Work and Play

February 17, 2014 By Tom

I never wanted a job where the lines of work and play didn’t blur together.  I never wanted a job that was 8 hours a day and I didn’t have ownership in.  I never wanted to be a cog in the system of bureaucracy.

I have always wanted to make a difference, first when I planned on law school and then–after realizing the legal system was already so broken I wouldn’t be able to make an impact–piloting Nine13sports towards the future.

A lot of people are perfectly content doing their 40 hours, earning their PTO, taking their health benefits and blending into the system, even when they stand out.  And the world needs those people, those people help the system run, it’s just not something I ever can see being part of.

I’m fortunate that my life of work and play often blur together.  From being fortunate that I have an awesome office space that I so often talk about and the friends that come with that, to being able to grab lunch with people from a variety of backgrounds and passions and running a half marathon with somebody I met through work—there really isn’t a clear and defined line in my life that separates work and play.

work turned into play on Friday

At times it can be scary as hell to be piloting the corporate ship in a world that hasn’t always been supportive in the vision and passion behind it.  But, as I sit here and work on a press release and contract for a major sponsor coming on board that will be announced _this week(?)_, I see why I’ve worked to the bone and had more meetings than I care to count putting the pieces together.  This coming on the heels of a very successful fundraiser last week at Wheels and Wings as well–I’ve got some major confidence in the next few months of what is to come.

Flight1 did a great write-up on the event: http://flight1.org/wheels-and-wings-evening-of-fun-yields-14000-for-indiana-youth

I did an interview a couple weeks ago with a local online publication, Twenty Something Indy, talking about passion and vision and the lifestyle behind the job.  I can’t wait for it to come out and I hope it inspires others to tackle their dreams and visions and find ways to make it work.

It’s great talking to the crew of Matt and MAC over at Brackets for Good.  They have that same passion and vision to make a difference, listening to their speech on Thursday at the Launch Party gave me goosebumps because I’ve said many of those exact same lines before.  It’s so amazing to see a group of people pursue their passion to make a difference for the community in a way that is not only unselfish, but in many ways, absolutely exhausting.

the crew behind this is awesomely inspiring (and fun to have a beer with)

Happy Monday, thanks to everyone who continues to inspire and make possible what we all seek to do.

-th