“I am too old to be governed by the fear of dumb people.” Eish. Play those lyrics in your head as often as possible, o. When it gets easier, play them more than once a day. As needed. Because truth. A character said this on a show I watched on a long flight back from East Africa, and it rocked me. Nice and slow. Because this is a thing for me. There’s a lot of dumbassery out there. Especially from so-called smart people. On the internets. On the socials. So. I make it a point to avoid swimming with pigs. They can’t swim. And they’ll drag you under, drowning you in BS and dumbassery. What makes me come alive? Verbal and mental jiu-jitsu with the curious. The witty. The sharp. The ones doing real work. Building. Challenging. Asking the questions others are afraid to. Getting knocked down and getting right back up. I’m here for those devastating exchanges—mind bombs that leave dents in lazy assumptions. And lazy assumptions aplenty. Quiet, gritty sparring with ideas that need to be pummeled by reality. The patient yet strenuous group struggle to escape the chokehold of a viciously wicked problem. Battling the insurmountable obstacles of resistance, mine and others. That’s how you avoid being governed by the fear of dumb people. When you engage the engageable. So, what makes *you* come alive?