life – Page 2 – The Corrigan Encore

Kintsu.. who what?

August 10, 2023 John Corrigan

Kintsugi is an Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using gold as the material for repairing the cracks. The philosophy behind Kintsugi is very similar in nature to wabi-sabi , which is embracing the imperfect.

There is a great song written by Trains lead singer Patrick Monahan and performed by Train and Ashley Monroe called Bruises.

The song deals with embracing our flaws as part of who we are. It can be tempting to cover up imperfections but it will not work. People can spot fake people a mile away.

It’s all right to make mistakes, you’re only humanInside everybody’s hiding something.
Dido Armstrong

Its important to put forth your “real self” flaws and all to the world, especially our family and friends. If your relationships are loving ones the family and friends will not only accept you flaws and all they will celebrate you with gold, flaws and all and, if they don’t they will eventually come around.

This is by no means a recommendation to hurt someone. It is ok to celebrate your flaws however it is never ok to break another person. Never

Thanks Amazon and Apple and Planet Fitness

August 7, 2023 John Corrigan

Describe one habit that brings you joy.

My feet are moving in a pattern that can best be described as the machine I am standing on and, that is elliptical. My feet are moving in an elliptical pattern. I am not moving through the earth but my imagination is soaring. In front of me on the elliptical I am looking at the kindle app on my Ipad.

One of my favorite things to do that I have made a habit is reading. I love to read books especially fiction ones. A good story can move us from where we are to an unknown world and I love that.

Reading is good for us, it improves our memories, empathy, and communication skills. I highly recommend reading as a fun healthy habit for everyone.

Get out there and there and there

August 3, 2023 John Corrigan

Did you know that Mark Twain was part of a confederate militia? For anyone who doesn’t know the confederates were part of the confederacy in the United States. The Confederacy was a racist part of the United States that fought a civil war so that they could keep slaves.

At the end and even middle of his life Mark Twain was far from racist. Twain wrote Huck FInn.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime
Mark Twain

I encourage everyone to see all of the world they can. Humans were made to wander and explore and interact with life all over the world.

Get out there and take the world trips you have planned you will be a better person for it!

A sentient being

August 2, 2023 John Corrigan

The idea of being sentient to me has become a barometer for life. If a form of life is sentient than I believe that is life worth protecting. It was this type of thinking that caused me to change my diet. Right now my family and I are eating plant based protein because of the fact that many of the animals used for protein are sentient beings.

There are strangely enough, many situations that you may find yourself in that require the need to define life and this definition I created for my self has helped me navigate.

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right — for you’ll be criticized anyway.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Cider House Rules, is a great movie and I watched the movie but did not read the book (I know shame on me, I do intend to read the book someday). The movie is a classic and should be watched by all. In the movie a young man learns that rules written by those in charge may work in theory but not application.

You are living your life and you should learn what is right and wrong for yourself and not really on others to tell you. Learning right from wrong for yourself is called ethics and it is confusing and hard sometimes and there is nothing wrong with seeking help, however at the end of the day you must decide what is right or wrong

Unconnected in a connected world

July 24, 2023 John Corrigan

Today was my first day back from a weeks long vacation. Me, my wife, and niece spent a week in the bayou Teche. We were camping in our rv and had a blast. We did some exploring, fishing, and a whole lot of swimming.

When I got into work this morning the emails were there in abundance, so were the instant messages and phone calls. I got top work on the backlog and I am finally starting to clear out the workload. I purposely left behind my work cellphone, tablet and laptops. I was unplugged and disconnected but I didn’t feel that way. Out there on the water I felt more connected than I had in a pretty long time.

I thought it was odd as I stood alone on the water, fishing that, I would feel connected. I am a huge fan of nature but, I don’t think nature has magical properties. I do think nature can be restorative though simply because nature has a way of cutting out distractions (like pretty much all my emails, messages and calls) and making us focus on what matters.

So what is it that really matters? Life and the environment that we live in matter more than anything else. Last week we experienced the hottest days on record. Man made climate change has caused serious damage to life and the enviroment that we live in.

The man made climate change was accomplished through and still happening because of a lack of perspective. As a species we have become distracted and lost focus of what really matters.

Maybe we should all take a week of disconnect unplug and reconnect with what matters.

It is not to late

July 11, 2023 John Corrigan

Did you know that the average age of most successful entrepreneurs was 42? When I say average age I mean average age at the start of their companies. Did you know that Mark Twain did not start writing until he was 42?

