Dear friends,

It has not been very easy to write to you lately. I’ve considered telling you what I tell most: life has been awfully busy. But even that is starting to feel over played now. I appreciate your patience and I do encourage you to unsubscribe if you expect a regular newsletter or well constructed thoughts. This is called Thinking Loud, after all.

I write to you now from Atlanta as enjoy a Pinot Grigio and make a desperate attempt to forget the sour excuse for an Airport meal I scarfed down between flights.

I’m caught up thinking about a conversation I had with my father about a hundred times. I had a complex about my age and wanted to grow up way before I needed to. He spent an exorbitant amount of time reminding me that I would miss these days. I never was one for sitting at the little kid table.

Despite my pleas, he continued to tell me I would miss these days. And I do.

It’s wild to me that at one point my greatest problems revolved around a $7.25/hr bar job, the girl that wasn’t really into me, and what ever family drama was topical that week. Those days were easy, they were fun! My friends and I hardly took high-school seriously and in college I was always up to something dumb my parents wouldn’t be too proud of in between classes.

Similar to myself, most kids have that same flame at one point. They want to grow up fast, they want to experience everything life has to offer, they want to stop sitting at the damn kids table already. I know every adult at one point wants to shake them and say “Wake up! Life will happen fast. You just don’t know it yet!”

But that advice never worked for me and it will surely never work for anyone still working to find their footing. If I could offer one piece of advice to the younger version of myself, it’s this: unapologetically design your life. Don’t spend another minute worrying about how fast life will happen, just make sure you spend every minute doing what you want to be doing.

I’m tired of spending my time with people who can’t spend a minute focused on the present devoid of their cell phone. I’m tired of going out of my way for people that don’t deserve it. I’m tired of spending my time doing anything I’d rather not be doing. Your minutes are precious and deserve to be safe guarded at all costs.

It felt too ironic that I had been struggling to find my footing again when I read advice that Ryan Holiday had shared for struggling creatives: go live an interesting life. I like to think that I’ve been living an interesting life. I’ve found community, I have a comfortable number of people to riff ideas with, I love my city, I’ve found my footing in my career, I’m hitting critical mass in my entrepreneurial pursuit, I’ve finally found stable support for my mental health, I’m seeing someone, and I’ve been working like an absolute banshee.

You’re free now– so get after it. Unapologetically design a life worth living.

I hope to write to you more soon but that is it for now. I have to go catch a flight home. As always: I’m wishing you and yours the absolute best the world has to offer.

Cullin

My siblings might be annoyed that I shared these photos, but I just got back from a quick family vacation and I already miss them more than words can help share.

Thinking Loud

I guess this is growing up