Life and Limb: Johnny Whoops

June 02, 2017 by Scott Todnem

Like the human hand, ups and downs are always connected, always a part of who we are. Inseparable. We are a compilation of our actions— both the virtues and downfalls. We are a series of trips and tangles, of conquests and clarity, all in a beautifully imperfect melody up the spiral staircase of progress. The creaks in the floorboards give each step character. The chips in the railing, a sign of reassurance.

Failure and success. All there, at the tips of our proverbial fingers.

Endless Possibility: Choose Your Own Adventure

March 14, 2017 by Scott Todnem

Choose Your Own Adventure books are aimed at young readers because, into our teen years, we realize that not knowing all potential outcomes can actually make a story more enjoyable. Not to mention the true plot of each Adventure book was only slightly adjusted by the perceived "choices" anyway.

In other words, the novels, movies, and television series we enjoy are most exciting when they are thought-provoking— and maybe even plot twisting— but we don't need to have direct input to be entertained. In fact, sometimes it's the new ideas, offered by other points of view, that compel us to think and to feel beyond our mind's own limitations.

When Push Comes to Shove: Beyond a Shadow of Self-Doubt

December 30, 2016 by Scott Todnem

There was a time when I kept a pen and notebook on my bedside stand. The goal was to record all those midnight thoughts that seem so intensely important… and also to recall dreams and nightmares to relive the brain’s strangest moments.

I had a dream one night that took me into a jolting and enlightening encounter with a ghost. It was so realistic that it jarred me from deep sleep. Upon waking in the dark hours of the middle of that night, I quickly jotted down a couple lines of scratchy, half-complete thoughts. Configured into full sentence form in the morning, they left me with the beginning of what sounded like a future movie script right there in my journal:

You figured out why ghosts exist.

Knock on Wood: Stupid Superstition

November 30, 2016 by Scott Todnem

I've always been superstitious. Not the kind of superstitious where I truly believe horrible things will come my way if I don't perform a certain task, but superstitious in the sense that... well... it's kind of fun.

I mean, that's sort of it, right? It's all just for fun.

I don't think spines will explode if I step on a crack. I don't think years will be ruined if I break a mirror. And I don't really think it was me who made it all happen because of the way I sat and watched a World Series game— but it's fun anyway, right?

X Marks the Spot: Stories Within Stories

September 22, 2016 by Scott Todnem

I'm a collector. I save things as mementos, as reminders of times in my past. But it's the stories that matter. It is in the stories that I lose myself, thinking about what has come and gone, contemplating what might be. I find myself daydreaming, wondering how I can become a better storyteller. I also get lost wondering what the stories will be of me. Friend or foe? Pirate or Patriot?

What will be my legacy?

The Shirt Off One's Back: Saving the World

February 01, 2016 by Scott Todnem

So, the world is crashing down.

Or at least that's what some of the public is led to believe. Either convinced by themselves or, from outside sources, persuaded to think that because the world is constantly changing, constantly in a state of flux, constantly evolving in the means of human living, our younger generations are causing the future of mankind to go down in flames. A pitiful pyre of enabled, self-absorbed, feeble little video game brains.

I am but one man. And in this one man's humble opinion, the world is just fine.

No Rest for the Weary: I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

April 07, 2015 by Scott Todnem

There’s this ridiculous notion out there built on conceit, mixed with one part ambition and two parts testosterone: "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Unrealistic, to say the least, this mindset may stem from good intentions, but it lacks intelligence when it comes to stress and the human body.

You see, too much work and a lack of recovery are actually disastrous for one's personal well-being. While it may look tough on paper or sound self-assuring out loud, the motivational message is lost... like that of a dream in the fog of sleep deprivation. Cloaked as aspiration is just stupidity and probable burnout.

No rest for the weary? No hope in the long-run.