Age really is just a number. We are often conditioned to think that there is a prime time in our lives, but honestly their isn’t there is just our lives. Don’t let anyone tell you that you are too old or too young to do something especially since age is just a number.

Want to, should and have to

July 10, 2023 John Corrigan

This week the world is experiencing intense heat. Just last week, the planet was the hottest it has ever been. This intense heat has some pretty dire consequences and will and is changing the way that humans live on the earth. There are foods that we once ate that we cannot eat anymore, homes and parts of the world that humans lived in and cannot anymore the ways that climate change have already affected humans is long and getting longer. In the 80’s scientists were ringing the alarm bells about the consequences of burning fossil fuels. No one listened because society didn’t want to.

In the 90’s the scientists rang again and no one listened. We should have but we didn’t really need to.

Now here we are in 2023 and we have to listen. Burning fossil fuels has destroyed the world we live in and changed the climate so much that we now have to listen if we do not humans will not adapt. This article in Time magazine outlines how humans will not be able to adapt to the pace of the heat on Earth.

The changes are being made but the pace we make the changes has to happen at a more rapid rate. We need to consider the environment before any action we make. Reduce, reuse and recycle and stop burning fossil fuels for transportation and energy creation.

We can change I know it.

Do they smell like yesterday?

June 28, 2023 John Corrigan

Daily writing prompt

If you were forced to wear one outfit over and over again, what would it be?

View all responses

Bart Simpson has worn a red shirt and blue shorts every day for 32 seasons. I often wonder about this. does Bart have a closet full of clothes that are all the same? Does Bart have a pair of clothes that never fall apart in the wash? Is part a cartoon character and live by a different set of rules?

I was once in the US Army and every day I wore the same uniform to work. I got into the corporate world and switched my clothes and shoes every day. I once wore a different pair of shoes to work every day for two months straight. I am a big fan of change. I like to consistently change things up as long as I can keep some basic things the same.

Change everything except your wife and kids
Lee Kun-hee

That quote comes from one of the heads of Samsung. The leader was worried about the lack of innovation at the company and wanted to shake things up. I honestly do not think I would be able to wear the same thing for the rest of my life over and over again, if I had to though I guess I would wear an outfit that could reflect my family, like a tunic with my family crest.

It’s more than half

June 12, 2023 John Corrigan

There is this awesome podcast called How I Built This. On HIBT the podcast interviewer interviews founders of companies and lets the founders tell their stories about how the company started and is or isn’t functioning right now. I like the show because it gives insight that can really only be gleaned from the founders. At the end of each interview the interviewer asks how much of the companies success was luck and how much was hard work. Almost always the answer is more than half good luck.

The answer is of course layered by the founders and not just a straight forward one. Most founders acknowledge the good luck they received in life through opportunities they were afforded at all stages so far of their lives. The answers got me to thinking about how these opportunities manifest themselves for us and others.

We as a group have a rare opportunity to generate good luck for others through charity and education. By giving our time and talent we can actually give people luck. It has been said before that successful folks make their own luck but I think that statement needs to be changed to ” successful people make other peoples luck.

Photo by Djalma Paiva Armelin on Pexels.com

Men in white coats

June 7, 2023 John Corrigan

There is this funny comedian named Anjelah Johnson, my wife and I really enjoy her shows. In one of her shows she mentions how she takes medical advice from anyone wearing scrubs. Scrubs are a type of overalls doctors and nurses wear however anyone can buy and wear scrubs some daycare teachers wear scrubs to daycare.

In 1916 Nathan Handwerker was looking for a way on Conney Island to sell his hot dogs. Nathan understood the respect that doctors garnered on Conney Island and used this to his company, Nathans Famous Hotdogs”, benefit. Nathan hired folks to eat his hotdogs while wearing white coats. Doctors and lab technicians wear these white lab coats quite often. Nathan never really made a statement that doctors endorsed his hotdogs but allowed everyone to assume it. Like scrubs, lab coats can be purchased by anyone. At a factory I used to work out the employees on the floor wore lab coats when they dealt with insulation.

It can be tempting to trust people that we believe have authority however how we authenticate this is very important. a uniform does not make someone an expert their actions and knowledge does though.

Sometimes it is ok to be like someone from the state of Missouri and ask someone to show you how and why they are an expert.