Family, Friends, and Building Memories

As life goes by, some memories stick with us; some outlast others and speak to us about times we enjoyed so much that no matter what comes, we can always look back and be reminded of the emotions we felt, as if they were yesterday.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the idea of building an online business, driven by the desire to travel the world with my family and enjoy God's creation. But scrolling through my photo archive, I couldn't help noticing how many memories we captured of friends visiting our local woodshop and coffee shop while it was open.

There's something unique about having a physical location where people who love you can come at any time to celebrate or cry with you; it's not the same as a video call or a text.

Your house can be one of those places, maybe a family beach house where everyone used to gather as kids, or your aunt and uncle's place in the backcountry that you make a point of visiting en route. For my family and me, it was our boat, our mountain cabin, and later, our beach house, and our Nissan Patrol. We made so many trips around Panama's backcountry that the Patrol needed to make it to the list.

Before my brother Jose and I started our woodshop, we didn't know we were about to build one of those places where many would come to build memories, forge new friendships, meet amazing people, and all around a project with no guarantee of success, but moved by sheer passion for crafting beauty in wood.

You can do something similar with your family. God knows that's what I'm aiming now—beautiful moments that my kids will treasure. But what are the physical locations you and I will choose to build memories on? They will come and go, but what matters are the memories.

I encourage you to go and think about it. Choose locations that will bring people together, invite, welcome, and share moments in them. Life is too short to go through at a fast pace just 'living'—you've got to stop and enjoy not just the people, but the places, and if both have some ounce of awesomeness to them, you may build a lasting memory that will stay with you forever.

If you have any thoughts on it, please leave them in the comment section below! And if you are not yet a member of my weekly newsletter, this is the moment I ask you to consider it, assuming you may have liked my content!

I write weekly about crafting beauty in the things that I find important in my life: Entrepreneurship, Woodworking, Family, Faith, and Life.

Until the next one,

J