My first deliberate act of validation.

I love experiments. I love testing stuff. I love to see if and how things work. It is now a big part of my work (I even have a model for it). Being curious and testing things has long been a part of who I am. When someone recently asked me when that started, I had to dig deep, but I think I found the first time I deliberately validated something.

I was six years old. My family (my brother Sem, my dad, my mom and I) was visiting Billund’s LEGOLAND park and spending the week in a nearby holiday park. My parents had given me a bracelet with the address details of our holiday home, and had explained that in the unlikely scenario that I got lost in the park, I could show it to other people who would help me find our home away from home.

That would be my first deliberate act of validation. Sure, my parents’ plan was great in theory, but was it in practice? That must have been my line of thinking.

So at the first opportunity, I walked to a nearby home and proudly presented my bracelet to the local Danish lady. She looked confused at first, but then brought me to my parents. A win-win. I had my validation. My parents were right.

It was enough to teach our kids the phone song.

Written in 2020, left as it was.

Original: My first deliberate act of validation, 5 May 2020.