The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 29 | September 13, 2025 Hello Reader, The week started clunky. Technical headaches, email mishaps, the kind of friction that makes you wonder if everything is going to stay off-kilter. By Tuesday, things had begun to settle. Not perfect… but better. And by the time you read this, I’ll have shared an evening with friends, unwinding with conversation and laughter. The arc of those few days is a reminder of how perspective takes shape. Perspective isn’t...
3 days ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, This isn’t the kind of territory I normally wade into, but I feel like it needs to be said. The way companies manage payroll—and the way pay gets distributed between executives and frontline workers—is deeply out of balance. You may have seen the headlines about strikes. The most recent that caught my eye was the Air Canada flight attendants’ strike. These are people who face customers every single day, manage the stresses of irregular hours and demanding environments, and carry...
8 days ago • 5 min read
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 28 | September 6, 2025 Hello Reader, I came across a video recently that stuck with me. A driver was furious about a parking ticket. His meter expired at 11:39 a.m.. He was ticketed at 11:43 a.m.. He recorded his frustration at 11:49 a.m., still simmering. Now, no one likes a ticket. But here’s the thing: the meter wasn’t subjective. It was objective. Four minutes past is four minutes past. And yet, when rules cut against us, we often want subjectivity....
10 days ago • 2 min read
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 27 | August 30, 2025 Hello Reader, This is my last email for the year—my year. Two days from now, on September 1, I’ll step into a new one. It’s not because the calendar says so, but because I’ve decided that’s when my year begins. I’m not alone in that. People like Gretchen Rubin and Martin Short also start their year in September, aligning it with the rhythm of schooling—their own in the past, their kids’ in the present. I’ve still got a few more...
17 days ago • 2 min read
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 26 | August 23, 2025 Hello Reader, Yesterday, our TimeCrafting Trust Premium community spent the day in immersive focus. No endless notifications. No juggling five tasks at once. Just deep, uninterrupted time devoted to what mattered most. For some, that could have meant committing to a Daily Theme and letting it guide every decision. Others might've leaned on a Monthly Theme that allowed them to weave focus into the day’s natural flow. Some may have...
24 days ago • 3 min read
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 25 | August 16, 2025 Hello Reader, As summer begins its slow fade, it’s tempting to do the same. We coast. We keep the heat on low. We simmer. But simmering is passive. It’s a waiting game—letting time slip while ideas, ambitions, and opportunities just bubble quietly beneath the surface. Seeking, though… seeking is intentional. It’s looking ahead, moving toward what matters, and taking deliberate steps—even small ones—toward a future we want to forge,...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 24 | August 9, 2025 Hello Reader, I was listening to “Cruel to Be Kind” the other day — a song that once felt playful and clever now lands… differently. Nick Lowe’s biggest hit from 1979 still plays on classic rock radio. The chorus is catchy, the vibe upbeat. But that phrase — cruel to be kind — doesn't sit the same anymore. Even with the qualifier “in the right measure,” it feels out of step with where we are now. Not because the song changed — but...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 23 | August 5, 2025 Hello Reader, This issue’s arriving a few days later than planned—and that’s no accident. My usual rhythm was interrupted. At first, I thought I didn’t have anything to say. Then I realized: I did. I was just saying it elsewhere, dedicating my attention to other places, other people. And today—on a day themed around Connection—I felt the resonance of sending this out now, not waiting. We often talk about Routine and Ritual,...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 22 | July 26, 2025 Hello Reader, It starts with a moment: you're in a grocery store, navigating your cart like it's a bumper car. You stop. You look around. And you realize—no one else seems to be aware of where they are, either. Spatial awareness used to be instinctual. You’d step aside when someone approached, feel the rhythm of shared space, make micro-adjustments without thinking. But now? It's like everyone is moving through fog—detached from the...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read