53 thoughts on my 53rd birthday

1. Life explains itself better as it goes by than I do trying to explain it
2. This year a small group of people left my life replaced by a large group of incredible people
3. Stand Up Comedy is stronger than the forces trying to cancel it
4. In my 50’s, I’m starting to pull muscles I didn’t even know I had
5. Addiction is better combatted personally by addressing the demand through recovery than the supply which can be
6. Working on my issues is the single most impactful thing I can do for the world
7. Writing is super easy until I have to write
8. We are in the Golden Age of TV
9. Ted Lasso’s first and second season show the magnificence of the beloved range of humanity
10. The reason so many people like me is I’m willing to admit and share where I don’t like myself
11. My daughter is still the number one teacher in my life
12. My daughter is the relationship in my life that is the perfect example where my duty to be my best meets my desire to be my best
13. Expecting something different from people is sometimes a GREAT teacher and the lesson learned isn’t necessarily for me to lower my expectations
14. I miss my Dad
15. At 53 I’m a better basketball player than I was at 23
16. At 53 my hair is better than it was at 23
17. It’s on me to keep up with how the younger generation is changing and bring a perspective of emotional fluency and understanding to it rather than trying to control or stop it
18. The immediacy of listening to what I want far outweighs the joy of unexpectedly hearing a song on a radio
19. The emotional wounds of the pandemic life will last as long as we don’t identify and work on them
20. Family is family is a way of describing just how difficult family is and ultimately the only family I REALLY owe my life work to is my daughter
21. I’d rather hang out with Taylor Swift than Eddie Vedder
22. Personal branding still sucks, I’d rather us just be who we are and let THAT be your “brand”
23. Social media is simply a channel, our emotional and spiritual health trumps it every single time
24. My God is way better than the God I was awkwardly intro’d to as a kid
25. Having won a Super Bowl, I’m less impacted by the ups and downs of my beloved Chiefs and I’ll never leave them
26. My high school and college friends and I are all idiots with each other I wouldn’t want it any other way
27. It’s getting increasingly harder to be a young man to adjust to showing up for young women in the way I think they deserve, it’s scary, I get it
28. As I should be dead given my addiction, I’m playing life with house money
29. Life is improv, I ask myself how am I saying “yes and” to it
30. My 100% grounded no’s lead me to my 100% grounded yes’s
31. I don’t kick people out of my life because of their politics, I kick them out if they’re jerks about their politics
32. Writers are the most interesting people in Hollywood
33. Saying I have white privilege is not an insult or make me feel guilty, it’s a possible invitation to a perspective broadening discussion or you’re lobbing judgment my way, I’ll figure out which one it is quickly
34. We parents who don’t actively work on ourselves or get help are damaging our children, I know because I did and on a daily basis I try to live differently and let my daughter know she can ask or talk about when I was creating problems
35. I don’t particularly care if you don’t get vaccinated, nor do I particularly care how angry you might be if you choose not to and there are consequences
36. When you deconstruct the way NFT’s are valued, it makes perfect sense and resembles a ton of other asset classes
37. I’m SUPER proud of myself for having launched a podcast about something I care about
38. Listening to songs that remind me of my ex gf show me where I am in healing from it
39. Most of my emotional difficulties today relate to emotional wounds from my childhood
40. Well set boundaries are WAY more connecting than isolating
41. If audio books were better integrated with the actual books, I’d buy more actual books
42. I have an awesome voice, I finally get it
43. “It is what it is” is one of the most damaging, misused spiritual axiom that we use
44. I love people who love me for who I am and are courageous enough to point out where I have room to grow
45. Dating can either be fun or a drag, it’s my choice
46. I value people who are smarter than me as much as I value people who aren’t who are curious question askers to help us understand each other
47. The slower I go the wider the flow
48. There is NO reason sex shouldn’t be openly discussed
49. We should welcome women to talk about periods, PMS, Menopause whatever it’s a beautiful, natural and men and women BOTH have a role in making this a reality
50. San Francisco is the best city I’ve ever been in and is not nearly as accepting and liberal as many think it is
51. We need a new word for love, it’s not nuanced enough
52. When I hated or hate myself it’s more achievable for me to get to self like than it is self love
53. At 53 I’m finally coming to terms with how many people love me and like me

Comments

[Kerlia Edmiston]

Loved every word. Precise and thoughtful. Smiled and nodded the whole way through.

[Tim J Taylor]

Thank you so much Kerlia, what a wonderful gift to get to know you. :)