Race Cars and Rock Stars

When I was a kid, I could entertain myself for hours; sometimes entire days, with my books, music, and toys. I had a good childhood. Then I met my first love which was hockey. I was hooked for the next decade and a half reading books about it, playing whenever and wherever I could. And despite my mother's disappointment, I was never going to be the starting goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

We were middle middle-class. My folks probably lived paycheck to paycheck most of the time. But they always found a way to put food on the table, pay the bills, and get my sister and I cool gifts at Christmas. Nothing about my life is a story for the ages.

Fender Telecaster and a set of Pilot Sport Cup 2s

There is something strange that humans possess which no other beings experience and that is a yearning for more. Our cat doesn't spend her days wishing she was a panther. She is a content companion who thinks we are awesome because we give her food a few times a day and a comfy place to nap all afternoon.

Sometimes I watch super car channels on YouTube and imagine owning a Bugatti Chiron, but I don't then spend the next two hours being depressed I will never have one. I don't listen to music wishing I was the rock star either. If we're unhappy, money in the bank, adoring fans, and a $3 million hyper car in the garage won't help.

The reason for our unhappiness is often because we can't define what will make us happy instead of looking at what is good in our lives that already brings happiness.

But I will take the Chiron in navy blue, thanks.

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Stuff For Your Stuff

Are you satisfied with the content for your gadgets?
I’m sure you have a few gadgets in your life. You probably have a computer, PDA or cell, mp3 player, digital camera, printer, television, and other electronic entertainment equipment.

There’s Nuthin’ On!
The Holidays are officially over and you may have realized something startling. We seem to have to weed through a lot of crap to get to the stuff we want. Years ago Bruce Springsteen had a song entitled 57 Channels and Nothing On which can be said about most of the gadgets in our lives. Some days there are 300 channels and nothing on!

The Google Stare
Perhaps this has happened to you. Over the Holidays whilst trying to digest more bad food, I was often stuck not knowing where I wanted to go. So out of habit, I would check Twitter and Facebook, then Google Reader, perhaps a music site and the cycle continued. There are billions of sites to visit but why do we get stuck?

Perhaps we still don’t feel we have enough control over our environment – despite our spoiled existence? And that includes living through these tough economic times.

Thingamajigs and Doohickeys
One of the most popular sites in the world is Gizmodo. It has all the newest coolest toys available. It's cool that you can buy a Bugatti for a million bucks, but what good is it if your route to work consists of urban gridlock? And do we really need a toaster radio?

Everything we own depends on other things to make it work. No power, no service. No content, your laptop is landfill. If you are out of cell range, your phone is rendered useless.

What is Stuff?
Stuff is content. Stuff is the device we need to access that content. Stuff is tools for work, games to play, words to read and music to enjoy.

It is fun to play with all applications on your iPhone or Blackberry but once that novelty wears off, what do you do then? You must then search for stuff to put on your stuff.

Possibilities
The great news is we can create whatever we want. If we don’t know how to write that computer code to make that cool thing dance on that website, we can find someone who can do it. If we want to gather a group of people to create a new concept or project we have that ability. The first stop is to ask ourselves - what we want to create?

Are you satisfied with the stuff on your stuff?

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