So, maybe I shouldn’t say I learn too much. I consume too much. The facts and ideas that enter my brain aren’t necessarily learned. Often, they pique my interest for a moment, but then they are lost when the next compelling thought comes around. This is especially problematic with podcasts. The audio just keeps coming at you. And while I could try pressing pause, that’s not my usual strategy. I’m consuming, but I’m not leaving enough time for digestion. I’m not allowing enough to soak in. And this isn’t just an issue with the ideas of others.

I don’t leave enough time to reflect on what I have running around in my own brain.  I try to make note of ideas when I have them. I try to record somewhere the incongruity or juxtaposition that grabbed my attention, even if just for a moment. But I am not dwelling on them. I am not mulling them.

This is a problem.

Creativity requires downtime. Space. Stillness. Like the reflection in a puddle. So much can be seen in a smooth surface of water if there isn’t constant agitation.

But when we are constantly feeding the machine with inputs, we don’t allow for the processing. We don’t give our minds the opportunity to make strange connections, to find commonalities in unusual places. These connections, these spaces are the source of creativity. They allow us to say something different rather than just list the interesting facts we heard or read somewhere else.

Writing itself can be a great way to explore these intersections. We can think through our ideas on paper, or on the screen, in an attempt to determine if there is any validity to them. Sometimes the great insight we had turns out to be just a mundane observation. Or our analogy falls apart under closer scrutiny. At other times, we are able to really delve into an idea and explore its depths. But we can’t do that if we are too busy reading someone else’s ideas or listening to them talk. To explore our ideas through writing, we have to leave space and time to foster this inquiry.

On the other end of the spectrum, we never look outside ourselves for ideas or inspiration. We are completely introspective and have no space for outside opinions to shape our own. This has it’s own set of issues, of course. Generally, we want to strike some sort of balance between the two.

Hopefully that has happened here, but I am open to criticism.

Make Something

This one is actually pretty easy. My dad has been throwing around the idea of building Theo a sandbox for a few weeks now. He decided that the baby shower would be the perfect day for it because: A) Theo would have something to feel special about even though most of the presents, and the attention, weren’t for him; B) My dad cares only a small amount about the typical activities involved in a shower; C) He would be at our house. He was thoughtful enough to run all this by me and Melanie, and we agreed that it would be fine.

The timing worked out so that almost all of the actual construction happened after most guests had left. Also, my dad had already completed the bulk of the prep work; he came with boards measured, cut, routed, and sanded. So, to be fair, I wasn’t involved in a good portion of the making. To be even more fair, I didn’t actually help that much with the assembly either. My brother-in-law had previously agreed to help, so he and my dad laid it out and screwed it together.

I will take credit for the placement, the octagon shape, and the size, which should be just about perfect on all accounts for Theo and friends. I will also take credit for shoveling about five hundred pounds of sand.

My redemption, however, comes in the making of the “bench” for the sandbox. After the assembly was finished and the sand was added, we decided to use an extra board to create a handy bench seat on one side. While I didn’t do the cutting in this case either, I did complete most of the routing and sanding and assembly.

Aside from needing a little more sand, I think the project looks pretty damn good.

Learn Something

A yard of sand is literally a ton of sand. Yes, this is the correct usage of literally; a yard of sand weighs two thousand pounds . It is also happens to be (figuratively) a lot of sand. Really, I should say that a half-yard of sand is a lot of sand because that’s how much my dad brought in his small pickup. Really, I should say that it’s a lot of sand when you’re shoveling it but not that much when you spread it out in a sandbox with an area of almost sixty square feet. We still need another half-yard or so to fill the sandbox out (in?).

If you buy “play sand” by the bag at a big box home improvement store, it will cost you a little over $3.50 per 50 pound bag ($70 for a half-ton). If you buy masonry sand from a landscaping or builder supplier, a half-ton will cost you about $11. It’s the kind of sand you find in creek beds, and it’s great for sandboxes. When moist, it can be used to build castles, mountains, and caves. And when you’re finished playing, it just brushes off without leaving your hands and clothes soiled. We even found a few rocks in our batch, and they were smooth and shiny, worn down from their time at the bottom of what I imagine was a pleasant stream in some tranquil woodscape.

Karate Chop Something

Yes, I karate-chopped the sand.

Try Something New

I had never built a sandbox before. I’m not certain, but I also don’t think I had used a router before (although I’m a little suspicious of that). I had never before added such a prominent feature to our backyard. Our only real customization at this point is that we have added some potted plants and a few bird feeders, allowed the deck to deteriorate, and not filled in all of Rory’s holes. In addition to the toys scattered haphazardly around the yard, the sandbox really solidifies the space as Theo’s.

Be Nice to Someone

While it is clear that “someones” were nice to me in this situation–they were giving their time and energy to build this sandbox–I also feel like I was being a little generous in allowing the construction to take place. That might sound odd, I guess. “I’ll allow you to do something nice for me.” But, accepting help is not just a selfish act. It is nice to let someone do something nice for you, especially in this case.

