When you stop and look around at the world today, or at any time in history for that matter, the problems that we face as a species can be attributed to two primary groups: Politics and Religion. Oftentimes concurrently. From the Crusades to the Holocaust, and from Apartheid in South Africa to slavery in America. Russia, Syria, ISIS, the Taliban, and the IRA. World War I, II, and eventually III. September 11, 2001. December 7, 1941. August 6, 1945. All of these problems…
Yesterday our oldest daughter (13) went to the mall with a couple of friends. When she left, it looked like she was going to a dance. It was her first time going to the mall without parents. “So, why exactly are they going to the mall?” I asked my wife. “To find their independence.” she said. “At the mall?” Then I thought about it and realized that I did the same thing. The year was 1978. I was 13 and living in…
Over the past year my family spent a month in the enchanting nation of Belize – home to the nicest people, best food, and most amazing natural beauty I’ve ever experienced. Here are some pictures from our adventures there. *** Jim Mitchem – future Belizean
This month the company I helped launch in 2009 was ranked #120 on Inc. Magazine’s fastest growing companies in America. It’s a wonderful accomplishment. Especially when you consider that we started out with a rendering and a two-page website back in 2009. Oh, and no advertising budget. We grew the company on branding and storytelling via social and digital media channels. Exclusively. And now we’re one of the fastest growing companies in America. Woo-hoo! Hurray for–the past. You see, the list recognizes…
I want to run away with my family to a place where there is perpetual summer and no one grows old and no one changes. And because of this, I am crazy. Because the fact is life is nothing but change. When we arise each morning, we’re different people. The crease of a new wrinkle on your forehead. The sprout of a silver hair. A new idea in the mind of a child that takes her farther away from innocence. And…
11 November 2014: Tonight I lost one of the best friends I’ve ever had. A year after suffering a stroke, and a few months after we thought we lost her for the second time, today she had two seizures that left us with no choice but do the humane thing and put her to rest. She was 15. I didn’t cry until after I got home and remembered how when she was young she’d nearly drown fighting through the breakers to…
