Happy Sunday Reader,What started as casual Friday afternoon beers took a turn when I ended up in a jail cell. The only light shining in the cell was red. It was hard to see anything. But I could feel the handcuff on my wrist. And I could hear frantic, familiar voices coming close by. Three weak flashlight beams cut through crimson. Across the room, another Scott sat chained to a chair. D&D were shouting from the next cell. Sarah pulled my wrist with hers to find the first lock. The red clock was counting down… On a whim, we’re in an escape room. And for 60 minutes, it feels refreshingly real. No phones, no worries, no thinking about tomorrow. Just fun, focused presence. When was the last time you felt that? Not just engaged, but absorbed? Most days, I live in my head. Planning the future, replaying the past, pulling threads across time and space. I forget about the power of now. There’s something about activities that demand your full attention – that pull you into the now. Reminder to self: Sometimes, you need to lock yourself in a fake jail cell to remember what being here and now feels like.
November in 3 snapshots 🔦 Escape room — it was the last Friday night of the year above freezing. An escape room wasn’t on my bingo card, but I was happy to be out in the city. Five of us scrambled to solve puzzles and break free of the “killer’s cabin in the woods” – honestly the most fun I’ve had in a long time. 🥅 Scoring goals — 6 games in with the Knights, and wow, I am out of shape. Still dying out there. But I’ve whacked in two garbage goals and one decent floater. The thrill of scoring never goes away. 📧 Sales letters — wrote my first Black Friday sales sequence this week – a different beast from my usual newsletter writing. Every line needs to hook, engage, and drive action. Turns out there’s an art to selling that’s both humbling and addictive.
3 Lessons Learned
I. You can get bored living the dream, too.It’s a strange feeling when you realize recent dreams have become your daily routine. I’m living my dream from a year ago: paid to write, trusted with important projects, living the WFH lifestyle. And yet, a slice of me is bored with the routine. I’ve learned every spark of excitement fades into something steadier. Our brains are wired for novelty. There will always be the next shiny thing, even when we’ve got the shiny thing we wanted. When the extraordinary starts feeling ordinary, you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. Boring isn’t bad if you’re moving in the right direction.
II. The creative process is embarrassing.Caught myself getting frustrated when the outline fell apart eight lines into writing. The first draft shows all my unrefined ideas. Doubts double into dismay as the perfect plan gets muddier. I’ve learned that nothing we make will ever be as perfect as we imagine. And that’s kind of the painful point. Good stuff happens in the mess. Best to put on rubber boots and enjoy getting stuck in the mud. III. We’re all hypocritical.Hard to see it ourselves.
3 interesting videos
I’ll leave you with a quote 🤔 “When you think you are too old to do something new, remember you will never be younger than you are right now.” — James Clear Until next time, Scotty
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