Inactive Recovery

Newsletter 2023-07-28

Want to be a better parent? Try almost dying. It works every time.

That’s not why I continue to have major health crises, but it is a nice side effect. I’ve done some of my best dadding ever this week while recovering from my surprise butt wound. Before a rogue hair follicle developed into an abscess that sent me into septic shock, I’d been pretty busy. I had one book to finish and another to promote, along with a number of family trips I planned back when I thought my kids wanted to go places and do things even though they’ve made it abundantly clear that they’re not interested in either one. That, combined with my day job and normal newsletter and social media obligations, left me with little time to kick back and hang out with my kids. Seriously, for the second time in twelve months, I wrote an entire newsletter from a hospital bed while leaking vital fluids. Those self-imposed deadlines won’t keep themselves. But when I got home from the hospital, everything changed. I took a week off work, and I cleared my schedule. I wasn’t going anywhere or doing anything. I vowed to use my convalescence to be the kind of dad I should have been all along. For once, my plan worked out.