Man/Ape

“There once were two cats of Kilkenny,
Each thought there was one cat too many,
So they fought and they fit,
And they scratched and they bit,
Till, excepting their nails
And the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats, there weren’t any.”
~ Angelo de Gubernatis, 1872.
Nothing exists in a binary. The world is fortunately a complex enough place that it refuses to be neatly divided in two. But because complex circumstances naturally feel more complicated and in our fear and anxiety we often try to divide and conquer. Split it in half, this OR that. But, you are not the sum total of two parts. You’re an ever changing circumstance, billions of parts of all shapes and sizes folding into one another, rising and falling…coming into prominence and fading away..
It only seems messy.
The real mess occurs when you try to take this beautiful confluence and force it into two containers. As time goes on and you’re world becomes bigger, you’ll build your walls thicker in an effort to protect this binary. If you’re lucky, no matter how much masonry you apply to upholding this false sense of self, your walls will come tumbling down and life will come rushing in. If you’re unlucky, your walls will hold and you’ll always be a little bit alone. Closed off to life and how good it could be..
Embrace your mess.
It can be scary.
But being a little scared is why you are brave.
And being messy is what makes you...you.
This piece is part of our ongoing isolation series and is not only for purchase of you are interested. We love what we do, it’s gotten us through this year. We also love you and wouldn’t want to do this without you. 💘 go check this out at www.themanape.com

When some one says life is ‘funny’ they’re usually trying to summarize an event that was seemingly so randomly perfect that there’s no way they could have predicted it, but it’s absolutely what was always going to happen.

That’s the way most friendships are formed. They are string unrelated events with a person tied to the other end.

Mike Andersen is our friend. Like a lot of the connections that we feel, the journey of how we got there seems so chaotic that it could have almost not happened at all, but it did and our lives are better for it.

The qualities that make him such a wonderful person, is also why he was so good at hosting a TV. He’s funny, but never cruel in a way. He listens in order to ask questions and never dominants a conversation with a quick quip or color commentary. But more than all that, Mike has an openness that makes you feel as if there is no place he’d rather be than standing across from you.

We’re humbled by the kindness, relentless talent and beauty that Mike Anderson brings into our lives and the world around him. We hope this small tribute helps pay homage to this giant that walks among us.