F ³: A Really Good Stick

 

These days I am more apt to wax eloquent about A Really Good Box, but there was a time when I would have been far more fascinated by a Really Good Stick. Those were the days when we almost always played outside after school, weather permitting. Back when a stick was for digging holes or imagining sword play or magic wands. 

I remember hunting for just the right one. 

I went through a phase of wanting to “prepare” the stick by peeling off all the bark, smoothing it with rough stones, pretending I was some sort of ancient craftsman. I think I just liked twiddling and fiddling with things while I created imaginary worlds in my head. I was a dreamer more often than a running-and-climbing sort of kid. 

All of this came back to me as I listened to a recent episode of the podcast Kelly Corrigan Wonders. Corrigan has been hosting an ongoing series of shows on Making, which I touched on back in March.  This one introduced me to something so wholesome and joyful that I couldn’t resist sharing it here.

On Making: Deep Dive with Boone Hogg & Logan Jugler 

Hogg and Jugler are…

…the duo behind Stick Nation - that surprisingly wholesome corner of the internet where millions of people celebrate finding and reviewing the perfect stick. What started as a silly bit on a Utah hike has become a global phenomenon that's genuinely good for your mental health. As a part of our Makers series, Boone and Logan talk about why people are drawn to something so simple and uncomplicated, how they've built such a positive community online and their dreams of taking it into the real world with festivals and conservation efforts. It's all about slowing down, noticing nature's small wonders, and finding joy in the most ordinary things.

It's simple, and playful. The requirements are few: you find A Really Good Stick, consider its best attributes, and submit it for consideration. Of course behind all that are the deeper requirements:  you need to be outside to engage. You need to have a sense of imagination and play. (And I would imagine that it’s helpful to not take yourself too seriously.)

Listening to this episode brought to mind local environmental advocate Chiara D’Amore, whose work with the Community Ecology Institute often takes the form of getting young people outside to engage with the natural world. It also reminded me that the Downtown Columbia Maker Faire is coming up at the Chrysalis on June 29th - - a chance to be immersed in a celebration of imagination, creation, and play.

Not everyone gets it. TV Personality Bill Maher went on the air to mock the entire enterprise.  “Not everything needs an Instagram,” he snarked. Imagine being presented with an opportunity - - an invitation, even!!! - - for joy and choosing to use your platform to ridicule it instead. 

The response from Stick Nation’s creators was a simple “Not cool, Bill Maher.” They also wondered aloud to their readers if they should send Maher A Really Good Stick to try and help him understand. No flame war here. It feels more like a quiet disappointment that this man hasn’t yet experienced the joy of sticks. 

We have plenty of occasions these days to be crushed. We lie awake worrying, open our eyes with dread. Opportunities and invitations that can lift us out of that fear are precious.

Got a minute? Check out the official Stick Nation account on Instagram. It’s called Official Stick Reviews.  Have a few more minutes? 

Go outside and play. 

Village Green/Town² Comments