A Message For Those Who Need It

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It’s a great time to feel alive, right here, right now, wherever, or whenever we are.

That's one of those feel good mantras I always wanted to believe, but had every reason not to.

Cultivating a life worth living takes time, and patience is a virtue.

Focus on the future value of the decisions you make today, and live life as an unapologetic beautiful soul.

Almost every relationship works the same as finding love: Relationships happen when you least expect.

Any relationship; take your pick, but don’t work too hard to find something that will eventually find you.

Extra Travis Phone Home!

I bet you thought E.T. stood for Extra Terrestrial.

Hang In There Kid!

Hang in there kid, you have a gifted spirit, and deep down you feel it. You exist in a data-based world, and learning’s a lifetime quest.

You’ve already earned the grand prize of life, and now is your time to live. In the playground of good and evil, there’s nothing more to win.

Appreciate and care for others; but your only concern is you.

Keep an open mind, follow your heart, and learn as much as you can.

You’ll fuck up for sure; it’ll happen a lot, and that will never change.

There are lessons to learn from the mistakes you’ll make. Learn to be humble.

Do yourself a favor, start making a list.

You’ll see your reflection in mirrors, at first, and that’s a great place to start.

Be honest about who you are, and acknowledge when you’re wrong. This isn’t a drill.

A lot won’t make sense for a very long time, and you won’t feel importantuntil you believe you’re important

Explore the paths of most resistance, but make good choices. This requires bold decisions, and bold decisions involve risk.

Learn to be spontaneous. Quick decisions aren’t always comfortable, but it only takes one to be the pivot that inevitably changes your life.

Whatever you do, don't become a greedy, selfish, evil, affected, awful lying twit. It never ends well for those.

Universal expectations of humans are low.

Dead or alive, you’re guaranteed a legacy fully directed by the actions you choose.

Failure succeeds at motivating.

You’ll never know what winning feels like until you know what it feels like to lose.

It’s important you do this alone.

I can’t tell you more, but remember this: Life is jam packed with shock and surprise, and I’ll always have your back.

Your Table’s Waiting

Friendships are a special beast within the realm of relationships. Like all relationships, friendships evolve, and they are a two-way street.

A life without friends isn’t much of a life, and making new friends is a crap shoot. Lucky us!

Welcome to the Ca-si-no, I’m not your friend!

It’s like gambling, except when placing bets, we use mental currency, not cash, and it’s amazing what your mind can afford.

P, P, P, Poker Face, P, P, Poker Face!

Life is like an incessant game of poker, and it’s boring if you don’t pay attention. There’s always a spot reserved for you – and only you – for life.

How we behave, interact, and communicate with each other is a culmination of whatever cards life hands us on a daily basis.

You won't win without trying and you have to play anyway. At minimum, poker is entertaining, but can be insanely fun with the right people.

Learn through observation and improve through experience. With a good poker face, a losing hand can win almost any game. Luck can strike at any time and change your life.

Keep your head in the game.

The Best is Yet to Come

I’ve spent a lot of time wishing I’d made better decisions in life. It’s fun to think about how things could be different, if only I just

However, that’s a waste of time. My past made me who I am today. Now is not the time for coulda shoulda woulda didn’t stories. There’s no sense in beating yourself up over shit you didn’t do.

If you want to change anything, apply the knowledge gained from the lessons life has given you and commit to being better, not bitter.

Bring yourself to the table so we can be better, together.

Smile more. Welcome new people, and show interest in others. Put forth an effort to show people you care.

Small changes will evolve your world before you know it. Even still, it takes time; a lot of time.

And patience.

Nobody lives while dwelling in the past and trapped in a loop. Nobody lives when they aren’t present. I’ve been there. It’s a self sentenced purgatory.

Being alive without living is a lonely place.

Imagination Work is a Virtual Brain Gym

Life is a game of wonder.

Nobody lives a life they never imagine, and it’s never too late to dream. You can always discover, create, tweak, finetune, evolve, enhance, and achieve dreams.

However, there’s a caveat. It’s work, and not necessarily work you get paid to do. At least, not at first. It’s work that might pay off down the road.

Your imagination becomes exponentially more active the more you open, stretch, strengthen, and train your imagination.

