I recently quit “chaos” – or at the very least, the deliberate introduction of unproductive chaos into my every day life. It was a good choice and a smart choice, but a tough choice. I was under the impression that it was the chaos that kept me interesting, and without it, I’d be rapidly reduced to the boring person with the bland life that I had always feared becoming.
So, I did what every meditative Millennial does when they know they're on the edge of a major adjustment - I went off the grid. I stopped blogging, deleted my Instagram, spent weekends at home reading and writing; I forewent social opportunities for thought-provoking ones, and spent all my free time in my head. As an extrovert, it was draining, but at least it wasn't distracting, and after two months in a faraway state of reflection, I've boiled it down to a single insight: In saying the chaos is what kept me interesting, I was giving all the credit to chaos and none to myself.
When I got rid of the chaos, my life didn't get less interesting, it only got more intentional, and more intentionally whatever I wanted it to be. More adventurous, more humbling, more social, more novel, anything - and without chaos in charge, the choice was mine. For the last month or two of the school year, I chose a life that was more excellent and more humbling. The end of my City Year journey (Round 1) was defined by these choices, but will require a separate post to accurately summarize (already underway... stay tuned.)
For this summer, however, I've chosen a life that's more goal-oriented and more sentimental. We're getting the three youngest Prentice siblings back together again after 6 long years, all sharing one single bedroom here in Miami, and not only do we have a long Bucketlist of childhood-summer activities to complete (Tie dye, homemade ice cream sandwiches, sandcastles on the beach, etc.), we're helping my brother Isaac to kickstart his business.
So, I did what every meditative Millennial does when they know they're on the edge of a major adjustment - I went off the grid. I stopped blogging, deleted my Instagram, spent weekends at home reading and writing; I forewent social opportunities for thought-provoking ones, and spent all my free time in my head. As an extrovert, it was draining, but at least it wasn't distracting, and after two months in a faraway state of reflection, I've boiled it down to a single insight: In saying the chaos is what kept me interesting, I was giving all the credit to chaos and none to myself.
When I got rid of the chaos, my life didn't get less interesting, it only got more intentional, and more intentionally whatever I wanted it to be. More adventurous, more humbling, more social, more novel, anything - and without chaos in charge, the choice was mine. For the last month or two of the school year, I chose a life that was more excellent and more humbling. The end of my City Year journey (Round 1) was defined by these choices, but will require a separate post to accurately summarize (already underway... stay tuned.)
For this summer, however, I've chosen a life that's more goal-oriented and more sentimental. We're getting the three youngest Prentice siblings back together again after 6 long years, all sharing one single bedroom here in Miami, and not only do we have a long Bucketlist of childhood-summer activities to complete (Tie dye, homemade ice cream sandwiches, sandcastles on the beach, etc.), we're helping my brother Isaac to kickstart his business.
We're relying on our free-transit bus passes (thank you, Perla!), our Dollar Tree lifestyle, and a whole lot of backlogged good karma to feed us, transport us, and keep us resilient. The plan is to see all of Miami, taking up shop in a different cafe each day, knocking away at personal goals and business tasks, meeting cool people and collecting great stories, and rekindling the beautiful siblingship we once had.
So far, so fun.
So far, so fun.
The official start to our summer was a tone-setter, to say the least. My brother found out that there was a huge tech conference in town and tickets were well over $1,000. In true Prentice fashion, not willing to take "no" for an answer, he searched for a loophole. He connected with Marcelo Claure (CEO of Sprint and former Bentley student) on LinkedIn, asking for a way into the conference. He never officially responded, but let's just say we looked great with our all-access, $1000 value but $0 cost "PRESS" passes.
We spent DAY 1 & DAY 2 of our summer at the EmergeAmericas conference, taking full advantage of the free t-shirts & free advice, but even more so, networking, pitching Prototopics (Isaac's company), and establishing opportunities for ourselves in Miami. Our 3D-printed business cards were a huge hit, and we made some seriously excellent connections and friends.
