Bonus Edition

Enjoy an extra email!

Images from a friend on a solo road trip…

Pocatello Sunrise

Montana Skies

Idaho Mountains

Dear Friends,

Wow! Is it almost over yet? Will it ever be over? I am beginning to think it doesn’t really matter if it ends or not.

How will we notice? That’s the answer right there. By asking you are seeking. By seeking you are finding. By finding you arrive.

You have to notice. That’s how. Pick up your head and notice. The person next to you. The sunrise in front of you. The mountains beyond the clouds. The vast blue sky.

I hope you find who you're looking for

is what someone said to me recently. I didn’t have the snappy answer that I wanted. But not reflecting upon it caused it to boil over last night and it dawned on me

I did. I was looking for me

Growth comes in all shapes and sizes, and one size certainly does not fit all. In my case, I often resisted it because it meant some kind of extra work.

That resistance added up over the years and the cost of emotional retardation is a huge price to pay. So I settled up and decided to pay attention to growth instead.

Here’s how I did it. Right here on Substack. I started expressing my vulnerabilities. It resonates with some. It completely turns others off. So be it.

I recently had the good fortune of Zoom-meeting a new friend. We have joined forces for my first collaboration on my platform. I am excited for this opportunity.

Her name is Valentina Petrova and you can check out her platform here. I will have a piece dropping tomorrow that does a deeper dive into our project.

Here is a snippet of her writing:

The amount of stuff happening this year, personally and collectively, makes me dizzy and taxes my processing ability. We all have ways to process life’s challenges. My way starts with a salad of information I chew on for a while. This year, most of it tasted confusing. Sometimes, I couldn’t even get to the main course before more stuff piled up on my salad plate. I can’t say I’ve had enough dessert - savoring the flavors of things figured out and the delight of predictability and certainty. My favorite way to eat is in the company of thoughtful individuals. We can share bites from each other’s plates, then discuss, complain, criticize, and elaborate on what’s in front of us. Sadly, we stayed masked, apart, and in our own worlds for most of the year. When we reconnected, I wasn’t sure we knew each other anymore.

Let’s have some dessert friends. We deserve it.

Ric