Imagination training is exhausting, even though you don’t pick up weights. The only thing you lift is your spirit, which, ironically, ultimately lifts you.

My Dream is Virtually Real

Be real and you will begin seeing opportunities that you never thought possible.

Sometimes it takes us to witness a groundswell of humanity in order to realize the secret to life is simple: Life is an internal journey.

In This, We Trust
You - yes you - the person reading (and writing) this right now - we're part of a unique team brought together (or otherwise connected) by incredibly rare circumstances that led us to the right place, at the right time.

Coincidence? It doesn’t matter. Somehow, we’ve crossed paths and it’s about time we have this conversation.

You sacrificed a lot in life early on. Remember? It doesn’t matter what you could have done different. We can play that game for the rest of our lives. Right now, it’s sudden death and the net is wide open. Missing this opportunity is unacceptable.

Everything must fall apart before anything can be pieced back together. Betrayal and loss are experiences everyone needs.

Everything happens for a reason. Nobody enters your life by accident. An actual occurrence of coincidence is rare.

Your external existence will never soar if you don’t understand and reinforce the foundation of your internal existence.

There are good and bad decisions, but there are no right or wrong ones. How we deal with the outcomes defines us as individuals.

A guilt-free conscience is the best prescription for quality sleep.

Embrace each day as an opportunity to push forward with an open mind and a kind soul.

Never forget: A life of privilege isn’t a privilege at all. The longer you live without experiencing heartache and hardships is a disadvantage.

Be nice, be kind, and do the right thing.

Love wins.

Always.

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The Great American Experiment

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Welcome to the Great Experiment!

People got too comfortable playing the game. Picking up where The "Conversation" Game left off...

A lot of what I’ve learned about my life and the world around it makes me uncomfortable.

It makes me happy, sad, elated and doomed – truly doomed – all at once.

It takes us nine months to breathe on our own, but our time on earth is the real womb.

Everyday I learn to adapt, a little more, than the day before. Honestly, that’s all that matters to me.

Life beat the hell out of me before my attempt at beating the hell out of life. Living a life out of hell is worth fighting for.

Hell has no place in my life – inside and out. Real hell.

So here we are, beating the hell out of each other because life and I have a common goal.

My emotions don’t come one by one, they arrive in bundles. Like high speed internet, cable TV, and phone service, the price is too high to start separating my feelings.

If I’ve learned anything on my writing journey it’s that.

The demons are doing jumping jacks now. 

Be the Real Deal

Embrace emotions as they happen no matter what they are.

Feel your moments. Every last one of them.

Live like you were born in an arena. For all intents and purposes, you were. If you were born in America, that’s what this is.

You’ll be shocked how far long ago this was set in motion. More time ago than you can imagine.

For now, let's call them years.

Thunderstruck!

Today, I realize how responsible I actually was as a kid. I’ve managed to justify my earlier existence. That’s the “C” student in me.

It's about damn time! I took that believing children are the future shit seriously.

I discovered a voice and, as a kid, I considered a typewriter a toy.

The Creative Guide

I attribute my evolution to having an open mind and heart.

I remind myself of this simple fact at every turn in this crazy reality.

That’s the only way I successfully began understanding the strange world in which I exist.

There’s only so much time before the thoughts behind this smirk are buried in forever.

Luckily, that's not the direction this is going.
Travis Garrod, Devilish Smirk

The stars aligned. Or not. The planets did. Or didn’t. Whatever it is, it feels like fireworks. Some days. Maybe.

I don’t know.

Moving on.

I feel like I’m crawling out of a steaming pile of extraordinarily colorful crap ashes.

Is it coincidence the Trump conclusion coincides with the final episodes of Game of Thrones which wraps on May 19, 2019 just ahead of the June 7, 2019 Dark Phoenix rise release?

And Sansa Stark stars in both?

Come on!

I’m merely a goose among geese, in a world searching for unicorns.

Don’t get me wrong, unicorns are great! They’re like a horse in permanent drag. However, unicorns shoot rainbows out of their butthole, and they don’t lay golden eggs.

A goose lays the golden eggs.

Where's that goose?

Will Ready Player win? Does Mario finally find his princess? Or prince?

