Archive for 2011

Think Kit: Looking Forward

Posted by tyler

Dec

2011

There are a number of things I’m looking forward to in the next 365 days (my last year living in my 20′s, the presidential race and election, seeing if the Mayans were right, and more). But the thing I’m most looking forward to, I’ve been waiting for my entire life. The Super Bowl is in my town! Granted, the home town Indianapolis Colts won’t be playing in the game, but it’s been a dream of mine to go to a Super Bowl at some point in my life. I won’t be attending the game, but all of the festivities in Indianapolis for an entire week is the next best thing! I cannot wait.

One thing that is often surprising to people when they get to know me is my deep love for sports. I apparently don’t come off as a sports fan, but if I’m listing things that I know the most about in life, sports is in the top two. Particularly professional football.

The countdown has begun, the Super Bowl village is the epicenter of awesome. I cannot wait. I plan on visiting the downtown area nearly every day during that week just to be a part of it. It might be frigid in February, but they’re going to have heaters lining the streets apparently. It quite probably will be only time we get to play host to the big game, so I want to take full advantage of the opportunity to participate. I also realized that there’s no better way to improve your roads and put your city’s best face forward than to host a party like the Super Bowl. Road construction has been going on all over Indianapolis at what seems like a feverish pace for quite a while now. So if nothing else, it will be good to not have to dodge the orange cones and merge into one lane on a 4 lane highway any longer – assuming everything’s done by show time.

If you’re in town during the first week of February, I hope you’re able to get downtown to participate in the Super Bowl festivities. Maybe I’ll see you there!

This post is part of Think Kit 2011.

Think Kit: Tradition

Posted by sara

Dec

2011

0
Comments

Filed Under: Everything Else Think Kit

Many, many moons ago, I received a Christmas ornament from a woman named Annie. I was fresh out of college and working as a barista in a busy coffee shop in Chicago. Annie became a regular customer for a few months, though she never once ordered coffee.

She visited for the sole purpose of dropping off gifts for anyone working behind the counter. Didn’t matter who, she just liked to give presents. Sometimes it was a pack of ramen noodles or a stack of literature picked up in a hotel lobby. One day near Christmas, she gave me this glass ornament she’d bought on clearance at neighboring Anthropologie.

By most accounts, she was a crazy lady. Her husband had passed away, and she shuffled the streets of Chicago in his old clothes, her petite frame swallowed up by an extra large tweed overcoat, boat-sized leather loafers she could barely keep on her feet clopping with each step. Aside from gifting random things to complete strangers, she also burst into unexpected shouting, often of the profane sort. These other things got her cast out of most the businesses in the neighborhood, my old workplace included.

All of her craziness aside, I get inspired by her zest for gift-giving every year. It’s become an annual tree-trimming tradition that the first ornament to go up is Annie’s. I have no idea what became of her.

This post is part of Think Kit 2011.

Think Kit: Unwinding

Posted by Justin Lacey

Dec

2011

0
Comments

Filed Under: Think Kit

The beginning of autumn is always a crazy time for me. Work seems to ramp up as well as my personal hobbies and family events. I find myself asking for a break but never having time for one. It’s also incredibly stressful for my girlfriend who every year is trying to stay ahead on planning for Oranje, the Indianapolis art and music exposition that takes place every September. Each year everything seems to come to a head for both of us leading up to the event, but for me, once the event starts I find the entire experience to be one of my favorite escapes of the year.

Oranje is full of all kinds of music and art across every medium imaginable. For someone like me who lives and breathes digital art and technology, going hands on with local art opens my mind to a lot of new ideas. I just relax and take it all in as a spectator and this year, like others, I found a couple of artists that made my night and in turn was able to support. The combination of so much different art and music going on simultaneously can overwhelm your senses at first, but it ends up powerful and inspiring sensation.

I’m definitely underselling the experience because it’s much bigger than just being an escape for someone like me, but I’ve come to count on Oranje to recharge my creativity at the end of each year. I can’t recommend enough for everyone to attend at least once.

This post is part of Think Kit 2011.

Think Kit: People that Make a Difference

Posted by elizabeth

Dec

2011

0
Comments

Filed Under: Everything Else Think Kit

As I think about the various people that have made a difference in my life this past year, I realize how very blessed I am with the incredible group of people I am surrounded with. I am truly fortunate to have wonderful family, friends and co-workers. There are many people that impacted my life this year, so I will share just a few stories of these awesome people:

I have a few friends that made a difference in my life by asking me hard questions and being willing to show me tough love as I faced a crossroads in life. They challenged me, but also encouraged me, and I was able to make a big decision in my life with new confidence as a result of their willingness to not tell me what I wanted to hear, but instead challenge me to think past myself and my circumstances and to recognize a greater purpose for the trials we face in life. I came to a place of new clarity and true peace after these hard conversations, and I’m so thankful for these women that were willing to walk that road with me.

One of my very dear friends is about to see her husband go off to serve our country in Afghanistan. Without even knowing it, she has made a huge impact in my life by the way she has faced this new season of life with incredible courage. She has a beautiful attitude and strength about her that I so admire. As she faces a year ahead as a single mom, I know that I want to be intentional about encouraging her and supporting her through this season of life, and hopefully in some small way help her see what a difference both she and her husband are making through their sacrifice and service.

One other special person that has made a major difference in my life is my daughter, Zoe. What I most appreciate about her is her constant zeal and energy for life. She lives each day with purpose and truly looks to find adventure and joy around every corner. Her imagination knows no bounds, and you will often find her singing or dancing- no matter where she’s at or who’s around her. I love her outlook on life and know that her joy is contagious to everyone around her.

I know there are so many people that have made a difference in my life this year, and it makes me so grateful to have those kinds of people around me. As we head into another year, I want to be very intentional about how I live my life, that I would constantly look outwards and find ways to make a difference- big or small- in the lives of the people around me. I know that I have been both encouraged and challenged this year to live life with that kind of purpose.

This post is part of Think Kit 2011.