Hi Friends,

I got a quote on repairing the window lintels on my house. (I had no idea what a lintel was until a few days ago!)

The quote? North of $1,000 to scrape, treat for rust, and paint.

So I looked into doing it myself: it will cost me _about $90 in materials and 5 hours of work. That equates to me earning $182 per hour by taking some initiative.

So now I’m working on repairing some lintels!

I have always run calculations like that, to decide if a project is worth the time and effort.

But recently, that's all changed.

My oldest son is now 4 years old. He can climb ladders, scrape, and paint along with the best of them. (Well, maybe not the best...)

Sure, I can “earn” $182 an hour doing all the work myself. But that doesn’t really matter to me anymore.

Now, I get to do the project with my son. He shines with pride as he accomplishes a challenging task. And I get the soul-deep satisfaction of sharing an experience with him. Together, it will probably take us 15 hours instead of 5! And we’ll definitely drop some paint and break some things along the way.

And that’s wonderful.

While it’s important to measure and quantify, none of that matters in the grand equation.

I used to frequently forget that. And I am eternally grateful to my children, every day, for reminding me what actually counts in life.

Here’s to messy, memorable shared experiences!

Have a wonderful week!

-Edward

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♥️ My Favorite Things this Week

• 📖 The Road to Character ​
  I'm only halfway through, but I would already recommend this book to you. It uses stories of famous historical figures to give flesh to the constant argument happening inside of each us: our ambitious, striving, future-oriented side versus the other side which wants “not only to do good, but to be good.”
• ♫ 4k Cozy Coffee Shop Jazz Music​
  One of my favorite playlists of the past month. Toss it on, get cozy, get writing.
• ⚔️ Summoner Wars
  If you like strategy games half as much as me, you will love Summoner Wars. My friend Andrew introduced it to me over the summer, and I haven't stopped playing since. The physical board game is gorgeous, but I mostly play the digital version (also gorgeous!) so that I can play with friends who live far away.

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👨‍💻 My New Blog Posts

• ​You are your own teacher​
  You are the one who causes learning to happen

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✍️ Quote of the Week

“Humility is freedom from the need to prove you are superior all the time, but egotism is a ravenous hunger in a small space—self-concerned, competitive, and distinction-hungry. Humility is infused with lovely emotions like admiration, companionship, and gratitude.”

- David Brooks in The Road to Character

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