Plot twist!

And all this time I thought I was an owl...
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The “Conversation” Game

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It finally happened; another word made the list of my personal, verbal equivalents to nails on a chalkboard.

It’s a lurking word I’ve noticed inching its way into the everyday Jargonitis of election politics: Conversation.

"Conversation" is the buzzword to be wary of for crafty answer dodging for 2020 campaigns.

The good news is, that’s already obvious.

Don’t get me wrong, communication is key component to building a civilized society, especially a connected one.

I take issue with politicians who refuse to take a stance - for whatever reason. I would never vote for someone waiting for polls to tell them how to think.

When it comes to elections, it no longer matters what candidates say. They’ve had decades to figure out where they stand.

What matters is what they have done and continue to do.

Actions matter more than anything.

Want a conversation? Start a book club.

“Conversations” don’t need to be brought to Washington.

If a politician hasn’t developed an opinion beyond dinner table discussions, they have no business running for president.

That's not to say they have no business in public service. It's just they're not ready for the highest office of the land.

Birds of a Feather

Everyday on my dog walk, I see all kinds of waterfowl. Of course they were going to make it into my stories at some point.

Today’s political scenario – this level of synchronicity between the media, our government’s behavior, and public reactions – appears categorically unnatural.

Unnervingly.

Turn up the volume and wait for the end.
As if...

Motives can yank anything natural from everything. Let’s see where you stand.

The Cautious Goose Lacks Backbone

Nobody needs a new job title to take a stance.

Today, the same, (and more dangerous), tools are used to uproot political discourse amongst all of us since we were born: Political platforms. Both would have us believe we’re all fucked up.

20 years ago, Columbine happened and we’re still talking about guns. Somehow, sexuality is an issue and the Supreme Court is close to weighing in on whether or not I can be terminated for being me.

Abortion, religion, marriage, love, war, and Jesus are still arguments, and women still only make $0.70 to every man’s dollar, another statistic that appears unchanged from 20 years ago.

In the past 20 years, the Electoral College flipped the popular choice for POTUS results – twice!

What are the odds?

Naturally? Zero. Unnaturally? 100%

The only thing that hasn’t happened, God forbid, is another 9/11. September 11, 2001 will be 18 this year. It’s almost 20.

20 years ago, the Berlin Wall stood in history.

Today, we live in a country declared national emergency over funding of a wall.

Wait…what? Still?

Still.

The Careless Goose Lacks Heart

The presidential field is filled with fodder. I’m trying not to be too critical as there are other ongoing things from which we’re being distracted, so I’ll stick to the main careless goose: Donald Trump.

Trump was elected when Obama was president.

We can’t blame Trump on Trump. Trump happened as a result of something. A lot of somethings. Ever since the 2016 election, it’s been a turmoil spill.

The man who is responsible for “grab ’em by the pussy” in our vernacular is POTUS.

"Never in a million years..."

Welcome to year 1,000,001.

We've got a clean up on all aisles. All staff report for duty.

Pick a poison: Impeachment, resignation, wait, or Civil War? We know where Trump stands.

Our president reminded us how much of a fan he is of General Lee with his most recent defense of his “very fine people on both sides” Charlottesville, VA blunder.

Bill Clinton was impeached 20 years ago. By the same standards, Donald Trump would already be gone.

Before that, though, President Trump must face the music or we’re doomed to repeat something even more unsavory.

If only the Mueller Report would change it's name to either the Benghazi Report or the Starr Report. What would republicans do then? Wait, that already happened.

The Criminal Goose Goes to Jail

Hanging somewhere over us is the truth. It’s been captured. Rest assured things never end well for the criminal.

The challenge about truth is finding it. Once it’s found, it’s better to be on the right side of it, or figure out a way there.

Someone already nailed someone to that cross.

There is such a thing as too little too late.

Karma’s planning her own party. It’s no sweat off her back if she’s late. The last thing she wants to do is disappoint her guests.

The Courageous Goose Doesn’t Give a Duck

The only way out of this mess is to let the mess out of my mind.

The Ill Eagles

America doesn’t soar without Americans soaring.

