I interrupt my regularly scheduled newsletter...

...to celebrate someone's BIRTHDAY today!

It’s Sean’s. It’s his birthday. He said he was born during a huge snowstorm so the whole country + nature herself is partying on his behalf right now on this very special day.

I’d like to quickly shout out to you about this birthday fellow. I will not list a list of things we love because that list would be infinity long. I will not be overly sentimental because that can be a boring song. (impromptu poem. It’s over now) Instead, I’d like to share some Sean quotes, hot off the press/post-it notes I write them on with still-wet sharpie ink which is pretty recent because I think Sharpies dry quite quickly, particularly in this climate.

Sean is my favorite person to discuss things with. He’s smart and thoughtful, a winning combo. We were recently chatting about an epidemic we’ve observed of people unable to know themselves and instead perpetually defer to outside sources. It brings to mind a Shel Silverstein poem (like most things do) that I made Julian memorize.

The Voice

There is a voice inside of me
That whispers all day long
I feel that this is right for me
I know that this is wrong
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide,
What’s right for you
Just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.

If I could picture myself desperately shouting something as we watch Julian walk away from us into adulthood, this is what it would be.

Sean’s a philosopher who says things equal parts profound and funny. It’s my favorite thing in the world. He’s like Aristotle if he’d decided to do stand-up. But speaking of, here’s a nice Aristotle quote:

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

And here’s the quote of caution and lament Sean said to me in the middle of our discussion about being afraid to use our intelligence to develop our own opinions and internal compass:

“We suspend being intellectually present. We are concerned about appearances and we don’t give ourselves permission to be ourselves. We’re trying to be an idealized version that we think is acceptable according to external standards. There is no internal standard.”

Yes, he just talks like this. And yes, I am often running to some device to write it down immediately thereafter.

And another, to end on a funny note, as all things should, especially on birthdays. We were just chatting about the evolution of MP3s and the days of Napster and Spotify algorithms that interfere with lesser-known artists getting their work out and how troubling that feels. Also how it seems like most musicians make most of their money by touring instead of recording. He said,

“Maybe it’s fine. You know, minstrels only made money when they performed live. Maybe recorded music is just a gag, a flash in the pan.”

Anytime “minstrels” gets thrown into the middle of a conversation gets an A+ from me.

Happiest birthday to this one who makes the days brighter and smarter.