Marlow's Musings 12/17/23
Insights, adventures and fun stuff from this week.
Audio narration by David Marlow
Many years ago, before my kids were even married, let alone parents, I thought about being a grandpa.
Not like I meant to think about being one.
Facing rotator cuff surgery, the surgeon asked me about my recovery goals. I didn’t understand, so he explained that some people are fine with being able to reach a can from the cabinet; others want to be able to mountain climb. The goal would dictate the surgical approach and recovery strategy.
“I want to be able to play with my grandkids.”
It wasn’t something I’d consciously considered before. The words flowed effortlessly and without intention out of my mouth, generated by a deep desire hidden until that moment, even from me.
After the surgery, Dr. Hanula declared my shoulder had the motion range of a 20-year-old. I laughed and said if he could do that, I had a list of things he could restore.
Holding up his hand, he interrupted and said, “I only do shoulders.”
My younger brother is a new grandfather who has been blessed with two grandchildren, a boy and a girl, in the past couple of years.
We discussed the physical demands of grandparenting during the downtime at our sister’s funeral last weekend. It’s funny what comes up at such times.
He shared that he had a goal similar to the grandfather in the Christmas season commercial attached below.
It is a beautiful story, and I won’t ruin it here; rather, I urge you to watch it.
While being a grandpa isn’t my Ikigai, putting my heart and soul into the role might be the ultimate expression of it.
Word of the Week
Abound (v.)
/əˈbound/
1: be in great plenty
2: to be abundant
Early 14c., from Old French abonder "to abound, be abundant, come together in great numbers. Middle English (in the sense ‘overflow, be abundant’): from Latin abundare ‘overflow’, from ab- ‘from’ + undare ‘surge’ (from unda ‘a wave’).
An abounder is one who brings together and has plenty. To abound is to share a wave, a surge, an overflow.
That has been my Focus Word of the Year for 2023.
Each year, I envision the kind of person I want to be this year and beyond. I'm striving to live from and into that place in my Ikigai.
In 2023 abound supported that vision and primed my mind for opportunities to live in that world.
It's not magic; sometimes, I transcended; other times, I failed, and regardless I kept going.
Do you create a Focus Word of the Year?
In case you missed it…
Podquest is here!
Quest is a beautiful word within the word question. As Elie Wiesel said, “We are all partners in a quest.”
📌 That is why I’m launching Podquest.
Podquest will be rich conversations Questing together, gaining insights into guests' lives, and uncovering ways to support our own quest.
In the first episode, I interview the fabulous James Breakwell, a comedy writer and author of seven books and his wildly popular Twitter account 'Exploding Unicorn' with a million followers.
In this clip, he shares his secret for balancing marriage, raising four daughters under 13, writing, raising two pigs, and working a regular job all while creating his art.
Check it out!
The audio podcast…
For Ikiquest+ Subscribers it is also available in video…
Ikiquest+
Also, this week in Ikiquest+…
The Coffee Contemplation demonstrates the power of living your Ikigai and the risk of mental exhaustion in not living it out.
Plus subscribers can read it here.
Comment of the Week:
This week’s comment is from Maxmillian on the launch of Podquest…
I am really excited to listen to this. I saw it forthcoming in your newsletter where you said “One of the most profound gifts you can give another human being is to listen to them genuinely. I expanded that idea to include exploring and knowing them as a new world.”
This spoke to me deeply, especially in light of my mission.
Thank you for the gift of this podcast.
I love the frame of listening to others as ‘exploring new worlds.’ Everyone is amazing if we take the time to get to know them.
Quote I’m Pondering
This week, I’ve pondered this passage from writer, poet, and visual artist Kahlil Gibran.
“Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh, and the greatness which does not bow before children.”
Kahlil Gibran
Gilbran was considered by many to be a philosopher, though he rejected that title himself.
Interestingly, he commented on philosophy while refusing that label for his work. It brings to mind a thought I had a while back that, in the end, we all become philosophers. Perhaps that was true for him.
Interesting Thing I Saw This Week
Are you ever saddened by the once glorious Christmas trees lining the streets devoid of decorations and color, ready for pick-up after the holiday?
This company is trying to do something about that.
Zeleno Drevo, whose name means Gree Tree in Bulgarian, will send you a live tree and take it back at the end of the season to replant it. After a few years, the tree is ‘retired’ to reforestation efforts in Slovenia.
You can even pick out your tree from a photo catalog so you get just the right tree.
Final Thoughts
By the time you read this our ‘Marlow’ family Christmas will have been held, and the teddy bear in the picture given to my grandson Maverick, henceforth referred to in these pages as ‘M.’
It has been my practice to give each newborn child, starting with nieces and nephews, now grandchildren, a vintage teddy bear for their first Christmas.
I give them all a name and a story. This one is Amicus Custos Taru.
Maybe next week, I’ll share the ‘legendary’ story. In the meantime, I have grandkids to play with.
Quest well.
David Marlow, what a beautifully woven together share to honor the memory of how she lives on at the intersection between your heart and mind.
While pondering next steps this month, I received an invitation to "use the strength of your practices to soften to the harmony between grace and gravity...with patience and trust" immediately followed by multiple opportunties to RSVP.
Excited for the story behind the name of the bear with infinite gratitude!