Would you fly under Trump’s wing in a V formation? Do you trust the lift of the upwash from the wingtip vortices of that HBIC (head bird in charge)?

If anything he's making it harder to fly in this country.

Donald Trump never intended to win the presidency. His entire transition debacle made that evident. That, and his complete inability to keep his most senior positions filled.

It’s been a cascading turmoil slick ever since.

The President is too divisive of a figure at present time.

Plus, I can't imagine there isn't other shit he'd rather be doing. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up resigning. Any advisor to him who’s worth the dirt they walk on would encourage resignation this point.

I’ll be more surprised when this charade ends.

The shark tank smelled fishy before, but now it includes the added downgrade aroma of "carcass rotting in a swamp", which is ultimately what grabbed my pattention.

If it were up to me, this would have been over years ago. But, it’s not. Oh well.

The sooner we rid him from our marred democracy, the better off the country will be.

Mark my words.

What a day that will be.

Until then, brace yourselves for a bumpy ride.

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A Perfect Stage to Rattle Your Cage, Pt. 2

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Indivisible, with Liberty, and Justice For All

By the time Americans graduate high school, we’ve repeated those words hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

If they mean anything to you, we have a lot of work to do.

We lost control of this forsaken nation. Uncle Sam pitted cruise control against autopilot. We got drunk with arrogance and became assholes.

Our allegiance to each other deteriorated while we collectively blacked out. We woke up face-down, ass-up, in a ditch, just in time to elect President Trump.

Everything around us is on fire.

Then, we went back to sleep.

In case you missed the first one, A Perfect Stage to Rattle Your Cage Pt. 1.

Linked In or Out?

You need to know how lucky you are. You’ve already won the lottery of life.

Believe it or not, it’s true. However, it’s a tricky truth, and it’s not enough to take my word for it.

It’s been an ugly and disturbing past four years. Is it a blessing? It feels like a curse. Whatever it is, it’s loud and painful.

We all felt and dealt with it in different ways.

How long will this last?

Ready Player Won

You can win at life when you’re ready.

You’ll feel ready before you win; long before. First, there are three things that fall squarely on you, and you alone.

Decisions, decisions, don't you just love having free will?
  • First, you have to truly believe you won.
  • Second, you must prove it through your actions.
  • Third, know that you are your only concern.

Yes, you need the hat trick. If you have that, you’re golden. Eventually. Maybe.

None of us have anything better to do than be better.

Too many people worry about others more than they worry about themselves.

In the playground of good and evil, there's nothing more to win.

When it comes to others, strive to inspire.

The Battle of Who Can Cry More

We all experience pain. It’s not a competition. We go through the shit we do in order to help others empathize with fucked up situations.

Life isn’t fair. And it’s easy to get pissed off about it. Hopefully, someday, people won’t have to deal with the shit we’ve dealt with anymore.

Did You Forget?

On this day, 18 years ago, 9/11 was still a plan.

We’d not yet begun the experiment and the subsequent time released aftermath, in a way only time can do.

Today’s reality feels like every movie you’ve ever seen.

The Hunger Games married the The Black Hole. The Capitol sent its citizens to deep space. They’ll never find the edge.

It’s Tron meets Basic Instinct. We navigate a vast and endless data-based world and realize we’re all fuckin’ human.

Also, we have a remarkable ability to make a scandal out of nothing.

You time slidin' son of a bitch. Deadpool 2. Josh Brolin. Goonies. Brand saves the day.

The Battle to Make the World a Better Place

Two Thousand, Zero Zero, Party’s Over, Oops Out of Time!

And here we are, 19 years later. This year marks the 18th anniversary of 9/11.

Are we ready to graduate to the next level? Level heads will prevail. Humanity will prevail.

I’m ready, but I can’t do it without you.

The roots of millennials come from Generation X. Who do you think had them? Step up, GenX.

Start prevailing.

Today was a Good Day

I feel like I’m stuck in a computer talking to and learning from itself. From every angle. An inward bomb, everything and everyone sucked in. Slurp. Bye!

Is it possible to be everything and nothing all at once? Time is irrelevant. There's a time and place for everything.

Need to Crumble to Rebuild

The people who appear to have won at first, don’t win in the end. How many times has the power shifted in your lifetime?