We spent DAY 1 & DAY 2 of our summer at the EmergeAmericas conference, taking full advantage of the free t-shirts & free advice, but even more so, networking, pitching Prototopics (Isaac's company), and establishing opportunities for ourselves in Miami. Our 3D-printed business cards were a huge hit, and we made some seriously excellent connections and friends.
An unlikely duo, Pitbull and Suze Orman, stole the show as co-Keynote speakers. Pitbull 's main message: what we chase, runs. Stop chasing things and start creating things. Suzy Orman's main message: power attracts people and people control money - so empower yourself financially, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. and in return, the people (and the money) will come your way. She offered the entire crowd a free online course and encouraged everyone to give the activation code away to as many people as possible.
I listened: Suzeu.com / Activation Code: EMERGE
I listened: Suzeu.com / Activation Code: EMERGE
Taking off the tuxes and getting back to reality, things started getting really fun.
I began illustrating a coloring book - a goal inspired by one of the many incredible Impact Manager @ City Year Miami (Thank you, Raine! When I finish this project, the first copy is yours.)
I began illustrating a coloring book - a goal inspired by one of the many incredible Impact Manager @ City Year Miami (Thank you, Raine! When I finish this project, the first copy is yours.)
I graduated City Year AND was so fortunately chosen to stick around for a Round 2!
I (nearly) finished the Class of 2016 yearbook! (Shoutout to Class Cab for all the help.)
We somehow hacked the Pizza Hut delivery system and have an endless string of "Free Large Pizza on Us" pizzas.
We've stuck to our plan of a new cafe each day and Day 3 of our summer was lovely. Over a dropped pen that Isaac was kind enough to pick up, we met a 77 year old woman that was teaching her young and handsome Crossfit Coach how to draw. She walked us through a whole journal full of her creations, my favorite of which was an illustration of the Cross Fit gym.
She told us that in her house, there is but one rule: "You draw it before you eat".
And even showed us her selfies.
Gave us a few drawing websites to check out and a business card that said "Fairy Godmother" at the top. She left a few moments later saying, "Beware. Fairy Godmothers give a lot of homework." And that was that.
We've since planned a Bachelorette Party for our dear friend, Olivia, made friends with all the neighborhood kids, scheduled beach days and park days into our weekly work, played tennis in the middle of a torrential downpour, and began a plan for acquiring mopeds.
Summer's off to a good start and we intend to keep it that way.
FEEL GOOD MOMENTS (of the last 2 months):
1. Seeing so many of my friends graduate from Bentley! (And react when they didn't know I was coming).
Summer's off to a good start and we intend to keep it that way.
FEEL GOOD MOMENTS (of the last 2 months):
1. Seeing so many of my friends graduate from Bentley! (And react when they didn't know I was coming).
2. Showing my brother around Miami and introducing him to all the awesome City Year's who haven't left yet.
3. Having a late night Miami Beach bonfire with my City Year team (those of us still around), re-enjoying each other's company after a week of sad, sad separation and burning all the khaki-colored remnants of our time together.
4. Having the time and willpower to turn our house into a home (or should I say ... apartment into slightly nicer apartment.)
5. Meeting up with some old Bentley friends (Jake, Pao, Arjun, Justin) for a nice KUSH burger in Wynwood & a night on the town, all while leading some tourists to the less sketchy parts of the neighborhood (good deed for the day) and discovering Jake's old teacher is my current manager @ City Year.
6. And finally, celebrating (aka crying) the 1 year anniversary of my team's 4K sendoff, but happily seeing the next generation of 4K-ers start to do their thang. Shout out to Alexis Baker for doing something even harder than CYCLING across the country - running. For those of you with funds to spare, help my friend and old roommate out by donating to her excellent cause. Do your part - she's most definitely doing hers! https://ulman.z2systems.com/alexis-baker
At this rate, things (and I) can only get more interesting. See you next week for updates.
In the meantime, have a week that's as awesome as having a summer vacation when you're already an official adult!
Ciao.
In the meantime, have a week that's as awesome as having a summer vacation when you're already an official adult!
Ciao.