My dad is a builder. Even without his background as a carpenter, he would still be drawn to creating something with his hands. And he enjoys the process and result of putting his skills to use for someone else. Multiply that by the grandchild factor. And then multiply that by the building with your son and son-in-law factor. It’s like calculating the volume of a cylinder (sandbox): radius squared, times pi, times height. It’s a volume of generosity.

Also, it was pretty nice for Theo. He can hardly stand how much he loves playing outside, digging and moving dirt.

I guess I tricked you (and myself) there. I was planning on a shower-themed review, and instead, I went even more specific with a sandbox theme. Writing is funny sometimes. I hope you had and have a great week.

Make Something

I finished building Melanie’s website this week, and I feel pretty good about it even though it could still use some work. I suggest you pay Melanie a visit, not because the site is great but because the content is. Be careful though; Melanie’s writing will hit you in your feeling place, hard.

Learn Something

I learned the world “brutiful” this week. It’s a portmanteau Glennon Doyle Melton uses to describe those moments in life that are both beautiful and brutal. I heard it in a fantastic interview on the The One You Feed podcast, which I cannot get enough of lately. Just one of many takeaways from their discussion: the way out of almost any funk is Art and Service.

Karate Chop Something

I metaphorically karate chopped the front yard this weekend. It finally stopped raining long enough to cut it, and instead of putting it off for another weekend, I just got it done. That’s a small thing, but it’s a big victory for me since I almost always wait too long to cut the grass.

Try Something New

Hmm. This might be my failure for the week. I didn’t intentionally set out to try something new, and I think that oversight has caught up to me. Instead of claiming that the typing experiment should count here, I’m just gonna acknowledge that I need to improve. 

Be Nice to Someone

I forwarded a podcast I really enjoyed to a few people I thought would appreciate it (the same one I mentioned above). And that is actually all I can think of at the moment, which means I need to work on this area in the coming week too, or I need to do a better job of keeping track. 

Overall, I did alright, but I need to be more intentional about this. Also, I should probably be aiming to practice the Five Karate Moves to Success everyday, not just per week.

Good luck on your own forthcoming week.

Make Something

In addition to the writing I did this week, Theo and I also made some decent artwork. We painted lines and circles and various other shapes with his watercolors, and I made a number of Play-Doh animals, including a shark, a sheep, and a horse. I think I could be a little more intentional with my making next week.

Learn Something

I listen to many podcasts during my commute and while doing other stuff that doesn’t require much thinking (mowing, dishes, etc.), so I come across new information all the time. In retrospect, one podcast that stands out to me is the Freakonmics episode, This Idea Must Die. Rather than offer some interesting , new idea, Steven Dubner asked a bunch of experts what particular idea they thought needed to be retired. Among some of the more compelling were our conception of the universe (instead of a multiverse), the idea that “the market” is good or bad, and the belief that atheism is a prerequisite for scientific inquiry. One of my favorites was Alan Alda’s suggestion that we stop thinking that something has to be right or wrong, true or false, by which he meant retiring “the idea that something is either true or false for all time and in all respects.” My typical response to whether or not a statement is true is, “it depends,” which can be frustrating for whomever I’m in conversation with. But so much depends on the particular situation and person that I hate to limit my perspective when I can avoid it.

Karate-chop Something

I don’t think I excelled in this area this week. I didn’t literally karate-chop anything, and I can’t say that I totally crushed anything figuratively either. Another area for improvement.

Try Something New

I went to a dealership for the first time this week, at least for the first time with the intention of buying a vehicle. Thus far, I have managed to buy my rides from individuals (or have them gifted to me). It was a pretty strange experience on the whole, complicated by Theo’s presence and the fact that we weren’t really excited about getting a minivan. Not that I have a problem with minivans, but Melanie and I both felt somewhat forced into the situation because she’s having twins. So, it wasn’t an expense we had necessarily foreseen. I don’t actually want to go into all the details here, but I will say that we managed to find a great deal online, and we feel fortunate that we have a reliable ride for the family.

Overall, it was a positive experience. It was also one that I don’t think you can really prepare for that well just by reading about it. I’ve seen plenty of information about working with salespeople and dealerships, but I feel like it’s a situation you really have to go through a few times before you’re comfortable with it. But it is also an experience you don’t really want to practice because that implies that you’re constantly buying new cars.

Be Nice to Someone

Again, I think I could have done better in this area. I did tell one of the security guards at work that I liked his sweater. And I complimented someone’s dishes. I think it’s best to make an effort to do something nice for at least one person every day, so I need to be more intentional about it.

So, that’s this week in review. It looks like I have some work to do; really only succeeded in two out of five of the karate moves for success.  Hopefully this information isn’t completely dull and useless. I felt like it might be interesting to start keeping tabs on my own self-improvement and to share that progress with you. We’ll see how it goes and whether or not the Johnny Karate path is the best framework to use.

Thanks for reading. Did you achieve any epic karate moves this week?