I haven’t seen a power shift in my 44 years. In fact, nothing’s changed except music and technology.

People still identify as either republican or democrat. I mean, Jesus.

People shouldn’t achieve personal fulfillment at the expense of others.

Unfortunately, that’s what we’ve become, today, in America. It’s shameful, and it’s time to do something about it.

In some way.

In your way.

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The Innate Experience

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No, I’m not talking about my experience at InEight, the company with the handsy and mouthy CEO that purchased et alia and then fired me. That company spelled their name with the number eight.

They held a “convention” the year they purchased et alia called The InEight Experience. “Experiment” is a better word for what they attempted; an illegal one at that.

It's ok to be nervous. That's natural. It's innate. It takes a key wit to make people nervous. That's what's in my DNA.

This is a separate experience altogether. No one is safe; not from this.

Any resemblance to real life is purely coincidental. Besides, it doesn’t matter. I never signed anything (or received money) that said I couldn’t talk.

That's all I need to sleep well at night.

My Innate Experience

Something happened along the way to my happy ending; a detour of sorts.

The train left the station before the people on board realized it was moving.

That’s an easy feat to manage in a windowless getaway car – the inconvenient car equipped with a bootlegger bar.

Is it possible to be nothing and everything all at once?

Up, up, and away! From experiment to life altering experience.

Fearsome 40

What’s a first time unemployed person to do? Look for a job, right? Seems logical. So I did. To no avail.

In the beginning of unemployed status, I met with a placement company who wanted me to pay them to find me a job.

They told me I was an ENTJ. I had a couple interviews on my own.

I failed some kind of test during my interview with State Farm.

Also, I have 15 years executive HR experience and Zenefits (an HR services company) didn’t want to talk to me. I was overqualified for an HR company.

I abandoned my focused job search by the end of 2015. All signs in my daily life pointed in the direction to give writing a shot.

Lord knows, I've said I should be a writer enough times throughout my life.

There comes a time when you need to either put up, or shut up.

I had whatever retirement I had, and a house. I reeled in my job search while I figured out what I wanted to do with Devilish Smirk.

I've not been paid for anything I've written. Monetizing words is not an easy order to fill. That requires a lot of energy, along with a solid foundation of content. 

My eyes are on content, 100% of the time. Eyes. Plural. Both of them.

All About the Story

I came out swinging.

It’s not always easy to express what’s going on inside one’s head.

Being a writer means you’ll piss someone off along the way. Some say you haven’t made it as a writer until you’ve done so. If that’s the case, then mission accomplished.

I don't think anyone makes it as a writer until their banks and credit cards are pulling them into court. Even then, there are no guarantees.

My story.

I’ve been blessed with the attitude and enough conviction where I have no qualms sharing the things I’ve witnessed in life. Especially things I continue learning. I’m 44, I’ve learned a lot, and have a lot of things to say, across the board.

No topic is off limits, especially my own shortcomings. Try putting a label on that. Let’s be honest, we all have stories. Dark ones. Tell me I’m wrong.

This is our world. Join me while I play in it.

This is the only way I can make sense of the world in which I live.

Story Time

I have a friend. His name is Brandon, but I call him Brand. Much like Darby, Brand’s unemployed. He’s looking for a job, and has a long story of his own.

In case you missed who Darby is, she's the fulltime, unemployed acronym, Dreams Are Realized By You. Here's her history.

Brand hasn’t worked in a while; it’s been about four years. He just turned 48.

The major difference between Darby and Brand is that he's not an acronym. Not yet.

Brand has his own experience with job search chronologies, rescinded offers, and other bizarre shit.

He has ideas about what he wants to do, and has vivid specifics of everything he won’t.

Brand was fucked with from all sides, and then forced to fire his best friend, who became some sort of smirking writer.

Brand isn't one to be fucked with. Why? That will become more clear in future stories about him.  

That’s just part of him that people have to accept.

Brand is a Dreamer and, like Darby, his Dream is a Grower

All about the story.

Brand’s been on the job hunt. Unlike Darby, who’s stuck in dreamland, dreams aren’t good enough for Brand. Especially if all they ever amount to are dreams.

