Curiosity Continuum

Monopoly money - We all know it's not real money. But, what if you played with REAL money? Listen to the recap of eventful game of Monopoly that Brian played with his children, ages 13 and 11, and how using real money changed their own gaming behavior and inspired real-life learning.

Notes:

Listen to the TedX talk that inspired our own curiosity:

When money isn’t real: the $10,000 experiment | Adam Carroll | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool

Does the heaviness of life drag on you? How do you cope with those feelings and take a break? Brian and I (Josh) discuss this and the human need to sometimes switch modes to fully understand our life situations.

Why is friendship important? Do you have any lifelong friends? In today's world, friendship is even more critical in an ever increasing digital world that can be isolating from real relationships.

If there are edges, there's a middle. What's your center? Why is it important?

Take a journey with us down memory lane as we recount our very first episode. In this special recording we ( Brian and Josh ) recount the first episode of Curiosity Continuum , The Value Of Friendship. We talk about how its the same and different than today and how we use this knowledge to look into the future of CC. Join us for this riveting discussion!

Why should we always "think outside the box?" Is the box inherently bad? We discuss what "The Box" is, its meaning, and its importance.

Limited resources force you to focus your creativity and resourcefulness. The best innovations often come when lack of time, money, and tools - because if it already existed, it would not be innovative. How have limits uncapped your unlimited imagination?

How do you become aware of new creative possibilities? How do you deal with them? What do you do to adapt your expertise when the possibilities intersect with you?

(Slight audio weirdness on this one, but still great content!)

How do you become aware of new possibilities? How do you deal with it?

What do you do to adapt your expertise when the possibilities intersect with you? What do you do with it?

Special Edition: Originally a live stream to YouTube and Facebook on February 11, 2024, Brian gets deeply personal on how his first trip back to Korea impacted him.

Brian shares original writings, personal insights, and messages to other adoptees and parents of adoptees.

The livestream happened the same day as Super Bowl LVIII and Seollal, the Korean Lunar New Year. Of course, two worlds coming together at once on the same day.

From Brian: Thanks for patiently waiting as we worked out the kinds today! The technical issues made me neglect to address this - Brian, you were solo today. What happened to your co-host, Esther Shin MacIntosh?

We had to change format last minute due to sickness. Join me in praying for a speedy recovery for her. And, fear not! We will plan a reschedule of some kind and let you know. First time/this time - One Korean. Second time/next time - Two Koreans. You all just don't know what you're getting yourselves into

 

#korea #koreanadoptee #internationaladoption #identity #ethnicidentity

Do you have a special skill from childhood that you didn't fully understand until adulthood? What did you use to refine it? When did you realize it all?

The question to a highly successful, recently retired sales leader: What practices do you see modern sales teams lacking that would turn them from average to stellar?

Special thanks to Randy for his decades of friendship and generosity with his time and wisdom!

Proactive vs. Reactive

Creators vs. Consumers

Timeframe from Contract to Close

Part 2 of Brian's Korea trip updates. Brian talks about what it meant to reconnect with his foster mom from 43 years ago.

A more personal episode, Brian shares how his first time back to his Motherland stood out in his mind and how it changed him.

How long can you sustain your current pace? When/how do you recharge to be at your best? Why are you at your current pace? What would happen if you just stopped doing some things?

Brian shares a poignant metaphorical essay on dealing with the many pieces of identity.

The Harmony of Identity

In Western music, there are only 12 notes. These 12 notes, in combinations and patterns, expressed over time, speak a language of the soul in words not formed with syllables.

The richness and color of music comes not solely from melody, which is a single progression of notes, but from harmony, where two or more notes come together to create a combined sound at the same time. The space between these notes shapes how the harmony sounds, or the tonality. This tonality is unique to that group of notes and defines the character of that sound.

Simple or complex, it resonates.

But did you know that the best sounding harmonies are based on a series of compromises? If you listen to a well-tuned piano, each individual note is not perfectly in tune to the exactness of its actual pitch. If it was, the instrument would sound strident and harsh and would not make you think of music. To make this instrument sound musical, a skilled piano tuner (as in, a human being) will start with one pitch, generally middle C, and tune that note to the calibration point, which is often a tuning fork that resonates only at that specific frequency. From there, the piano tuner will temper the tuning of the surrounding notes to that starting note. Meaning, they will adjust the tuning of other notes to resonate in context with the other notes to sound pleasant, not perfect.

So what of identity?

We do not choose the starting notes of our identity we are given in this life. Too often, we strive to hide or diminish a note, thinking it does not, or should not, belong. We may overplay a single note at the expense of our own dimensionality. Or, we try to make perfect each individual note and only end up in internal dissonance.

When in truth, all these notes together makes us special.

Whether close or far apart, those seemingly conflicting parts of us give us character. It’s a messy work of compromise and tempering, and a constant need to tune. But in the outworking, we find peace within the process of making the many notes within us, resonate together in imperfect harmony.

By what measure are you calibrating your starting pitch of identity?

How have you tempered the individual notes in your identity to craft your unique sound?

What harmony of identity resonates from you?

How are your passions intertwined with your economic activities? What do you want to shift in proportions in your activities in a given week? When was the last time you re-evaluated what you've been doing?

Does the first person with the idea, win? Have you ever had an idea that was just not right, right now? Why do those who see it second succeed?