Stolen Hours
Furati sunt horae.
(The hours were stolen.)
In this newsletter:
Stolen Hours
Praxis Work: The Phil Night Formula
Art of the Week
What’s in the Works?
Stolen Hours
Sitting. Talking. Sleeping. It’s so strange how time can be gone in a blink, a flash. The more it seems like you’re doing, the faster it spins. This week I had great conversations with one of my friends on Tuesday and one of my sisters yesterday, as well as seeing an aunt that I haven’t seen for a while today. Connection connection connection. Amongst the three of them, I spent thirteen hours engaging in deep and thought-provoking dialogue, pushing aside other responsibilities like sleep, or writing this newsletter.
And I think that’s good.
I never want to be trapped in the idea that people matter less than getting sleep. That connection is less than production. That conversation is less than monetary gain.
True, all things will catch up to you eventually. When you don’t take the time to sleep, you get home at the end of the week and pass out for several hours. When you don’t work, you don’t eat. So here I am, at the end, (or beginning) of the week, finishing something I should have, done several days ago. And that’s ok. Stolen hours may have to be paid back eventually, but the time I spend doing that is worth the time I spent stealing them.
Praxis Work
The Phil Knight Formula was an exercise we did this week. Making a list of what Phil needed to succeed proved to be a fascinating task, here’s what my group came up with-
Be crazy about an audacious idea. Phil’s idea, to import and sell cheap running shoes from Japan was audacious. Japan had just been beaten by the USA in the war, and traveling there for business was strange. But he was determined to make it work and work for it.
Make a list and follow through. He started with first things first and made a list of everything he’d have to do to make it succeed. Every problem had a list for it, a way to deduce the correct way to go.
Develop a high risk tolerance. From the beginning, Phil’s plan was nearly unthinkable. His traveling to Japan was unthinkable, and so much of what he did included stepping way outside his comfort zone. But he took each step in stride and followed through.
Finding people just as crazy about the idea as you are. He was great at finding people who could fill the empty places in his team when needed, and even better at finding people who could do many things and take on many roles as the years went on. One of his greatest strengths was knowing who would be good for a specific job and putting them there.
Above all, Phil Knight had conviction about what he wanted to do. Until he was bankrupt, he was going to follow through with his crazy idea. And today, he has Nike to show for it.
Art of the Week
This week I made a couple of things!
If you want to see more artwork from me, including more progress photos of the art above, check out my Instagram page, Lucid Ace Art.
What’s in the Works?
The high school prom is next week, which my sister and brother are going to, as well as some of my friends. I can’t wait to help my sister get ready and to see all of the outfits and the props for the theme. I went to prom twice and while I enjoyed being with my friends, the party atmosphere wasn’t quite my cup of tea and I left unfashionably early both times, haha!
I also have a call with the nonprofit through which I support a child in poverty this week. Sometime in April, I’m hosting the Compassion Sunday at my church through the organization, Compassion International. I’ve hosted twice in the past, both of which went relatively well, and I’m excited to do it again this year! I supported one girl for four years and just started supporting another this year since the first one graduated from the program and made her way into the workforce after studying IT education.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!