DISPATCH April 2026 I’ve been watching the Iran situation this week. The threats, the counter-moves, the escalation. My first move is always a verdict. I notice that. The second move is one I have to choose. It starts with curiosity. What would have someone do what they’re doing? How does this make sense to them? What invisible forces are pushing their hands? Not to excuse it. Just to actually see it. Demonizing is easy. It’s also a dead end. Once I’ve named the villain I’ve stopped looking and this isnt useful to anyone trying to navigate what’s actually happening. The question I keep returning to: if there’s a larger logic at play here, what is it? What values are in genuine collision? What fears? What historical weight? I don’t always find the answer. But the question keeps me in contact with the greater more layered reality rather than my story about it. That feels like the right place to navigate from. One question worth living with: Where are you meeting the world right now with a verdict and what opens up if you get curious instead? Dave ​​​​​​​​​​​​

You’re in the right place. Take a minute to watch the short video below. When you’re ready, introduce yourself — who you are, where you’re based, and maybe a little of what you’re navigating these days. Nothing formal. No need to have it figured out. Just step in where it feels natural.

Most of what I see called “adaptability” right now is just people trying harder to make the old map work. More resilience. More effort. Better mindset. I don’t think that’s the move anymore. At some point, the issue isn’t how well you’re navigating. It’s that the map itself no longer matches the terrain. Curious who sees it differently — where do you think doubling down is still the right move?

I often talk here about navigating without maps in these times. Underneath that is something more specific. It’s what happens when your usual sense of orientation drops. Not just the absence of a plan. The absence of the feeling that tells you how to move. What to trust. How to read what’s in front of you. When that goes, most people reach for a map. Old ones. Or someone else’s. But that’s exactly the moment the phrase points to. Not having a map isn’t the challenge. Losing orientation is. And what begins to form in its place when you stay with it isn’t another map. It’s a different way of orienting altogether. That distinction matters. Because the work isn’t learning to navigate without a map. It’s learning to trust a different kind of knowing.

Talking about war then groceries then what’s on tomorrow. All in one conversation. That’s where we are.