Bees are smart. When flowers begin to bloom, bees are out there scouting prime locations for their colonies and sources of food - nectar. Flowers are smart, too. They have advertising budgets in the form of bright pedals. Their hope is to attract bees, offer them in nectar, and in exchange for the bees to cross-pollinate. Like all systems that work, and indeed, this is a seemingly perfect system, some seek to hack it. Enter the orchid. The orchid is a beautiful, rare, and difficult-to-grow flower. Like other weeds, it has quite the advertising budget - even humans love orchids! However, like all things that seem too good to be true, the orchid is a fake. As we’ve established, flowers develop beautiful and bright pedals/designs to attract bees who receive nectar in return. Well, orchids don’t provide much in the way of nectar - false advertising! Bees get wise to the orchids scam and guess who stops receiving pollinators and dies off early? You guessed it, orchids! Beauty can be found everywhere. But beware of that which looks too good to be true. Like the orchid, it’s probably pretty on the outside, but lacking substance within. And, before you read too much into that last statement, remember that could very well be you and your brand.

Sometime’s it’s better to listen.Sometime’s nothing needs to be said. Sometime’s it’s better to watch. Sometime’s you don’t have to show it. When you’ve got nothing to say, Let the moment show you what’s needed. Sometime’s that’s enough.

If you’re at all interested in coffee, things you can do from home, or follow trends on social media, you’ve probably checked out “Dalgona Coffee.“The concept appears simple - whip coffee and sugar together into a froth and float over milk.  With only a few household ingredients, you can create something that most readers haven’t yet experienced.  With only a few things around your house, you can innovate a new coffee drinking experience and share it with others.Using the things around you, you can be creative.  You can do something.Yes, I know this is only coffee.  But yes, I also know that for many of us, being able to do something new - right now especially - matters.  Our survival is based on our ability to innovate and create.Innovation is taking something and finding another way to use it.Creation is making the thing that’s in your mind.Even if it’s coffee, sugar, and milk.

“The advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson, used to set a test for aspiring copywriters. One of the questions was simple: ‘Here are two identical 25-cent coins. Sell me the one on the right.’ One successful candidate understood the idea of alchemy. ‘I’ll take the right-hand coin and dip it in Marilyn Monroe’s bag. Then I’ll sell you a genuine 25-cent coin as owned by Marilyn Monroe.’” - Rory Sutherland, “Alchemy.” The story speaks for itself. Two things, similar in appearance and makeup, are not necessarily equal. In the same way, the solutions to your problems aren’t always the most sensible path. What makes two musicians of equal skill better than the other? I’m going to say it’s reputation and perception, especially if one of them has performed with a famous artist. Here’s an example, I think about waiting in lines. No one likes to do that, and I hate it. The logical response from a store owner, “let’s make check out as fast as possible.” Right? This solves the problem of waiting in line. Well, what if we didn’t focus on checkout, but instead focused on the process of getting what I need faster. Maybe there’s an app that would inform the store I’m on my way. Then the app would notify me of the best routes to take in the store to get what I need? I might still end up waiting in line, but the entire time spent away from home might have been less. So was my problem waiting in line? Or was it being away from home? The way we look at problems can change the way we see the answer. 1+1 might, in fact, equal 3. And, as we saw with Marilyn, It’s all in your perception.

What I loved most about the VCR was the pause button. When you paused a movie, the screen would become a bit blurry and distorted. And, you couldn’t leave the video paused forever. Eventually, it would play. Welcome to Sunday, and here’s a short thought about the state of “pause.” The origin of “pause” comes from Greek, “pausis” and it means stopping or ceasing. Now, I think we use the word “pause” as a way to gently say “stop.” but with a dash of uninspired hope. “Let’s put a pause on that,” is heard as “let’s stop that for now, and maybe we’ll pick it back up.” I believe we need to rip off the “pause” button and instead opt for “stop.” Because pausing doesn’t create closure. And we need more closure. Just ask anybody that’s ever been in an unhealthy relationship. Like the VCR, life gets blurry when we press “pause” because the tape is designed to move forward.

It’s the weekend. What did you do last week that helped you achieve a long term goal? Better yet, what did you do last week that made life a little better for others? Your impacts don’t have to be huge to be meaningful. Sometimes it’s as simple as extending patience, offering a smile, a tip of the cap, or a genuinely asked, “how are you?” It’s the weekend. What are you going to do next?

A few days ago, Christians around the world celebrated Easter. It’s also the day that many Wisconsinites enjoyed baked ham, scalloped potatoes, and sugary treats. It’s also the day I learned something about winning and losing!

I love my mom’s cooking! Though she’ll frequently talk about “overcooking the potatoes” or “I undercooked something,” quite honestly, it’s all in her head. She reads this blog, and I’d like her to know that I, publicly, think she’s a great cook, and she doesn’t over/undercook nuttin'!

It’s not a helpful feeling because it doesn’t help you get to where you want to go.

It’s a feeling that asks you to reflect on the past and actions you should have taken.

Well, we’re not in the past at the moment. We’re in the present. Also, it does us no good to relive actions we could have, would have, or did do because right now, we get to decide what we can and will do.

You can’t just buy an avocado. The soft avocados need to be eaten soon. The hard ones need more time. So do you buy 5 hard avocados all at once? Will you want to eat 5 ready-to-eat avocados around the same time? When you buy avocados, you must buy with intention. Do you need something for the moment or the future? You’d almost be better off buying a hard avocado each day of the week so that they are ready-to-eat in a sustainable manner. Like life, everything isn’t always ready at the same time. You start your ideas, and they grow and fruit in their time. Plan your life like you plan to eat to avocados, and suddenly life isn’t so overwhelming. Bon Appetite.