1. Love. Love your family, love your blankie, love your bear-bear, love your pets, love your friends, love your boyfriend, love music, love art, love your wife. But please just love. It’s amazing, it’s horrible. It ruins things and makes everything better. It’s life.
2. Don’t take life too seriously. School is important, family is important, friendships are important, love is important, but it’s the totality of everything that defines your happiness. There are many paths in this life, and until you explore, experiment…create and fail..you won’t have a clue to what’s right for you.
3. You actually CAN enjoy what you do for a living. They never talked about this when I was in school. You took aptitude tests and were given career options. We didn’t discuss this at home either, and if done right, might be the most impactful focus of your middle through high school years.
4. Contrary to popular belief, we do not live in a “texting” society. Fat fingers and predictive text errors are only permissible while using your phone. If you misspell words and have terrible sentence structure while addressing clients or colleagues, you won’t look efficient, you’ll look uneducated. Command of a language is one of the biggest assets one can possess. Spelling, grammar, the ability to carry a conversation, these all matter. In fact, proficiency in these can make up for so many other shortfalls you may have.
5. Learn a second, third or fourth language. In so many cultures this is the norm. Americans are egotistical, lazy, and extremely ignorant. It will provide opportunities that 95% of your peers never knew existed and more than likely lead you to a happier life.
6. Have at least one job in the food/service industry. I have had a few great jobs and 30 shitty ones. Delivering pizzas and washing dishes had a profound impact on how I view this world. For the most part they’re thankless jobs but understanding how a simple smile, larger tip, or engaging conversation can turn one’s day around is truly a gift.
7. Be situationally aware. Know that your actions have consequences. This could be snapchatting, driving or standing in line for a movie. It all matters. No matter what utopian society your mother convinces you we live in.
8. Travel, travel, travel. I never really traveled before I met your mother. I drove across the country and back and lived in New Orleans and Seattle for short stints but that was about it. The majority of my close friends have been around the world several times and it really makes up a huge part of their character. Start traveling before you settle into a serious relationship, before you start your career, before you have a car payment or a mortgage or start paying down your student debt (we’ll do what we can)… There are so many things to learn and experience in this world. At the end of the day it’s your memories, not your belongings that really matter.
9. Be appreciative. For access to food, water, education, love, privilege. For quite literally being able to achieve ANYTHING that you want to. Most humans lack access to these basics of life. You are not owed anything. Understand this and find your lane whatever it may be, but don’t ever think you were shorted.
10. It’s OK to make mistakes. God knows your father’s made considerably more than one should ever be allowed. Almost everything that I know to be true in life has come from either catastrophically failing or going out on the thinnest limb.
The secret is to just be worldly, be conscious, be alive, be giving, have morals and treat others like you’d like to be treated. And most importantly, be happy.
-Daddy
-Daddy
Photography: Margaret Jacobsen
Great stuff!!
Seriously, amazing!!!!!! I'm so proud of you as a dad, as parents, as a person!! You're inspiring & I love you guys so much!!! Thank you!!! Beautiful & wise beyond your time!!
Very sweet of you Jenna! So fun being parents. Never would have thought.
Such wonderful words of wisdom, all of which we instilled in our two daughters! I love your blog and we think Jeff is an AWESOME person!
Thank you so much 🙂