The movie 'Just Mercy' and Bryan Stevenson (Stay Whole Tuesday)

Uncle Charlie McDowell (middle) with "two of my heroes": Bryan Stevenson and Mike Purzycki

Last night I enjoyed getting this text from Lucy:

”Everyone has to see the movie Just Mercy” It is about an attorney named Bryan Stevenson. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or those not afforded proper representation. One of his first cases is that of Walter McMillian, who is sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite evidence proving his innocence. In the years that follow, Stevenson encounters racism and legal and political maneuverings as he tirelessly fights for McMillian's life.

Lucy went on to say, "It is maybe the best movie I’ve ever seen and very enlightening to the corruption of our justice system. I am enjoying discussing the movie with my friends."

Coincidently, I had just exchanged something with Uncle Charlie related to Bryan Stevenson. I want to share his comments here:

If you don’t know about Bryan Stevenson, you should see the movie that just came out about his life, “Just Mercy” or read the book “Just Mercy”. I first heard Bryan Stevenson speak in 2015 at an annual conference of Purpose Built Communities which I attended after first visiting the initial Purpose Built neighborhood next to the historic East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta. The second time I heard him speak was at an annual dinner of the Black Lawyers Association in Wilmington. (Bryan is from downstate Delaware.) I heard him for a third time at last year’s Purpose Built Conference. He is the most compelling speaker I have ever heard. He is the only person I have ever asked to have my picture taken with. I will send you the picture from the Black Lawyers event. Also with my good friend and Wilmington Mayor, Mike Purzycki – two of my heroes.

Footnote: McDowell Honored for Community Service at Annual Gridiron Dinner 

Stay fit and do your job!

Fun times bumping into Carter Tomsu at the gym on Thursday morning. Look out golf ball! Check out this pdf titled How You Move.

And who does the text below remind you of from pages 93-94 in Ryan Holiday's, The Obstacle is the Way? The chapter is titled, 'Do Your Job, Do it Right.' Have you ever had Rodger Anderson's life-lesson on how to properly use a broom? It looks like Rodge and Dale Carnegie are in lockstep, just like Carter and gPage above.

Stay fit and do your job!

Lucy's second semester schedule plus watch the sun rise and set

Anything goes Thursday and here's LuLu's second-semester class schedule. I believe she also has two correspondence classes in the mix, right Lucy? I look forward to hearing about some highly-productive days on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; and I will target those days for a two-hour lunch in College Station soon!

Yesterday I shared a Check in on my 2020 New Year, New You Daily Stoic Challenge through Day 15. The first-day challenge was to watch the sunset and the sunrise. A couple of comments about both of those. 

My favorite sunrises often take place when driving to the gym in the mornings. I especially love the view from the scenic lookout (across from St. Michaels) of the sun rising above the city of Austin. The combination of riding by our church and seeing a beautiful sunrise makes me feel close to God.

As for sunsets, some of my favorites have been on golf courses. That time of night with the long-shadows is always special when on any golf course!

Check in on my 2020 New Year, New You Daily Stoic Challenge through Day 15

Hey guys. I'm doing a quick check-in on the Daily Stoic New Year, New You Challenge I undertook. Some great shares (see below) with Beth Smith on this along the way. Mom has also been reading the daily emails and playing along to some degree. I'm not 100 percent, but I have made some reasonably impactful changes. Mom and I both commented recently that we already do a lot of these things, so that is good.

Day 1: Watch Today’s Sunset and Tomorrow’s Sunrise - done
Day 2: Take a Cold Plunge and Shock Your System - done, I've been taking cold showers all month and believe it helps with inflammation, as well as with my psoriasis; I especially enjoy the cold showers after doing the steam room at the club
Day 3: Find a Place of Isolation, Then Count to 1,000 - done
Day 4: Pick A New Skill and Add It to Your Game This Year - done, journaling daily and created a system of note-taking and cataloging quotes, meaningful passages, etc.
Day 5: Visit A Part of Your City You’ve Never Been To Before - done, Mom and I went to McKinney Falls State Park
Day 6: Write Your Personal Ten Commandments - done, see Anything goes Thursday #2 - My flat ass rules
Day 7: Pretend You Have To Get a New Job—Today - done, I spent some time thinking about things I would enjoy doing in retirement like officiating basketball, coaching youth sports, etc.
Day 8: Open Your Mind: Read Something by Someone You Disagree With - I missed this one
Day 9: Find Your Most Prized Possession—and Get Rid of It - Ummm, I thought about giving away my table tennis bat but decided against it (strike two)
Day 10: Free Yourself from One Social Media Account or News App - cut ties with the WSJ digital and am now reading the paper version at the club
Day 11: Go Outside and Pull Weeds - Strike three - but I've been to the putting and chipping greens quite a bit, and I plan to rake some bunkers soon
Day 12: Pick A Physical PR to Beat...and Re-Beat This Year - Handicap will get to 9 or better in 2020
Day 13: Set Up Your Personal Board of Directors - Still working on this one
Day 14: Sit Down, Write a Letter to a Friend About the New You, and Send It - Plan to write Coach Rogers and Moyer Smith (two exceptional mentors)
Day 15: Cut out one recurring expense - done, cut WSJ digital and a couple of other subscriptions to things I was not using or getting enough value