Darby's there by choice, by the way.

But Brand doesn’t have dreams anymore. He has nightmares, and Brand’s nightmares are creeping into his reality.

Bad Brand?

He was applying for what felt like every job under the sun, but nobody was biting.

You're overqualified! I'm sorry, Brand. The offer we extended you 12 hours ago - that's no longer valid. Best of luck, hopefully we can stay in touch. We've opted to pursue other candidates.

Only offer parts of you that you’re willing to give.

If Brand had his druthers, he’d be on some sort of stage, singing. If there’s a constant beat to Brand’s life, it’s that of his voice.

Brand can sing like no other. His talent was apparent early on, but there are reasons for Brand's detour.

A hard stop was thrown in Brand’s path whose tracks took off in another direction.

Denied Days of Disney, Purdue, NASA, Madison, MCAT, Chemical Engineering, SAP, Tellabs, DUCT, ZIM, RAC, Turner, Churchill, Kiewit, InEight, Medical Records, Scottsdale.

The stuff of dreams...

Meanwhile, back in Brand’s reality…25 years later, the U.S.A. is still on that downward detour.

It’s so bad, that Donald J. Trump is the president of the forsaken country.

A Change of Heart

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” Brand wondered to himself.

Oops, we made a mistake, when can you come in for an interview?

Before he had a chance, that last part happened.

Brand applied for five positions at a prominent local grocer. He received eight confusing, seemingly replicated, but differently worded rejection emails.

That company called him.

Two hiring managers, both of them, left Brand voicemails stamped 2:01 PM on the same day. Both locations consecutively changed their minds, simultaneously realizing their previous mistake.

What are the odds? *ahem* Illumiti and Kiewit

Long story short, Brand met with one of them. Don’t interrupt Brand. Bagging groceries *enter sarcasm* is his passion.

Everyone Deserves a Chance

Brand’s life is a real-time saga playing out daily. He wakes up, every day without answers to many of life’s glaring questions.

Just give me a chance! Yes, I may seem overqualified or not fitting exactly into your idea for the role but if you give me a chance what is the worst that could happen? And the best is a big upside! *Fun Fact: Brand has a degree in Chemical Engineering as well as an MBA.*

Brand accepted a position at a local grocery store just blocks from where he lives. He doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he’s grateful for the step in the right direction. It’s a job and more than anyone else has offered him.

Onward and upward!

Dumb Myself Down? Never!

Dumb it down is a contradiction to every sign along your path to become your best self.

A friend recently muttered these words as advice – some iteration of dumb it down. Why? Because experience excludes me from contention? I don’t know. I guess certain experience can appear intimidating, but nobody should have to lie about who they are.

It wasn't the first time I've heard this regarding a later life job search.

Dumb it down? No. Misinformation about me by my own making? Which version of you is true? Thank you, but no. That’s just bad advice.

People are people and people talk. It's in their DNA.

What happened to being better?

Just because you were a CEO, doesn't mean you weren't one when it comes to getting a job.

It’s beat into our subconscious minds to feel like we have to adapt our persona to fit a situation.

Don’t beat yourself into submission. It’s up to you to not erase your past.

We are our own worst enemies, but we’re also our only advocates.

Traffic Trouble

What’s worse than a kid without talent?

Leashed potential. The unrealized dreams of a dream-filled kid, and the kid always told no.

Where are the kids whose career paths emerged only after being pushed off their paths to legendary status.

You have exactly one advocate you can count on.

I’m Leveling Up

I want to live up to my own expectation of me, myself and I. It’s something I have to do for my own sanity. Always (or try to) be the best version of yourself, even when you’re knocked down.

It’s still a version.

Our ability to do good is only as powerful as the bad we've embraced about ourselves.

None of us are dealt things we’re incapable of handling.

If you want a life of candy, you must crush it.

I write like words spill out of my mouth. Editing is all the reason for me to write; it allows me to enhance, retract, rearrange and otherwise present my thoughts an organized flow.

The impact of story time on a child’s developing mind is immeasurable. Read storybooks to your kids or the kids in your life. Behind every storyteller is an active listener.

That’s a good first step.

Level Up

*No clowns or elephants were harmed in the production of this story.
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