting out habits, for better or for worse. As I write this, it is nearly midnight, I am hopped up on Nyquil, and my head hurts. But…
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FLAT TIRE – COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE
I was down this morning because a sinus infection kept me from spending the day on the roller coasters of King’s Island. A three hour nap after lunch was ended by a phone call from Caleb: “I lost a tire.” That was his description of having a complete blowout of the front driver’s side tire while driving 75 mph down the interstate, boxed in by other vehicles to where he had no choice but to steer into the median! Again, I am left thankful that worse did not happen. He easily could have been spending the night in the hospital. …
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SHORTCUT
I have been monitoring summer school about every other day for the past few weeks. There’s not much teaching involved. All of the curriculum is online and the students move along through lessons and tests at their own pace. I have a dashboard that lets me see if they are on pace to finish on time or not and allows me to unlock tests for second and third attempts. Now and then, a student will ask for help. Usually on a test. I help anyway, as long as it is one of the smaller “mastery” tests and not a unit…
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THE EVER-EVOLVING JOB OF FATHERHOOD
Among dozens of things “they” don’t tell you about being a father, there’s this: the job is constantly evolving. As soon as you’ve mastered the art of diaper changes, protecting favorite stuffed animals from being lost or misplaced, and finding your kids’ shoes when it’s time to leave the house, you get bumped up to the next playing level. Then starts school stuff with separation anxieties (on both sides!) and projects and school plays. And sports and dance classes and cub scouts. Now I’ve advanced to car questions and career advice and workplace hassles. This Father’s Day felt like I…
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WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL MINIVAN
Yesterday we said goodbye to the minivan which served us well the past four years. This little Honda Odyssey was given to us by a sweet and gracious family who had served for a time in Haiti themselves. Such a generous gift at a time when we had no idea how we would be getting around during another summer in the States. More recently she served as Samuel’s main transportation until some transmission and brake issues sidelined her permanently. She had 225,000 miles on her.
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AN UNBELIEVABLE PLACE
A follow up on yesterday’s post regarding Edgar Allan Poe’s advice to “believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see”: I was listening to a podcast this afternoon as I did some painting in Melissa’s office at work. It was a longform conversation between Dr. Jordan Peterson and Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman. I wasn’t familiar with Kaufman, but Peterson is pretty famous these days in certain circles and I find him a fascinating individual. He is a clinical psychologist, a bestselling author and a university professor. The guy is super intelligent and I was following along with…
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LISTEN TO POE
“Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.” It’s good advice. I tend to think of this quote in the context of media and internet content. It is certainly wise to discount most of what one reads and sees and hears online or on the TV. And if not discount, then we should exercise a healthy skepticism at least. Imagine the arguments that could be avoided and the outrage we could be spared. There is no doubt our collective blood pressure would drop back into safe ranges. But consider the source of the quote above. It was…
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HENRY FORD WAS RIGHT
At the beginning of this past semester, I gave my students the famous quote by Henry Ford and asked them to respond to it: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t – you’re right!” It can come across as little more than a cheesy motivational poster caption, but I think Ford was onto something incredibly profound. If you think about it, in a wider sense, Ford is saying that reality is entirely determined between our ears. This is something I have been thinking about for the past year or more: I don’t have direct access to reality.…
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CULTURE WAR
Judging from clickbait stories on conservative media platforms, many American Christians seem to think the major fronts in the “culture wars” are places like the local public library where Christians must take up arms to push back against the advances of squads of drag queens with their story hours. But it seems to me that as the salt and light of the church wanes, there will be much worse ramifications than men in giant, outlandish wigs and overdone makeup reading books to a group of children. (As bad as that may be.) I see two growing trends that point to…
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ONE OF A KIND
Yesterday we hosted an open house to celebrate Samuel’s graduation from high school – another impossible milestone. I must say I am proud of how much he made of his high school years and this year in particular – teaching himself computer coding, pulling off a successful senior project, acting in the school play, and helping out with our church’s kids ministry every weekend. All while holding down a part-time job. A few weeks ago Samuel and I walked around Columbus on a Saturday afternoon to shoot some senior pictures on the cheap. Towards the end of our time, I…
