The writings of Grant Huhn

The man of purpose is simply a person who is heading in a specific direction.

Next year I will turn 40. Here's what 40 means: "You had your chance."

"But... but... history is full of stories of people who did something with themselves after 40."

No, history is not "filled" with such stories. Yes, there are some such stories. But whether it is too later or not, 40 feels like too late. And that is the cause of the mid-life crisis: the realization that it's now too late for my dreams. Before, there was still time and hope. Now there is none.

"It's never too late to become what you might have been." George Eliot

Are you sure, George?


"When we treat man as he is, we make him worse than he is; when we treat him as if he already were what he potentially could be, we make him what he should be." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe"


"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." - Sigmund Freud

What is a father to protect his child from? Physical hurt? The dark? Fears? Danger? Hunger? Emotional pain? Weather, cold? Maslow's list? Insults?


The need for fathers is a predominant theme in these works I recently encountered:

(book) In the Lake of the Woods
(movie) Before the Devil Knows Your Dead
(book) Angela's Ashes
(movie) Castle in the Sky


A student just showed up to class... over an hour late. His admit slip says, "Excused Tardy". I asked him if he was at some appointment, and he said, "Um, you could say that." I said, "You are an hour late and your mom just excused it?" To which he replied, "What can I say, my mom loves me." I said, "Maybe your mom could do that for work," and he said, "No. Work really matters."

Nice job, mom. Your message has gotten through.