Family with Steve Mululu →

Published August 30, 2021  ·  All posts on Aug 30

What role does storytelling and legacy preservation play in fostering family and cultural connections?

Cultural heritage is explored through the lens of podcasting as a modern storytelling tool.

The first time I listened to a podcast, it took me back to my very early childhood years because it reminded me how much my own father, how much my own grandfather, how much stories, how much history, they passed to us after every meal in the evening. It was traditional for us to sit down with our elders, for them to tell us about their upbringing, about our culture, about what kinds of foods to eat, how to relate with your brothers, how to relate to your sisters, what kind of future is expected of you as a man— all those things.

~ Steve Mululu (1:23)

The conversation explores how storytelling plays a central role in preserving cultural and familial legacies. Steve reflects on childhood memories of elders sharing wisdom and history after meals, emphasizing the importance of capturing these stories before they are lost. Podcasting emerges as a modern extension of this tradition, allowing such narratives to be recorded and shared across generations.

Other topics include family dynamics and the challenges of maintaining unity in a large family. Steve describes how the lessons and authority of parents can act as a binding force, providing a shared foundation amidst disagreements. This contrasts with the experiences of small families, which may lack this communal grounding. The conversation also touches on values like sacrifice and the transition from individualism to communal responsibility, highlighting cultural differences in these principles.

Takeaways

Storytelling and tradition — Exploring the role of storytelling in preserving cultural and familial legacies.

Podcasting as a tool — Utilizing podcasting as a means to capture and share wisdom in a modern context.

Family unity through shared values — Reflecting on the importance of shared parental guidance in resolving family disputes.

Contrasting family dynamics — Comparing the communal experience of large families to the introspective nature of smaller ones.

Cultural lessons on selflessness — Teaching sacrifice and community-centered values through everyday rituals.

Resources

Steve Mululu on LinkedIn

Movers Mindset — Craig’s platform exploring the intersection of movement, mindset, and personal growth.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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The line is drawn →

Published August 30, 2021  ·  All posts on Aug 30  ·  , ,

The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast
The slow one now, will later be fast
As the present now, will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now, will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’

~ Bob Dylan

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Invincible →

Published August 30, 2021  ·  All posts on Aug 30  ·  ,

The good man is invincible; for he engages in no contest where he is not superior. “If you want my land, take it, and take my servants, take my public post, take my poor body. But you will not cause my desire to fail to attain its end, or my aversion to fall into what it would avoid.” This is the only contest he enters into: How can he fail, then, to be invincible?

~ Epictetus

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What if I just did the thing a bunch more times? →

Published August 30, 2021  ·  All posts on Aug 30  ·  

7. Consistent and repeatable results come from a process. “True style does not come from a conscious effort to create a particular look. It results obliquely—even accidentally—out of a holistic process.”

~ Shane Parrish from, 7 Things I Learned in Architecture School

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That articlette is about a book, 101 Things Things I Learned in Architecture School. The 7th point, in bold, is the penultimate of a best-of-the-best selection from the book. The inner-quoted part is Matthew Frederick, the book’s author.

This point about a holistic process—the idea that mastery isn’t some higgledy-piggledy mish-mash of throwing things together—is an idea I’ve held dearly for a long time. Every time I see it, like in this articlette, I want leap up, flipping my desk over and scream, “Hear! Hear! …and again, louder, for those in the back staring at their handheld devices.”

Every single time that I’ve decided to take a process, and repeat it in search of understanding, (for example, my 10,000 rep’s project,) the learning and personal growth has paid off beyond my wildest dreams. At this point, I’ve done nearly 200 recorded conversations—I’m not stretching the truth, it’s actually hard to figure out exactly how many I’ve done. I’ve started another show recently as part of the Podcaster Community (25+ episodes and counting) and I’ve set up all the moving parts for yet another show as part of Movers Mindset “shorts”. And I keep wondering…

What would happen if I did 500, 1000? …what about 10,000? Not because I want to be famous and whine, “but I did 1,000 episodes why doesn’t anyone love me?!” But because I can see, in myself, how much I’ve learned and grown after 200. What would happen if I did a lot more?

