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ISSUE 17, 17 FEBRUARY 2026
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Welcome back to The Bend!
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The Bend follows a simple rhythm each week. The Eddy Line opens with a one-line thought or
observation, something short enough to remember but worth thinking
about. What the Current Pulled Toward dives a
little deeper into where the previous week’s energy went, whether that’s
a project, a partnership, or a personal lesson learned. Signal Fire highlights a person, place, or initiative
that deserves some attention. And One Thought Worth
Sitting With closes things out with a brief reflection or quote
that will hopefully help guide you through whatever you may be dealing
with.
It’s part journal, part field note, and hopefully
something that makes you pause for a moment before diving back into the
current.
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“We live as if time is generous. It isn’t.”
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What the Current Pulled Toward
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This week the current pulled toward
mortality.
James Van
Der Beek, an actor many of us grew up watching on Dawson’s Creek, died
at just 48 after a years-long fight with colorectal cancer, facing his
final days with courage, faith, and grace.
For generations like mine, his early career wasn’t just
entertainment. That show captured something of the uncertainty,
friendship, longing, mistakes, and dreams that define growing up.
Sometimes it felt like a dramatized version of what we were living
through and, because of that, many of us felt connected to those
characters and the stories they carried.
Where this hit most deeply wasn’t nostalgia, though. It was
the realization that no one, no matter their fame or success, gets a
guarantee on time.
In full disclosure,
I didn’t follow him through the rest of his career and, up until last
week, I couldn’t tell you anything else he starred in. In addition to
learning he did more things than Dawson’s Creek, I
read about the life he built off-screen, which I find much more
impressive, especially his commitment to his family. He won’t be
remembered for just being a teen icon, rather folks will remember him
for being a husband and a father, as his family was described as his
greatest achievement.
Thinking about that makes you reassess the things you’re
chasing and what actually matters. Death can come for any of us at any
time. And because it can, intention becomes the only real currency we
have: the intention to be present; the intention to say the hard thing;
the intention to choose love over distraction; the intention to make
time for the relationships that will outlast every other measure of
success.
None of us knows how much
time we have left. All we have is this very moment.
- Mike.
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No reflection on mortality is complete
without acknowledging the people who anchor us every day.
This week’s Signal Fire is my family, both
immediate and extended. They are the ones who show up before Instagram
posts or headlines, who ask the hard questions, who laugh and cry with
me, who stretch patience and love in equal measure.
They remind me what matters when everything else fades
into the background noise.
I am
grateful for the love and support of my wife, whose presence steadies
me. I’m proud of my children, who teach me patience, curiosity, and joy
in ways I never expected. I appreciate my parents, my siblings by
marriage, my cousins, and my friends (the family I gained along the
way), whose loyalty and generosity have shaped who I am.
There is no greater gift than being part of a family
that cares fiercely, argues honestly, and loves without
reservation.
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One Thought Worth Sitting With
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This week’s theme: Mortality.
“The trouble is, you think you have time.“
-Jack Kornfield
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