There seems to be a growing dissatisfaction in some circles of the design world. Many people, especially those getting a little older, seem to want the community to move the focus from aesthetically pleasing baubles to solving real problems. I couldn't agree more. If we could have a few more start ups focused on clean water, healthcare, or food shortages and a few less that are focused on helping us read everything or recommending movies to our friends, the rest of the world might join us in sa…
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The tell tale buzzing started again, for the third time that day. It’s not like a smoke detector or air raid siren, but it’s enough to get your attention from anywhere in the house. And it sent shivers down my spine the first time I realized what it was. That buzzing is caused by the high water alarm on my septic system. 27 year old Chris Bowler would be visibly upset at this sound. It would cause him to stress a bit, to be a little short with kids. He’d think thoughts like, “Why did I buy…
For many, building a product or service is something that has to be done on the side. Having a full time job means that your primary day time hours are spent on someone else's baby. If you want to create your own baby, it's going to take some sacrifice. With this in mind, it’s important to establish, daily, an attitude for the long haul. Apart from the occasional long, late night work session, progress on your baby is going to be slow. Glacial even. You have to have the right mindset in place t…
It's been a truly beautiful winter in these parts. A lot of snowfall combined with temperatures low enough that the snow stays around, covering every tree you can see, has made for many stunning sunsets. What I love most is going out in the afternoon as the sun is beginning to fade. As it creeps to the horizon, it's light glances off the scattered clouds, turning the sky to a wonderful mixture of deep blue and bright oranges and pinks. In between the bold colours is the key, the soft subtle sha…
Our family attended a funeral recently. It's interesting how differently people can respond to death, some mourning the life that was lost, others celebrating the life that had been lived. This particular funeral had a mix of both. The man who passed away, fairly unexpectedly, had been a Christian for 12 years. His best friend, who was not a Christian, gave the eulogy. He spent time sharing their experiences, describing a life of enjoyment and comfort. The son-in-law of the deceased, a former…
We all have those days. Where one bad thing piles on another, until you ask yourself, “Is this really happening?” That was our weekend. Friday was a busy day at the office, a short staffed kind of day. In the middle of that, my wife started to have chest pains. Several hours later, she was headed to emergency while I stayed at home with our four children. That night, our beloved dog Nacho never came home. Saturday morning, our son started throwing up. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's…
I'm reminded that every day brings me one essential choice. I can make the most of what the day brings, or I can choose to despair. Despair is a strong word, but it's at the end of the road that starts with a complaint. Last week, after returning home from a week abroad, we found that winter had arrived [http://d.pr/XVvN] while we were gone. A week away from home results in a lot of catch up work on its own; throw in 2 feet of snow to the mix, and suddenly I easily…
Sacha Greif wrote about side projects in his last newsletter [https://chrisbowler.com/journal/sacha-greif-newsletter], making some good points about the benefits of such things. He mentions that these side projects allow us to exercise creative muscle we might not otherwise get to and build up our resume. And I agree. He also defines a side project fairly broadly and recommends keeping them to 10 hours in duration, start to finish.The issue though, is this: for some, even 10 hours are hard to c…