Birthday Reflections 🎂
A Year Wiser, a Few Small Asks
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Today I turn 36.
I’m extremely blessed to see another year. Honored to have built such a community (871 Strong!) here.
If you are new here below can help you catch up to speed. Thank you for subscribing!
I have three simple asks that will take less than a few minutes each:
Follow on Youtube
I am working towards creating more visual content focusing on resourcefulness and simplicity. So much of my being is wrapped up in advocacy, it has now consumed my writing. While I’ll continue to advocate and finish this book, I want to capture more of who I am when I am not fighting for better cities for families.
The sort of content I’ll be documenting on Youtube:
Establishing an urban homestead
Rescuing thrown-away goods
Digital Minimalism (More on that below)
I am still without full-time work so between being a driver for our neighborhood rideshare company and taking a larger role with our kids, I have been doing my best to meet the monetization requirements for YouTube which are:
1000 Subscribers
4000 Watch Hours (Can you believe we are already at 500?!)
Naturally, you’ll see a lot of what you get here just in a different format.
Help Transit First CLT win $1000
We’re competing in the SEED20 program with our local Social Ventures Partner chapter here in Charlotte. The program takes 10 non-profit leaders through refining their stories and mission for a pitch competition to win $20,000 on April 1st.
Until then your vote can help us win $1,000 before we take the stage!
✅ Community Vote (March 10–20) – Vote once per day to push us to the top! Every vote counts.
Some Patience & Feedback
I would like to make this newsletter density dad free perpetually for all by the end of April. Those who want to still support my writing will have the chance to but I am burning out writing with this hovering weekly deadline on the same topics that I am currently writing a book on.
I completely understand sabbaticals now 😂.
Writing frequently keeps me sharp, however. I have begun sharing some of my writing on Medium with the same general topics above from YouTube but in long-form.
I’ve written about digital mindfulness before here but have decided to separate that to ensure I don’t confuse any new subscribers, I recently wrote about my upcoming breakup with my iPhone.
The goal is through Medium, YouTube, and other means, I can shift from a subscription model to something more sustainable for everyone.
Feedback
Before I sign off, I want to leave you with a question: What’s a moment that made you stop and think, this is why we do this? Maybe it was your kid confidently navigating the bus route, a spontaneous park meet-up with friends, or the simple joy of a car-free errand run. These little wins matter. They remind us that, even in a world built for cars, we’re carving out something different—something better.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about what comes next. What conversations do we need to have about urban parenting? What do we need more of? Less of? If there’s a change you’re hoping to see, I want to hear about it—because making sure our voices are heard is part of why I’m writing this book.
Here’s a small win from this past week: My wife took the kids to the museum on the light rail for the first time. She had been debating the cost of parking, so I suggested the train—it was actually cheaper. When she got to the station, she saw a familiar face: a nanny and child we’d met at our neighborhood food hall, waiting for the same train, headed to the same place.
"So now she has someone to play with," my wife texted.
“This is why we do it,” I replied.
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density dad is brought to you by our generous paid supporters who believe in building infrastructure that includes families and vulnerable populations.
Your contributions make it possible for us to continue creating quality content. Consider becoming a paid supporter today.
My “this is why we do it” story was a couple weeks back when I wanted to take the dog for a walk and bring my 2yo son along.
I didn’t want to bother with a stroller and I wasn’t sure if we had time to walk to the nearest playground.
So I gambled that Calvin could and would want to walk the whole way on his own… and he did. We made pleasant conversation about the color of doors on houses and made a stop along the way to inspect a parked excavator.
Around this same time, my wife told me that a friend of hers was moving to Texas for work. This friend’s son (also a toddler) asked his mom if they have sidewalks in Texas. It was a reminder that I take for granted that I have sidewalks in my neighborhood.
Happy birthday! I resonate so much with a lot of this! I’m glad you’re not a decade in realizing that we have to do this differently or else we burn out like your birthday candles.
I am working to monetize q