On Turning 40

I’ve been trying to write this post for a day and a half, and I’ve decided to keep it short and sweet.

I turned 40 yesterday.

And while I downplayed the importance of this particular birthday to my family and friends, I did find myself in a very reflective mood yesterday. I thought a lot about what I accomplished during my 30s, and what my goals are for the next chapter of my life.

In terms of my personal life, during my 30s my wife and I welcomed our son into the world, and watched as both he and his older sister become two of the amazing kids that have ever walked the face of this earth. I also went back to school and got a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, with a focus in Non-Profit Management.

And on the creative side, I think my 30s was the decade when I actually decided to start taking my creative passions seriously, and start making things to put out into the world.

I started a podcast with a friend of mine eight years ago (Secret Identity) and we just celebrated our 600th episode. I’ve started three other podcasts in that time, and wrote a how-to book on starting your own podcast (which you can check out here).

I started a webcomic with a good friend of mine (Mo Stache) and we’ve been going strong for four years now.

I helped a good friend start a new brand marketing agency (Kitbash), and he had an amazingly successful first year, that I got to be a part of.

I wrote and published two horror novels, with a third on its way this October.

But when I think about what I’ve achieved creatively, I keep coming back to the same thought: There is so much more I want to create.

And that’s the scary thing about getting older. I mean, I’m not freaking out about being 40 in the physical sense. The problem is that at 40 years old, time is the one thing there is never enough of. The amount of time I have in a day to dedicate to creative pursuits is at an all-time low, yet I am more creatively driven than I have ever been.

So all of my creative goals for the next decade can really be boiled down to one--I will make the most of every moment I have to create new things. Because that time is too precious to be wasted.