Photo credit: Robin Malmanger

By Dave Markwell

“I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you different.”

– Kurt Vonnegut

Ha! I love this! As I stare into the hot sun of heavy questions about purpose and meaning and mortality, this cool breeze of a thought eases the sunburn on my brain. It’s a reprieve. I feel like my sentence has been commuted and the cell door just opened. It’s liberating, and it’s a good thought to think once in a while.

Life is only as complicated as we make it. And, we make it plenty complicated. We think and think, and, then, think about our thoughts. We drive ourselves mad. Life is a pretty simple business: Do what you like to do, so long as it stirs your blood a little bit, and doesn’t hurt anyone else, and if it improves the world in small or big ways, even better.

So, enjoy sunsets over of saltwater and warm sand, the sweet perfume of meat on a grill, music that makes your heart smile, the icy tartness of a blended margarita-light on the salt – sitting shirtless and shoeless on a freshly mown lawn with someone you enjoy sitting next to. This is life. It’s why we toil and think too much, but it’s also why we dream.

Life is never perfect. I don’t think it’s supposed to be. No idea, job, person or plan is perfect. That’s why they’re so lovely. They challenge us and test us to find true things. And, when we find these precious jewels, it’s important to see them for what they are, and spend as much time with them as we can. Life is too short to waste it doing anything less than farting around with things we love.

Dave Markwell is a life-long Des Moines liver and lover. Former owner of Waterland CrossFit and the Waterland Arcade, Dave is now using his unique story-telling voice to help small businesses tell a better story, and his love for people to help folks live bigger and better lives.

For more info. check out his website: wordsbydave.net.

He can be contacted at: [email protected].