Use every crayon color that you’ve got. A fishing pole sinks faster than a tackle box. Nothing turns the day around like lickin’ the mixin’ bowl. I learned that from a three-year-old.

A garbage can is a damn good spot to hide truck keys. Why go inside when you can go behind a tree? Walkin’ barefoot through the mud will knock the dust right off your soul. I learned that from a three-year-old.

You can be a cowboy on the moon. Dig to China with a spoon. Talk to Jesus on the phone. Say I love you all day long. And when you’re wrong you should just say so. I learned that from a three-year-old.

Mama is an angel, I heard him tell the Man upstairs. He went on and on and back and forth like God was laying there. “Tonight I sleep me down to lay I pray to keep my soul.” I learned that from a three-year-old.

You can be a cowboy on the moon. Dig to China with a spoon. Talk to Jesus on the phone. Say I love you all day long. When you’re wrong, you should just say so. I learned that from a three-year-old.

Sometimes all you need is a hand to hold. A couple arms to kill the cold. And when you’re wrong you should just say so. I learned that from a three-year-old. Yeah, honey, I learned that from my three-year-old.

~Eric Church

This week, I had the privilege to spend time with Rex Miller at his ranch in Glen Rose, TX. In addition to complex leadership topics, we touched on creativity and innovation. Rex said something that stuck with me. I know because the comment made it into my notes. He said, “Society beats the genius out of you.”

Gut punch.

This is a recurring theme this year. During a Purposeful Intent conference at Saleforce in San Francisco, Duncan Wardle conducted a creativity and innovation workshop. The first barrier we found, by far, was “I don’t have time to think.”

Upper cut.

Couple the fact that current society isn’t built to foster creative thought and our day-to-day has us so self-absorbed in survival and we have a recipe for failure.

Knock out.

We have to take time for us. We have to see the world through our children’s eyes. If we are going to lead, we have to lead our “next” into something multiples better than that which we currently have. We have to stop scrolling and start strolling.

Someone told me yesterday I have a touch-the-grass vibe. I’ll take that all day long - especially considering I’m a student of regenerative technology and applied leadership. That means I’m thinking. That feedback helps fuel my curiosity. Oh, and nothin’ turns the day around like lickin’ the mixin’ bowl. I learned that from a three-year-old.

“In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” Shunryu Suzuki

Photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič on Unsplash