The Jewel of the Desert.

Las Vegas Lessons

Despite its reputation for excess and vice, Las Vegas has always been a place where I can find new perspectives and learn about myself. It's a living laboratory with a microscope fixed on life's extremes.

Life is a Game. Play to Win.

Whenever I mention I'm going to Vegas, I'm met with one of two responses:

"Sweet, where are you staying?"

or,

"Oh, cool, but I don't gamble."

Listen, we can place bets while lying in bed in our underwear these days. You don't have to fly to Las Vegas to wager hard cash. That's not the point of the exercise anymore.

That said, there are games literally everywhere.

Not all of them are games of chance. There are social games like figuring out how to score an exclusive reservation at a new steakhouse (confidence, smart dress, a couple extra bucks). There are physical games like maintaining your stamina in the face of jetlag, dietary chaos, and circadian destruction (maintain fitness routine, take adequate supplements, repeat strength mantras).

Experimentation, playing with your environment, taking calculated risks. This is the essence of gameplay.

You do it every day in life.

Vegas is a distillation of the invisible gameboard.

Humans Thrive on Novelty

The Sphere changed my life.

I didn't even want to see Dead & Company two months ago, and as I walked out of the venue that evening I realized the experience challenged my perspective on music, entertainment, perception, and to some extent, love itself.

Words can't describe it. You need to see it in person.

The Sphere's novel presentation reignited a passion for creativity and exploration like nothing before. We need these things to stay fresh in both our ordinary lives and our creative pursuits.

To future worlds,

Matt Ventre