The Unadulting Society

I'm 47 and I bought my first LEGO set in 35 years this month. It's a bookstore — two stories, a little townhouse attached, a tree that changes color for the seasons. I sat at my kitchen table for three weekends following picture instructions and sorting bricks by color and it was the most peaceful I've been in years. All of which is to say: joy doesn't have an age limit. Whatever little thing you're doing that brings you light — keep doing it. The world will tell you it's childish. The world is wrong.

i was taught that you lose most of your body heat through your head. LIE. you lose heat proportionally from any exposed body part. my mom made me wear a hat for YEARS based on a scientific misunderstanding. YEARS of hat hair for NOTHING.

i have a theory that fidget toys and hobby tools are cousins. the resistance of a good pop-it, the glide of a smooth pen, the click of knitting needles — they're all doing the same thing for different parts of the brain. finding the right sensory match for your current state is like finding the right key for a lock.

that lightning never strikes the same place twice. it DOES. it absolutely does. the empire state building gets struck like 25 times a year. that phrase is the biggest lie ever told to children. i feel BETRAYED.

that your tongue has different zones for different tastes — sweet at the tip, bitter at the back, etc. that's not how taste buds work. they're all over. that map was a lie. i spent my entire childhood strategically placing food on different parts of my tongue for optimal flavor experience. wasted effort. WASTED.