Sixteen Wishes: #7 of 16

"Where to look for happiness."

On her 16th birthday (December 20th, 2016), I gave my daughter Libby a collection of sixteen custom-printed cards instead of a conventional, store-bought card. Each one detailing a hard-earned conviction I’d hoped to pass on to her—convictions passed on to me by some amazing role models I’d met during the first 60 years of my life. I know. This is SUCH a dad thing to do! But my motivation was simple, driven by an ever-present thought: “If I died tomorrow, what would I leave behind for Libby that might help her live the best life possible?” The motivation in passing them on to you is to start a conversation. What are your convictions, beliefs, values? What strongly held ideas do you fall back on to live your best life possible? Let me know! Just click on the leave-a-comment box at the end of this post…

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Looking back at this one, I see two problems: 1) Happiness is subjective. 2) It sounds sort of like a sappy Hallmark card.

Oh, well. I guess part of it was an attempt to steer Libby away from the pitfalls of materialism and towards a life of higher purpose. Since, at the time, I felt I was living a life of “low purpose” in the bowels of capitalism—an advertising copywriter using strategies, words and pictures to exploit human weaknesses (the goal, of course, being to stimulate members of the “target audience” into buying.)

Can you say “Dad Regret/Guilt?”

Next time, #8: “Find your creative flow.”

Thank you, as always, for your readership, support and engagement! 🙏

Peace & Love,

Mark

P.S. A big shout-out to my good buddy Martin Corbin, the very talented graphic designer who helped me create Libby’s cards and the lovely keepsake package to house them (complete with fancy wax seal).