The Pilot Project, Act 2: Creating the Story

On belonging, difference and creativity, and youth sports

STILL is six months old today! We’re still just getting started. There’s a lot more I’d like to do here. But, for now, I’m proud about offering at least one post a week for the last half year. Thanks for reading, subscribing, and sharing!

We’re back this week with another paying-members-only post. I’m peeling back the curtail on a creative project I’ve been working on in the hopes that it helps you gain insights about your own creative process!

Make sure to check out part one in this series: The Pilot Project, Act 1: Meeting the Collaborator.

Be still, my friends…

—Ben

I started to notice it a few summers ago after we moved to Wisconsin.

That didn’t mean it wasn’t going on in other places—it’s happening everywhere. I just hadn’t picked up on it yet, most likely because of the ages of my kids and my friends’ kids and the activities they were involved in up to that point.

“What are you up to this weekend?” I would ask people.

A look of resignation would come across their faces and they would start reciting an itinerary. For this weekend and next weekend and the week after that. It often included the names of small towns around Wisconsin and places in other states within driving distance.

They were not describing a summer filled with relaxing visits to enchanted lake cottages.
They were talking about…