Three Time Zones

pWho is more opinionated, Drew or Jesse? To find out, we came up with a game where we take turns hitting each other with topics — some controversial, some silly — and giving our opinion in 5 seconds or less. Who won? Let us know!/p

pWe give our 5-second opinion on all sorts of things: pennies, Marvel movies, recycling, bacon, existentialism, pet names, Baby Yoda, the McRib, national parks, Taco Bell, drone warfare, Christopher Nolan movies, parades, socialism, the 2020 Election, celebrity crushes, C.S. Lewis, onion rings, trophy hunting, sea lions, kombucha, ice cream flavors, American exceptionalism, snakes, Kirk vs. Picard, the best season, college, Edward Snowden, Minnesota, 90rsquo;s sitcoms, business casual, escape rooms, pet peeves, the lottery, Brexit, Area 51, flossing, dieting, executive privilege, dubstep, universal basic income, plastic bag bans, Girl Scout cookies, pot, essential oils, shaving, and neckbeards./p

pJesse and Drew talk through the ethical implications of bringing children into the world, some of the drivers behind family size, and the impact having kids has on being a creative professional./p

pDrew and Jesse weigh in on the new Star Wars. Did you find it satisfying or infuriating? (Warning: This episode does contain some spoilers.)/p

pFor better or worse, the new year is a time for starting things. Jesse and Drew talk about goals for 2020, whether or not resolutions are a good idea, and some practical apps and services they use to help make their own goals a reality./p

pDrew and Jesse weigh in on their most/least loved Christmas songs, and take a look back at the most memorable places, memories, and lessons learned from 2019./p

pThis week, we talk about the recent death of Drewrsquo;s grandfather and work through some larger questions about death, like how people experience and process it and how we remember those wersquo;ve loved and lost./p

pFrom the episode:/p

ul

listrong01:00/strong : Jesse talks about his grandparents and how difficult it is to process seeing loved ones on a decline, especially when you’re younger./li

listrong02:50/strong : Drew talks about his great grandparents, sharing some of his memories of them and talking about their deaths./li

listrong06:25/strong : The conversation shifts to what impact their deaths had. Jesse talks about how death impacted him and how he wondered if his response was “inadequate” compared to others./li

listrong07:40/strong : Drew talks about the death of his grandfather Aron and how people in his small town contributed to his memory by sharing what he meant to them./li

listrong08:50/strong : Is a person is really just a collection of what people remember about them?/li

listrong09:30/strong : Drew talks about how the memories and traditions you carry about a person feel a lot like ghosts. Losing parts of the memories of a person feels like losing them over again./li

listrong11:00/strong : Discussion about the “second death,” the thought that you really die when the last person on earth remembers who you are. That’s why so many people set up remembrances to keep the memory of a person alive./li

listrong12:00/strong : Are you really the same person day-to-day?/li

listrong13:00/strong : We often craft the narrative about a person, especially when the real narrative is harder to live with, and those stories that we tell ourselves about a person are usually the ones that linger./li

listrong14:00/strong : It’s difficult enough for living individuals to summarize who we are… it’s no wonder it’s so difficult trying to capture the essence of a loved one who has died./li

listrong15:00/strong : There’s a “be with” factor, a quantitative measurement, that helps to build and to amplify those memories./li

listrong15:40/strong : Drew talks about finding his grandfather the morning that he died. He talks about how he processed his grandfather’s passing — the thoughts, the emotions, the shape of his grief./li

listrong17:55/strong : Drew talks about being in the room when his first grandfather passed away, the sacredness of the moment./li

listrong18:30/strong : The discussion shifts to “transition moments” when a person is born or dies, moments that are hidden to the living behind a veil./li

listrong19:15/strong : Jesse talks about his mother-in-law passing away and the beauty of expressing love by being as present as possible with someone on their deathbed as they slip away./li

listrong20:15/strong : People tend to turn their face away from the reality of death, but that does a disservice to those who are in the throes of it./li

listrong20:45/strong : Drew talks about how different people process death differently, based on their worldview and what they’re expecting and hoping to see. Jesse mentions that humans are drawn to finding patterns, so looking for patterns isn’t surprising, especially on a loved one’s deathbed when people are feeling a sense of powerlessness./li

listrong22:20/strong : “Tell me I’m a good person.” Being faced with our own mortality is a lot to process./li

listrong22:50/strong : How do you remember the people that you love?/li

listrong24:05/strong : Jesse talks about how practically to remember those who have died./li

listrong25:00/strong : Drew talks about triggers that bring remembrance. Holidays are full of memories. Objects can be too, Drew talks about a pocket watch that belonged to his great grandfather./li

listrong25:30/strong : Jesse shows so artwork from his Uncle Edward as a way of remembrance, as if he was telling him something about his life./li

listrong27:40/strong : Drew talks about how the living are the lucky ones. A good reminder to go out and live./li

/ul

pSocial media is a way for people to craft a persona, but it doesnrsquo;t seem conducive to creating longer-form contenthellip; unless, of course, that long-form content is the story of your life./p

pAfter Jessersquo;s month off of Facebook, we discuss the pros and cons and whether itrsquo;s worth it. (Spoiler alert: itrsquo;s complicated.)/p

pWe celebrate Thanksgiving with a little friend-to-friend competition!/p

pHere are the categories for anyone playing along:/p

ul

liWords associated with a turkey/li

liSomething at the Thanksgiving table/li

liSomething at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade/li

liWords associated with harvest/li

liThanksgiving songs/li

liThanksgiving history/li

liSomething at a Football game/li

liThings you do strongright after dinner/strong/li

liWords related to our families/li

liSomething you’re thankful for/li

/ul

pWho do you think will win, Jesse or Drew? More importantly, who do you think performed the best rendition of their favorite Thanksgiving song?/p

pOh, and feel free to pass this PSA around while itrsquo;s still ldquo;Thanksgiving-timerdquo;: a href="http://www.isittooearlytolistentochristmasmusic.com/"http://www.isittooearlytolistentochristmasmusic.com//a/p

pIn 2009, Drew had a big idea: 48 weeks of volunteering in 48 US states. So the a href="http://www.48by48.com/"48x48 project/a was born. But where does an idea like that come from and how do even start something that ambitious? How do you turn the desire to volunteer into the act of volunteering?/p

pThe yearlong project was challenging. It was physically exhausting, and moving from place to place, meeting people but being alone a lot — it was emotionally exhausting. Following your passion is great, but the contours of the pursuit can often be more than you bargained for./p

pBut the amount of good he was able to do made it worth it: the people and organizations he was able to help, the number of people he was able to encourage to start volunteering, and the amazing people that encouraged him./p

pThe key takeaway? JUST DO IT. The hardest part of volunteering is getting started. Don’t get bogged down in the practicality. Once you get over the hump of STARTING, then you can figure out the details as you go/p

p🗣 Got some creative volunteering ideas? a href="https://www.threetimezones.com/contact/"Let us know!/a/p