Mini neighbourhood tour

This gives an idea of our immediate surroundings. The weather and lighting sucked, but I took pictures anyway.

A walk in the park

Today was a great day, even if we didn’t get to fly the kite.

Spring to motivation

It could be a case of the familiar burst in energy that usually accompanies the spring season, or maybe a sign of true changes to come. Regardless of the cause, I feel renewed. I feel like another stage in my life is about to start. I perceive myself differently.

• I have a different appreciation and understanding of all things material.
• I no longer measure my success in life against an outside metric.
• I am more detached from the day-to-day grind and motivated to improve myself in tangible ways.

I am sure I am re-inventing the wheel here, yet I will reiterate what I think is a simple truth that is not well-understood. Change that we desire does not arise as a result incremental steps. Tangible changes come in big waves and cause externalities. If we want to produce real change, we must

1. Find or create an important incentive
2. Find or devise the mechanism to arrive at the intended outcome

Part of the material incentive has arrived, and she is growing fast. Naturally as a parent, I want her to start a few branches higher on the decision tree. I want her to learn and think hard about what she wants to do. I want her decisions to be loaded and abstract from the start. I want money to be the enabling factor early on, not a limiter or (worse) the sole motivator.

In terms of intellectual advancement, it gets deeper and harder. Thinking about it takes away from the upbeat attitude of this post. I need to read more, judge less and understand better. I need to aim higher and have more discipline. I need a legitimate cause. It’s hard to have a cause. It’s hard for a thoughtful person to have strong beliefs.