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...
12 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,...
19 days 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...
26 days 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,...
30 days 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 1 month ago • 2 min read
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 21 | July 19, 2025 Hello Reader, We often treat attention like a switch: on or off, focused or distracted. But attention isn’t binary—it’s directional. It moves. It loops. It fades and returns. And over time, it carves grooves—patterns that shape how you work, how you think, and how you feel about both. If you’ve ever had a day where you “worked all day” but accomplished very little… or a moment where you were technically off the clock but couldn’t stop...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, For most of my adult life, I convinced myself that music had to take a back seat. Podcasts, audiobooks, silence. Those became my companions for focus, for learning, for “productive” listening. But something shifted recently. I found myself craving sound again—not just any sound, but music. Not noise to fill the air, but intentional listening that stirred something deeper. And right around that same time, I started using a tool that didn’t just play audio, but helped me shape it....
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, I’ve got a quick favour to ask. TEDxVancouver is currently accepting nominations for speakers, and I’m putting my name forward to speak on this year’s theme: Clarity. The talk I want to give is one I feel uniquely equipped to deliver—an idea I’ve been refining for years, and one that I believe is ready for a broader stage. It’s called “You Can’t Own Time—But You Can Know It.” It builds on the TEDx talks I gave over a decade ago and reflects my evolution since—shifting from...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 20 | July 12, 2025 Hello Reader, Every day, your attention moves. It shifts between tasks, screens, conversations, internal noise. Sometimes you guide it. Often, it gets pulled. And rarely—rarely—do you pause to ask: Where is it going? And why? Attention isn’t just focus. It’s not about trying harder to concentrate. It’s a finite resource. A vote. A signal of value. When you give your attention to something, you give it your time, your energy, your...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read