You and I are absolutely imposters. What’s an imposter?A person who pretends to be what they’re not so as to deceive.I do that all the time.When my brain says that I’m not a writer, I pretend to be one through the act of writing in order to deceive my mind that I am one. When my brain says I’m not a musician, I act like a musician and play music to deceive my brain. When my brain says that I’m not good enough for this job, I act like a person who belongs where they are. I deceive myself regularly.

I live on the edge.I don’t roller coasters. I’m not a thrill seeker.I don’t particularly enjoy activities that might cost me my life. However, I love thinking and subtly working at the edge of culture.If conventional wisdom says one thing, I think about the opposite. If the masses suggest one best practice, I try out things that seem outlandish.Living at the edge of culture gives you the ability to see what others don’t see — possibility.

For you, the leader in an organization.Perhaps the best feelings you can give your team — the belief they have agency.

You end up missing the forest for the trees.Remember to come up for air every now and then.Try not to mix metaphors ;-)

The blank page.Intimidating and inviting.Alluring and appalling.Generous and greedy. Why fight it?“Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgement of the facts of a situation, then deciding what you’re going to do about it” — Dune.“Resistance is futile.” — The Borg.

You might admire this person on my team. She wrote an email intended for our customers. She made 7 attempts and failed each one. The emails were too long, and didn’t communicate value. She finally nailed it on the 8th try. I admire this person because of their grit. She didn’t want inputs because she wanted the opportunity to get back and try again; each time sharpening herself. She felt surprised to see 8 submissions all together, and nearly 100 back and forth messages. I saw nothing but 8 lessons learned, 8 at bats, 8 moments of resilience — I saw the fight within her. Perhaps you share a few of her traits?

Remembering Michael P from August 2020: “don’t give labels power.”Read the article to understand the history. The TL;Dr is: the labels you attribute to yourself are only as powerful as you allow them to be. I’m white, black, brown, woman, man, nonbinary, Latinx, German, musician, artist, creative, engineer, introvert, extrovert, serious, fun… I appreciate that people use labels for themselves. I try not to use a label for myself if I can help it. I prefer you to interpret my actions and my body of work in your way. If I have to give myself a label, it’s just that I’m David and I am me.

I thought about time the other day. What does it mean to give time to something?You can’t see time. You can’t hold it. Time may not exist at the moment you need to give it.What does it mean to give time to something?Perhaps it means to give something, or someone, the opportunity to tell themselves the story about themselves that they’ve always wanted to tell.

I heard a recording of myself today. For the first time since I can remember, I am not cringing. I can listen and say, “you know, Brady, you sound like all of your years.”When the artist finishes mastering the material I’ll share with you.In the meantime, an important lesson: be thankful for the years your body has given you. Don’t let any learning moment pass without observation and reflection. Experience compounds.

There’s a Filipino restaurant an hour from my house. On their menu is pork and chicken adobo.

Making adobo is easy. You need a meat, soy sauce (optional), vinegar, black pepper, more garlic than you can tolerate, and bay leaves. You mix it all together in a pan with some oil. You cook it until it’s done. Maybe reduce the sauce to your desired thickness. The entire thing costs less than $10 per serving… easily.