250

Once I took my son to a kiddie birthday party.

The party was at a jump house place — a standard jump house party. You jump for an hour, pose for a group picture, and then you're ushered into a room for pizza and cake.

I took my son to the restroom, and we saw a person changing into a stormtrooper costume. All three of us paused, looked at each other, and then went about our business.

When we went back to the party, the stormtrooper came out to entertain the kids.

Now, I know the stormtrooper was fake. He wasn't working for the Galactic Empire. He was most likely someone pursuing their dream of being an actor or a musician, and this was a part-time job on the weekends.

But to the children, he represented a movie they loved — adventure. The children didn't connect with his hopes and dreams. They connected with what they experienced in a movie theater.

Here's the tension: on our 250th birthday, we teeter between a fantasy of democracy — a concept we all believe in and espouse, but don't always implement — and a part-time job we do on the weekends.

But the hope of democracy, and what we continue to move toward, is this: pursue your passions, be of service, and bring joy to others.

That's what I took away from the birthday party.

Happy 250th, America.

Where in your own life are you playing a role someone else needs you to play — a stormtrooper, so to speak — and how does staying focused on what you're giving them (rather than what they see) change how you carry it?