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My own improvement →

Published August 29, 2021  ·  All posts on Aug 29  ·  ,

But what does Socrates say? “As one man rejoices in the improvement of his land, and another in that of his horse, so I rejoice day by day in following my own improvement.

~ Epictetus

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Escalation, Part 2 →

Published August 29, 2021  ·  All posts on Aug 29

Three weeks ago—zoinks, time flies!—I wrote in Escalation that I didn’t want to turn this into a quote-a-day blog. That would also make my weekly email have 7 quotes, plus all the additional daily blog posts.

I’ve got to be honest: I was wrong. I really do want to publish all the quotes, and write all these blog posts. So, “All ahead flank-speed!” This week’s email will be even larger. …and onward thusly we shall proceed.

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Unjustified terror →

Published August 28, 2021  ·  All posts on Aug 28  ·  

Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

~ Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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Epochs of problems →

Published August 28, 2021  ·  All posts on Aug 28  ·  ,

Avoiding problems avoids the opportunity for growth. Most of the time, problems don’t go away, instead they grow.

~ Shane Parrish from, The Four Tools of Discipline

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It seems to me that there are epochs of problems. In the early days of my journey, I made dumb mistakes. Slowly I learned through stubbed toes, hurt feelings, expensive mistakes and bridges burned that life is hard, yes. But it’s much harder if you’re stoopid. More time passed.

I resolved the internal issues that led to bad impulses and choices. I learned the Kastanza Lesson of opposite day; If every instinct you have is wrong and causes things to turn out badly, one should at least trying doing the opposite. In short, I intentionally crafted a moral compass. Effectively gone—unless I just jinxed it—are any problems which are my fault. I’m not talking about errors here; I drop things, make wrong turns and forget things, of course. More time passed

And I’m left wondering how I move beyond my current problem: The setting of unrealistic expectations for myself, and of setting expectations [of any sort] of other people. I’m reminded of my thoughts on Discovery, Reflection and Efficacy. Perhaps if some more time passes? That seems to have worked twice now.

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In care of my own faculty of choice →

Published August 27, 2021  ·  All posts on Aug 27  ·  

What would you like to be doing when you are overtaken by [disease and death]? For you surely will be, whatever you are doing. If you think you could be doing something better than this when you are overtaken, go and do it. For my own part, may death overtake me while I am engaged in nothing other than the care of my own faculty of choice, so that it may be unhindered, unrestrained, serene, and free.

~ Epictetus

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The ice age persists →

Published August 27, 2021  ·  All posts on Aug 27

The algific talus slopes where relic species persist are steep, built atop limestone—itself a relic from a time, half a billion years ago, when a shallow tropical sea covered what’s now the Driftless. The porous limestone is easily eroded by even slightly acidic water, including rain. As a result it holds numerous caves, sinkholes, cracks, and fissures. These networks of open spaces deep in the hillside were never compromised by glacial steamrollers, and are crucial for the “breathing”—slopes’ respiration.

~ Gemma Tarlach from, The Ice Age Persists in the Upper Midwest, Where the Hills Breathe – Atlas Obscura

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There seems to be something special about Iowa. Pockets of Ice Age biodiversity, and Vonnegut, must somehow mean something. Atlas Obscura started as an ecclectic collection of interesting points scattered about the Earth. It’s grown to—in my opinion—rival Wikipedia in the context of places. And then it started producing these place-specific, in-depth articles.

In the endless sea of click-baity, bullet-listed, double-spaced individual sentence fragments posing as a “post” on some social network… because, honestly, a paragraph block of text just scares the shit out of too many people, so we’ll just

space out the phrases

so our feeble minds understand

what the bite-sized thoughts are supposed to be.

I digress. Over decades, I’ve found sources on the Internet that are continual fonts of wonder and joy. I follow them using RSS, and I’m better off for it.

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