Here are some fun notes from Beth she recently shared that I think you will enjoy:

Thanks for your message. I love this back and forth too, keeping me accountable and thoughtful about each challenge.  Things still on my list: watching a sunset, pulling weeds, have not finished cleaning out my closet. Things I've done but we have not discussed: I don’t really do social media and don’t have news apps on my phone. BUT I have given up my hour of morning news reading for the rest of the challenge, which is brutal for me but definitely making me more productive starting my day. My yoga teacher and I had a great conversation on how I was attached to knowledge to avoid taking action. That really resonated with me and have thought about it ever since. Giving up that news hour was a great shake-up in that habit. Feel like I have a decent Board of Mentors for my personal life but I would like to challenge myself to do something creative this year. As a part of that need a separate group of mentors, so going to work on that for this particular challenge. Kevin and I are doing an Olympic distance Triathlon in April, WAY out of my comfort zone and out of shape in all 3 disciplines but will definitely count for my Physical Challenge of 2020!!!

Persist and resist on stay whole Tuesday

Epictetus

Lucy,

This morning I read a chapter titled 'Practice Persistence' (p. 76) in The Obstacle is the Way. Holiday tells stories of General Ulysses S. Grant and Thomas Edison. 

In Civil War times, for nearly a year, Grant tried many different ways to break through the defenses of the Confederacy in Vicksburg, MS. This was a critical city to the southern armies and their ability to control the Mississippi River. None of Grant's attempts to gain control worked, but he kept trying and eventually he found a way through. 

"At Vicksburg, Grant learned two things. First, persistence and pertinancity were incredible assets and probably his main asset as a leader. Second, as often is the result from such dedication, in exhausting all the other traditional options, he'd been forced to try something new. That option - cutting loose from his supply trains and living off the spoils of hostile territory - was a previously untested strategy that the North could now use to slowly deplete the South of its resources and will to fight." (p. 77)

And I know you are familiar with how many times Edison tried to create the incandescent light before he found the way. History says that he tried six thousand different filaments! Just like Grant in Vicksburg, Edison used persistence to eventually get there.

The phrase 'persist and resist' was a favorite of Epictetus, the Greek Stoic Philosopher who is often a subject in Holiday's books. "Persist in your efforts. Resist giving in to distraction, discouragement, or disorder."

Stay whole,

Dad

It is as true for food as it is for information

Hey Lucy,

Welcome back to College Station my second-semester sophomore! Please send me your class schedule when you get a second.

Here's something to think about today from Thich Nhat Hanh:

Before we can make deep changes in our lives, we have to look into our diet, our way of consuming. We have to live in such a way that we stop consuming the things that poison us and intoxicate us. Then we will have the strength to allow the best in us to arise, and we will no longer be victimes of anger, of frustration.

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist, revered around the world for his pioneering teachings on mindfulness, global ethics and peace.

Make it a great Monday,

Dad

Pete Dye (1925 - 2020)

Harvey looks out at our flags

Why are our club flags at half mask?

Pete Dye, the legendary course architect, and designer of Austin Country Club, past away on Thursday at the age of 91. Emily knows well the story I tell when playing with guests on our hole number eight, WGC World Match Play tournament hole 17. The short par 3, plays across a canyon. A shot short or left of the green is automatically swallowed up and you face double bogey or worse. The hole is basically a set of tee boxes, a few well-placed bunkers, and a green.

Supposedly, when Pete submitted the original renderings for the golf course when the club moved to its present and third site in 1984, the greens committee reviewed the drawings and called Pete to discuss. They told him, "Pete, we love the golf course. But there is one problem . . . there are only 17 holes?" Pete quickly responded, "I know that. We can put a par three anywhere."

Scroll through this best of Pete Dye-designs when you have a minute to marvel at his work, starting with Whistling Straights (photo below). Enjoy!