The end of the journey
RWL #405
Greetings from the LHH! I finished the last of my site visits yesterday. Whew! I finished my site visits to see my students doing their internships yesterday. I prepared my travel reimbursement form and added up 2,308 miles. I don’t think that’s quite a record, but it’s close. I had a couple unusually far away this year - as far north as Bar Harbor, ME and as far south as Summit, NJ - so that ran up the mileage despite only having 25 students. One thing I learned in my years in the Army is that when your people are in the field, there is no substitute for going there yourself.
I have to say, I was so impressed with my students and just as impressed with the preceptors who invested so much to mentor them. So much of what it takes to become successful is the result of someone else taking the time to teach us, to show us, to share with us, and to connect us. It’s really a privilege to be able to be even a small part of this process.
One of the conversations I had with a preceptor and alumna of our program this summer really had me thinking about what it takes to create a great community. This person shared with me that, in addition to being a high level executive, she is a volunteer leader in her hometown outside of Boston. The organization she helps lead does all sorts of civic things for her town that we take for granted that make a community a great place to be. For example, they put on the Independence Day fireworks. You would think that would be the town, but no. So if volunteers don’t raise the money, it doesn’t happen. One of the things that has historically been the strength of the United States has been our civic-mindedness. It worries me that this seems to be shrinking back. Much of the vibrance of community comes from voluntary associations and voluntary efforts. Also so much of life’s meaning comes from knowing you are contributing to your community and being connected to it.
On to the links! As usual, willing good for all of you!
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Read
What: WSJ, Posing as ‘Alicia,’ This Man Scammed Hundreds Online. He Was Also a Victim.
Why: Story of how people are being kidnapped and used by gangs to run email scam operations. I don’t even know how many scam emails I delete every day, over and above the ones that my email providers screen into junk, but it’s a lot. While I don’t have empathy for the scammers, this was eye-opening once again about how there really are truly bad people in the world.
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Watch
What: Midlife Creativity | Short Documentary (6 min)
Why: Creativity is too pretentious. What fills your cup? What provides you meaning? Make space (he gets up at 4AM to paint). It’s not about being an artist. It’s about pursuing the thing that provides you meaning and making space for it. Maybe it will lead to a financial return, maybe not. Don’t be a fool and throw everything away. Just make space and get rid of something that doesn’t need to be there.
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Listen
What: Top Traders Unplugged, GM66: Trump Trade and the 3 Legged Stool ft. MacroAlf & Cem Karsan (66 min)
Why: A hedge fund manager that trades based on global macroeconomic movements talks about what the “Trump Trade” looks like - what are the markets betting will happen if Trump gets a second turn as president?
I love this podcast’s Global Macro (GM) series. Always interesting perspectives between investing and macro movements in the world. A little technical at times, but fascinating.