Lessons from a 1yo

& Training Wheels - a bonus essay

Dec 14, 2025

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I’ve learned quite a bit from watching my grandson’s first year of life. For starters, I know of no one that is more present in each moment than the Binkster. And then again, I also recognize how fleeting that attention can be — we are oh so easily distracted by the next shiny thing.

And how love works — it isn’t just something that’s there because of who you’re related to. True love is earned — it’s something that’s given, not received.

I see how we are shaped by our experiences, and how very little of it is our choice. Bink isn’t a happy baby just because — it’s because he is constantly surrounded by loving attention. Fear to him, is falling off the bed — that’s the worst he’s experienced so far in his little life. He’s getting the best of all of us.

But we too, deserve the best of all of us. And we, by virtue of having forty times his experience on this earth, actually have the ability to steer the ship.

The great realization for me was learning that perception is reality. That how we see the world, is what our world is made of. And it’s taken me another five or six years to develop any understanding of how this is — part of which was discovered through continued study, part of which has been learned here, and part of which has been learned by watching my grandson develop during his first year of life.

All of which have been learned, by paying attention — being present.

I watch as life happens to me, and others around me. I watch with the attention of a one year old. Like someone who is captivated, and curious. Like someone who wants to know more — who wants to understand!

The first time I felt like this was back when I had the great realization in Mexico — stopped beside the road, pouring my deepest darkest secrets out to a friend who was willing to listen. I felt as though I’d just stepped outside of Plato’s Cave. I said to him, “I feel like an infant, in this new world.”
I said it again when attending my first artist’s residency last fall, and I’ve said it here too! “I feel like an infant, in this new world of art.”

Well, after watching Bink over this past year — reading, studying, and learning from many of you, I’ve decided that this is how we are supposed to look at the world. Because like I said in a note recently, we are made up entirely of our experiences. So as long as we keep the mindset of a one year old, as long as we see this world as the amazing infinite of possibility that it is, we will continue to grow and mature.

It’s when we get complacent, when we think we know it all, and we’ve got it all figured out that we begin to stagnate. We lose hope, we lose our direction, we become lost.

So let us continue to look at this world with the eyes of an infant, for it is full of possibilities. Never lose your sense of Wonder✨

Here’s a bonus essay that’s related. Yeah, I’m applying lessons from a 1yo to how I deal with Artificial Intelligence. Not sorry.

Training Wheels

One of my biggest faults is the fact that I am lazy. Now I’m getting better, I do many things now that I’d never considered in the past. But still, I’ll generally let someone else do the work for me if they’re willing. But not Bink. He is a shining example of wanting to do it himself.

In this new age of AI and multitasking, I am constantly feeling as though society wants me to relinquish more and more control.

It’s mindboggling to a youngster, that I’d rather have a twenty minute discussion of why the University of Charlotte’s mascot is the 49er’s. And then walk up to a complete stranger that’s dressed head-to-toe in 49er gear and ask them, instead of asking Chat-GPT or Google. I won’t make you look it up — the main reason is because the school charter began in 1949. But there are others too, here’s a great article.

The thing is, I don’t want to just be told the answer — I want to find it. And when I watch my 1yo grandson, I see that that’s the truest way. Bink doesn’t want you to hold it for him, or do it for him — he wants to do it himself. Because yes, he’s always watching, always paying attention. But that’s not where he learns it — he learns it by doing it. He is responsible for learning how, we are only responsible for showing him the way.

It’s not that I don’t trust AI, or that I’m afraid of it. I can discern between BS and fact. I’m like the Bink — I wanna do it myself. How else will I learn? Meredith Forder said recently, “that the mind is always busy thinking, but the intellect wants to learn.” Well, I love to learn!

Yeah I like it in the Gray Area, but I’m not taking a shortcut if it’ll cost me. Yup Efficiency is the Key, but not if it’s possibly costing you more than it’s gaining you in the long run.

They say to collaborate with AI, the most important thing is to ask the right questions. But how does one know what’s the right question? I’m a very smart person, so I’ve been told. But almost every time I’ve been told something like that it’s been when I was quoting someone else, or referring to knowledge that I picked up while studying and learning how to do things.

If I start letting AI do some of that work for me — what will that actually cost? Maybe I don’t want things to be any easier — maybe they are easy enough. Hell if it keeps getting easier and easier, then what are we even accomplishing? Will there be the same satisfaction of a job well done, of a mountain climbed, of a beast tamed — if I let Artificial Intelligence have a hand in the journey?

I don’t know and I don’t want to find out. I don’t need AI to hold my hand, I can already walk. I’ll find the path on my own, and be content with the effort and time it takes to navigate it. No training wheels here baby! I ain’t afraid to scratch my knees.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it and clicking that ❤ button, and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Oh and if you’re an email reader, just hit reply—I want to hear from you too! Do you look at life through the eyes of a one year old? And what do you think about using AI?