This 6 minute unedited recording contains a couple of interesting thoughts:

• Controlling our evolution
• The appearance of free will
• The genetic imperative, masquerading as intention
• Striving as an evolutionary advantage
• And a hopeful ending

There are a couple of long pauses – those are me trying not to crash.

I grew up in a scotch drinking house. My earliest memories were of the fine, peaty taste of single malt whiskey. Well, no. My early memories of scotch go something like “EWWW! WTF! WHY WOULD YOU DRINK THAT? IT’S LIKE LICKING A FRESHLY PAVED ROAD WITH A DASH OF ASHTRAY”.

Like all good things though, appreciation grows from education and maturity. As I grew into my 20s, I started to join my folks in their evening tipple. Their daily drink was Grant’s or the Famous Grouse. Special occasions though meant one thing: The Macallan. Luckily for me, as I lived on the other side of the country, every time I saw my folks was a special occasion. The Macallan did flow.

Now, as a poor working stiff operating under the heavy hand of Canadian sin tax laws, it’s pretty rare that I’ll drop 8 John A’s on a bottle of hooch. So when I was invited to attend a tasting of The Macallan at the hoity-toity One bar in Yorkville, I was in without a thought. I was not disappointed.

I’ll admit that I knew a fair bit about scotch, having invested at least 20 years of my life drinking the stuff. I’ve been to a nosing or nine, but have never tasted a vertical from a single distiller, let alone a vertical from my fave. What I learned was that a) I do love scotch and b) I like the more expensive bottles more and c) The Macallan does not make a bad scotch, only great and really fucking great.

Oddly, this was my first experience doing a before/after with adding a few drops of water. The difference those few drops make to the nose are incredible. I also learned about using pebbles to cool the drink instead of ice (so it doesn’t melt and water down the elixir). I swiped a couple of stones from my kids’ collection, and have been happily drinking cool, concentrated whiskey since.

I’d like to extend a warm thanks to the fine folks at Matchstick for inviting me to attend this wonderful event. On their behalf, I’d like to invite you, the reader, to take part in a wee survey. If you’d be so kind as to click here

I’ve struggled for a long time over how to describe what I do. Art director? Strategist? Front-end developer? Speaker? Consultant? Full-time employee (hint, hint)? In semi-frustration I decided on “Interactive. Booyah!”. My intention is simply to create enough interest that a potential employer (hint, hint) might look a bit deeper into who I am and what I do. Is this a good strategy? I’ll let you know.

I’m wise enough at this point to know that what is up will soon be down (and vice versa), so I didn’t panic, knowing I’d eventually come back to centre. I’m relieved that I’m starting to glimpse my equilibrium point, but am frustrated at the pace of change.

In an effort to speed things up, I finally took my own advice and started writing. ‘Lo and behold, it worked (it always does for me). What came from that writing exercise is a personal mission statement designed to guide me through this next stage of life.

The concept of a personal mission statement is as corny as it comes. I didn’t set out to write such a thing. Rather I was trying to understand the thing that was bugging me (uncertainty, instability, insecurity, yadda yadda). In the midst of a couple of pages of stream of consciousness flow, I wrote a simple little paragraph that held an amazing amount of truth. Reviewing it, I realized it is a personal mission statement; it’s a map to what I need to do in order to fulfill my mission (more precisely, my mission at this moment). Here’s what I wrote:

For this next stage of my life, I want to:

• Design web-based things that have a positive social impact.
• Have autonomy over the shape of my day.
• Work with a team of conscious adventurers.
• Be present with my family.
• Be able to meet my financial obligations.

Identifying these five points has gotten me a lot closer to my own center. With them, I have context with which I can make career choices. I have a place from which I can reframe my own brand. And I have a road-map of sorts that leads to peace.

This presentation is a bit different from the previous version. It’s been tweaked to appeal to a broader audience, and generally refined. I think it reads a bit better, and makes more sense as a stand alone piece.