Newsletter – May 1, 2026
Look at that happy baby soaking up the summer sun in his oh-so-debonaire plastic pants! That’s Baby Eric running across the backyard to Mommy who’s holding the camera. He’s a little out of focus but my folks wouldn’t know it until they got the film developed. Today my iPhone would’ve captured the un-blurred enthusiasm in that boy’s face.
Side note: that’s my dad crouching over the garden at about half the age that I am now. Time is such a surreal phenomenon.
Other side note: look at that old automobile in the neighbor’s carport! That’d be in a classic car show today.
“You were a very happy baby,” my mom told me.
I was. I am. Happy, that is, not a baby. I’m not wearing waterproof undies anymore. Not yet anyway.
I’m currently reading a book called The Happiness Advantage that the chair of the Communication Department recommended when I was a dean at Vincennes University. The book is all about the advantages of positive psychology and the seven principles of a mindset that “fuels success and performance at work.”
I heard a woman in a recent podcast telling about a job she had as a teen making smoothies for people. She confided to her boss that she was bored and just wanted to go home. The boss suggested that she see every customer as an opportunity to make someone’s life a little better.
When she embraced that idea by being helpful and enthusiastic, looking for the opportunity to bring a smile to the face of every customer, her whole perspective of the job turned around. She enjoyed going to work. To this day, she still remembers that job as her favorite. That’d be the happiness advantage in a nutshell.
I haven’t finished the book but so far it’s been reinforcing my own worldview—the one I was born with. I look forward to reading about how the seven principles can be applied to life in general. Like everyone, I’ve had my share of bumps and bruises that life dishes out. I’d like to learn the way to keep those setbacks from getting the best of me.
I want to know how to help others accomplish that, too.
Here’s another picture of me a few years later that tells you a little bit more about my personality.
My imagination said, You’re flying, and so, of course, I was. It also helps to have your eyes closed. The reality behind closed lids is even more vivid than the one surrounding you.
So vivid that my dad would accuse me of playing stupid when I suddenly exited my dream world and wanted to know what people were talking about. I knew better than to explain that I wasn’t playing stupid, I just wasn’t paying attention to the conversation. There’s no good path out of those woods. Either I’m stupid or you’re boring.
Look at the photo again. See how the sleeves are rolled up to accommodate my little five-year-old arms? I continued wearing that costume for years, growing into those sleeves and the rolled up pants. Family friends started calling me Super Eric. I’ve had very few nicknames in my life but I think I like that one best.
“You were such an easy child,” my mother told me, “I could set you down in the middle of the living room with a box of toys and you’d entertain yourself for hours.”
I gave free rein to my creativity and that was always a great experience. I’ve done the same for years in the theatre, and am applying the same approach to my writing. I hope my writing entertains you and keeps you out of boring conversations.
I also hope your creativity gets a chance to play.
TTFN
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Eric Margerum 