I steal things

Ok, have you all recovered from the last post? I don't know why I am going deep lately but it has been fun... well I cried a lot and I guess that is fun. Right?

RIGHT?

Let's put my constant need for validation aside and talk about this blog. It's really great isn't it? I mean if I was you I would share each post and make sure I am subscribed. I am really enjoying having this as a creative outlet and I am looking forward to discovering its true purpose. Much like a child, it needs time to work out what it wants to be when it grows up.

I have discovered another purpose, it helps me with small talk. Now if you know me, you are aware I do not need help with small talk or any type of talk for that matter, but I love a good shortcut. So recently when someone asked me how I am going, I just sent them a link to my post 'My Rule and Why I break it' to let them know that I am tired but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. So tomorrow I am doing something very special with my daughter and I want to tell you all about it here so I don't have to fit this into a text message.

Btw - hello to those who happened to text me recently. Thanks for clicking on the link.

I used to be the purest with my creativity. I arrogantly thought all of my ideas were 100% original and would obviously be featured in a museum one day. Did I say arrogantly? I meant super arrogantly because everything I do is next level. This drive to be original spilled over into my marriage and family.  I wanted to be uniquely creative and for the most part, I achieved that. I should tell you the story of how I proposed. I will save that for another day.

Fast forward to hearing a speaker by the name of Bob Goff. This dude is amazing, but also a nut case. He wrote a book called "Love Does" that sold over 1,000,000 copies and at the end of the book he puts his personal phone number. Why? Because he genuinely cares about people and would love to hear from them. My friend didn't think this was real so he called it and Bob answered. Then my friend freaked out because he realised it was 3am for Bob.

When Bob talked he mentioned he did something with his parenting that was so amazing it put my whole 'I need to be original desire' at risk. He mentioned that when his children turn 10, they get to go anywhere in the world with him. A one on one vacation with their dad. It was such a great idea because as a dad I don't get to spend as much time with the kids as my wife does, and seeing we homeschool this is doubly true.

So what did I do? Simple. I stole the idea and told myself to grow up. It was wonderful. We told my oldest daughter on her 9th birthday that this time next year we will be starting this tradition and she had a year to work out where she wanted to go and plan it out. We only did what she wanted to do. She choose Japan and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. The country was great, but the bonding was priceless. We talked about the trip for the year leading up to it. Working out where we should do, researching ideas, booking flights, accommodations, experiences. It has almost been 2 years since that trip and we still talk about it. In fact last night I took her to an event and while we were walking the city together we both reminisced about our time together walking the streets of Osaka.

It is now my middle daughter's turn and she is an island girl. We went on a cruise in Australia Oct 2018 to New Caledonia (our first cruise), and she loved every second. So for her choice, she wanted to do it again. This was going to work well as we would fly the whole family to Australia to visit and we would go do the cruise. But the cruise got cancelled due to covid, then our flights got cancelled, so we were back to square one. I told her not to worry, we will find something better. Then one day I found a cruise from the UK that was going to the Canary Islands and she fell in love with the idea. So at 2pm tomorrow we will be boarding a cruise ship and travelling to the Canary Islands, Spain and Portugal. We are both beside ourselves.

It's funny, if I had stuck to my guns to have my own idea I would have missed out on this beautiful experience. Part of me desperately wants to tell you how I have changed it slightly from how Bob does it, or how I have a follow-up idea for when they turn 18 but that is me falling back into immaturity again. It's ok to recognise that someone is more creative than you or has a better idea than you could ever come up with. You are not less of a person because the idea is not yours. The fact you choose to steal that idea out of all the billions of ideas that are out there is what makes that idea becomes yours.

So go steal something today and have some fun.

See you all in two weeks

Dan.