Gratitude.

(Micro newsletter this morning as life is busy!)

I promise you there is nothing more humbling than walking around a children’s hospital.

We’re currently sitting in the surgical waiting room at SickKids while our 10-month-old gets bilateral cochlear implants. That’s a mouthful of a sentence I never expected to write. But I find myself weirdly… grateful. Not panicked. Not even especially worried. Just sitting here in quiet awe of what modern medicine can do. He was born deaf — and in a couple weeks, he’ll be able to hear.

We live in an era where a child born deaf can listen to his parents read bedtime stories before he turns one — and the tech fits in the palm of your hand. It’s basically Hogwarts, with Bluetooth!

If that isn’t some perspective about how we’re living through the most fortunate era, in one of the most fortunate places, I don’t know what is.

This newsletter is a gentle kick in the shin — a reminder that the “meh” of everyday life isn’t a baseline. It’s a gift.

We’ve trained ourselves to treat “fine” as a failure state. If your job isn’t thrilling, your breakfast wasn’t photogenic, or your relationship isn’t burning white-hot passion at all times… well, clearly, something’s broken. But it’s not broken. It’s just normal. And normal is underrated.

Your bad haircut isn’t a crisis. Being bored at work still beats being in a hospital bed with a PICC line in your arm.

Catastrophe is a hell of a clarity drug.

Gratitude doesn’t have to be this grand, Oprah-endorsed spiritual epiphany. Sometimes it’s not being the one getting emergency surgery. And, sometimes it’s just realizing you’ve made it to the end of another Tuesday and life doesn’t suck.

I have a tattoo on my chest of my dad’s handwriting. It says, “If you can read this everything will be ok.”

A gentle reminder that if I’m awake and have the cognizance to read, things are going to work out.

So if today feels a little “meh,” go hug your kids. Or your dog. Or your mediocre morning coffee.

And if all else fails, just be grateful you’re not the one in the gown.

Words I Wish I Wrote

Links & Learnings

• The 70% rule: If you’re roughly 70% happy with a piece of writing you’ve produced, you should publish it. If you’re 70% satisfied with a product you’ve created, launch it. If you’re 70% sure a decision is the right one, implement it. And if you’re 70% confident you’ve got what it takes to do something that might make a positive difference to the increasingly alarming era we seem to inhabit? Go ahead and do that thing. - Oliver Burkeman

• Couples clothing I’d actually wear.

• Find the gap: “My dad died when I was 8. Every week a few of the dads on my hockey team would offer to tie my skates. Not in a big showy way, in a quiet kind way. They filled the gap. Find a way to fill the gap for someone. It'll make you both better.” - @TorrensJonathan

Psst… DSTLLD has a podcast now, too. I know — like the world needs another podcast, right? But here’s the thing: if you can tolerate my written rambles, you’ll probably find my in-person yammering… well, moderately tolerable. It’s basically me and a guest chatting about the same offbeat stuff you read here, except now you get to hear me stumble over big words in real time. I’m not saying it’s the greatest thing in the universe (trust me, I’ve listened to it), but if you like DSTLLD, there’s a good chance you won’t hate it. Win-win! Subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast platform:

• Youtube

• Spotify

• Apple

Did you learn something new? If you enjoyed this, you can support DSTLLD by taking a moment to:

1. ❤️ Like this post to get it in front of more curious people.

2. 💬 Reply or comment to share your thoughts or ask a follow up question.

3. 📤 Forward this post to someone who’d benefit from it.

PHOTW (Parenting hack of the week): Teamwork.