I love

Earlier this month I found a stack of neatly wrapped letters in a box in my basement. The box was filled with photos and tokens... reminders of my youth, friends, neighbors, adventures, loss, love and change. I was sure the letters were gone with all of my journals documenting much of my life before I was married. Finding them felt a little like winning.

Half or more were the letters that I remember reading over and over again. Their worn folds and ragged edges show the wear of many hours of review. They are sweet reminders of what were magical, though challenging, years for me. Their authors were vastly different, but now reading back through their words they expressed things so similarly, so simply and beautifully.

The letters were found on the same day I got a link to the Love Letter mural project in Philadelphia. The murals were created to "collectively express a love letter from a guy to a girl, from an artist to his hometown and from local residents to their neighborhood." For those lucky commuters on the elevated transit line along the Market Street corridor, there can be no better way to begin and end your day like this...

OR this...

It should really be this simple. Right? Maybe not when you're young. Maybe it's supposed to be all dramatic and sensationalized when you're young. But, now, it is this simple. Some relationships are complicated. Some families are complicated... mine is a mess. But, the mess seems to be getting blurrier and the way I love my people just expands and then sometimes it oozes all over them and you find that I say it out loud anywhere I want... even in business meetings in front of a whole group of other people and every time I hang up the phone or squeeze them goodbye.

Whether it's romantical or familial or the closeness of true friendships... it's kind of all the same. (Except for the mushy parts.)

Now, if whoever painted that wall would swap out juice with Diet Coke, you would all really understand the depth of my love.

Yes, he said "Google Me"!

Last week I met a man who introduced himself as the "(insert name of very successful CEO here) Whisperer" only moments before he told my colleague and I to "Google" him when asked him what his specific role was on the project we were meeting about.

I've worked with plenty of odd people before. Egomaniacs. Sociopaths. Cross-dressers. And so many more. But, I've never ever met a man that made me dislike him with less than ten words out of his mouth.

He is one part of a larger team of men, also in that meeting, that are paid millions for absolutely nothing of value. They tout their successes, but when they are "Googled" those successes seem to be fabricated. They tout job histories that include some factual references but not in the order or magnitude that they are constantly spouting about. As a group they are dangerous.

As an outsider, they appear to be pirates... hijacking the management infrastructure of a fragile organization, adding fear and distrust among the masses who have worked so hard to build something good, something of value, something with values. They have devalued the work that built a billion dollar company. They are stripping the company of its character as they prove that they have little character.

I hate doing work that is destroying good work done by some of my best friends. I hate supporting a brand change that I would never get behind because I have no belief in their message or story. Even worse, though, is that this is not uncommon. Many companies are in this position, doing this very thing, making unfortunate and destructive decisions out of desperation, uncertainty, insecurity, and a pressure to do nothing more than make money.

And, really, who the hell says "Google me"? Who? An asshat.

Well done Starbucks!

Let's be really honest. Starbucks Chai sucks. It's horrible. I hate it. I have broken down and given it another shot a few times and have always been disappointed. They need to fix it. It makes me sad.

BUT, this does not make me sad. This was a sweet surprise. I love companies that really follow through with community action. I love it even more because it is in a place that I love more than any on earth. Boston.

 

I want to work in the gardens. It's hard not to be a Starbucks fan when they understand the importance of service and good works for others. Well done Starbucks!