Downtown Oklamahoma City has a giant cylindrical conservatory built in the middle of the Myriad Botanical Gardens, straddling over a pond filled with koi fish and ducks.

What’s striking is not only how large the structure is, but how low the clearance on the walkway underneath. You can hop up and brush the metal form with your fingertips while navigating to the stairs on the opposite side. Of course I did, haha. I could not resist.

What’s the appeal of reaching out to touch something created or natural unusual to everyday life? There is an instinctive inclination we have from childhood to do this. It’s a reason why there are signs in museums and public areas that say “don’t not touch”, or “touch this”. Hmmm…something to that…

In Dallas I caught up with a friend who has made his life’s purpose quietly helping others around the world. As we were discussing the process of growth and creativity, I shared my focus on stillness from the beginning of the journey. It’s helped in the appreciation of small details that people and places hold. One example would be the peculiarly sweet smell of rain in the high desert after a thundershower.

He thought a bit and asked me if I heard of an author named Edgar Morin. He brought a book out of his bag and pointed to previously highlighted lines on a page:

I’ve been thinking about the “Method” as The “Path, Way, and Walk”, since then. It also had me considering the Mandalorians and Benedictine Monks and how they’ve adapted a similar “Way”.

I’ve always been a fan of Jack White’s music, but didn’t know about his love of baseball until I wondered into Warstic. (thanks Brandon)

Jack is co-owner of the bat and apparel company, with the flagship store in the heart of Deep Ellum. In the back of the facility you can purchase a billet of maple or birch wood and have it spun up on the lathe to create a “war stick” of your choosing.

It’s fun learning about other’s pocketed interests beyond what they are commonly known for. And it’s a surprising gift when they share it back with the broader community.

San Jacinto Monument is the tallest masonary column in the world. At 567ft high, it tops the height of the Washington Monument in DC.

There is a single elevator you can ride to the observation deck for a panorama of the Houston skyline hundreds of miles around. It provides a clear eyeline to the oil, seafood, and cruise vessels important to the economy of the city.

New view, new perspective.

Crystal Bridges is one of the most engaging organic gallery spaces I’ve experienced. Both this and the satellite location Momentary are within 10 minutes of one another and take a day to explore. It’s well worth the visit.

Designed by Moshe Safdie, the mission of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is to welcome all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature. Founded by philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton, Crystal Bridges is a public non-profit charitable organization.

The Momentary differs in multi-function as a performing arts venue, residency center, as well as a space to host rotating exhibits with broader narratives. I appreciate The Momentary’s extension into the community it is a part of. Art is as powerful as the people it dialogues with.

Formerly a decommissioned cheese factory, it is now a multidisciplinary space for visual arts, performing arts, culinary experiences, festivals, and artists-in-residence offering dynamic programs and experiences.

Following the recommendation of a close friend, I spent a week in Bentonville. I stopped by Walton’s 5 & 10, Store #1, Wal-Mart Innovation Lab, and the Museum Heritage Lab, having a 2 hour conversation with knowledgeable employees at the front desk. I wanted to understand the deeper story of how Sam Walton imagined and scaled a half-trillion dollar framework and supply chain from brick-and-mortar ideas in a small town.

At the heart of the achievement are “10 Rules For Building A Business” posted at the entrance of the Heritage Lab. The humble, value-centered axioms are easy to understand, yet challenging to stay consistent with, as they require an unselfish honesty without reproach.

Of all the rules, 1 and 10 resonate with me most. Rules 2-9 are the compounding result of executing against them over time.

Northwest of Eureka Springs is an architecturally striking monument created by E Fay Jones.

Thorncrown Chapel rises forty-eight feet into the Ozark sky. This magnificent wooden structure contains 425 windows and over 6,000 square feet of glass. It sits atop more than 100 tons of native stone and colored flagstone, making it blend perfectly with its setting. The chapel's simple design and majestic beauty combine to make it what critics have called ‘one of the finest religious spaces of modern times.’

The guide at the location informed everyone that all major elements are symmetrical, except the structure behind the altar in the forest outside. It is set slighty to the right to represent off-centeredness when attempting to navigate life’s challenges separate from the whole. Interesting metaphor.

…from the hot and windy beaches of the Southern Coast.

NOLA was a treat. I was always a fan of the architecture, cuisine, and music of the deep-south, french-infused, jazz-creating community. I wandered up and down Bourbon Street, walked through Jackson Square, explored St. Louis Cemetary No.3, and got lost in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden.

Some of my favorite human expressions are social and aesthetic elements juxtaposing one another in regional combination. I’m going to parallel a theme from one of my favorite games: God of War.

There is a character in it named Brok, who is explaining the finer points of Dwarven magic. He states, “The nature of a thing is more important than the form of a thing”. In that sense, understanding something lies beyond appearance or rote function. By considering the internal characteristics and instances that make up what it is, we may appreciate the form with more clarity.

While driving the steep incline of the Richard Arrington Jr Blvd in Birmingham looking for a place to eat, I was greeted by an imposing statue at the top of a stairway holding a hammer and pointing out over the city.

Further curiosity confirmed that it was a portrayal of the Roman God Vulcan, and the largest cast-iron statue in the world. Sculpted in 1904 by Giuseppe Moretti, it is composed of 29 separate pieces, each internally bolted together to create the awe-inspiring scale. At the base of the staircase was a plaque telling the story of the Red Mountain Park’s creation and raising of funds to transport the massive sculpture in 1938 by the Kiwanis Club. The dramatic lighting at the base was built in 2017, putting the total time between all events over 100 years!

Building something timeless requires a multi generational investment of time. Like the segments of the Vulcan Statue, it involves interdisciplinary teams representing unique components, and a core idea compelling enough to be executed at each phase to reality.

There’s this little island off the southern Gulf Coast you have to cross a series of long bridges to get to. The views are tranquil on sunny days and treacherous on stormy ones.

To compensate for frequent flooding, homes are on stilted foundations. Some appear to be raised at least 10 feet off the ground. Near the end of the island where the elevation drops below sea level, most of the street is flooded, with ducks and birds swimming around road signs.

Elevated bases are not just important infra-structurally. In ancient civilizations, obelisks are a pyramid set on a trapezoidal prism, symbolizing a latitude between earth and beyond. The Freemasons adapted the symbol as inspiration for the Washington Monument, even shipping a 3500 year old original from Heliopolis Egypt and planting it nearby the MOMA in Central Park.

Which brings us back to the homes on Dauphin Island. Surely the first requirement of a foundation is that it’s engineered with stable forms and sound materials. Another characteristic to consider is if it’s set above the plane of disruption.

In a hotel lobby I struck up conversation with an elderly fellow wearing a hat that read “God ♥️s You.”

“Why does God love You?”, I asked him. He proceeded to tell me about his youth and time growing up on the South Side of Chicago, and how he had survived a gunshot wound to the head …twice. The pistol was fired so close the muzzle flare burned his chest. He pointed to a dimpled scar on his forehead where the projectile entered, and informed me doctors were unable to retrieve the bullet and it was still lodged in the back of his skull. The event drastically changed his vector: from a life of chaos, to a life of searching, to a life of purpose.

He wasn’t able to get to the second story, as he had to leave to help with an outreach initiative in the area. As he exited the front door I took a photo to remind myself that tomorrow is not guaranteed. How many unforeseen incidents could have marked the last day for any of us? We are all living extra lives.

If we each make an effort to navigate from this vantage point, perhaps decision making can be more clear than the day before.