What is a totem?
I had to look up the correct word myself. A totem is what many people call a “spirit animal.” It’s an animal that has some characteristic of what you see in yourself. It doesn’t have to be a characteristic the actual animal has — for example, I don’t know if an owl is wise or not. But that’s the trait associated with an owl.
I didn’t really see myself as any particular animal. But I met a young Chinese woman when I was in my 20s. She told me I was a dragon. When she looked at me, she saw a dragon. She was an attractive woman, and I like to hope it wasn’t the kind of dragon we saw in Game of Thrones. More likely, it was the dragon represented in martial arts. I believe in the martial art Shotokan, the dragon represents “learning to ride the wind.”
But if you look at my career website, I’m more like one of those punching bags that, no matter what you do to it, it stands back up. In fact, when I was running my first company, Floater, I had a conversation with a man who was on my Board of Directors and also an investor. He was the Dean of Boston College — a very smart man. But he once said to me, “Craig, I’m getting worried about you. How many times can a man be knocked down and get back up?” I think I was around 29 at the time. I responded, “I guess we’ll see.”
I’m now past retirement age — and I’m still fighting the same fight.
Looking at my track record, I’m guessing you get the same impression. I doubt there are many people who have been at the top and knocked back down to the bottom as many times as I have. Not to mention the physical situations I’ve walked away from with hardly a scratch.
The totem for a GRAYBELT is the tardigrade.
Tardigrades, also called water bears or moss piglets, are tiny animals that show us what true toughness really looks like. These microscopic creatures are smaller than the period at the end of this sentence, but they can survive things that would kill almost every other living thing on Earth. That’s exactly why they make the perfect symbol for human strength and the ability to keep going when life gets hard.
The most amazing thing about tardigrades is how they can basically “play dead” to survive impossible situations. When they can’t find water, they shrivel up and lose almost all the water in their bodies—up to 97% of it. In this dried-out state, they look completely dead, but they’re not. They can stay like this for decades, just waiting. As soon as they get water again, they come back to life within hours, like nothing happened. It’s like having a pause button for life itself.
But that’s just the beginning of what these little creatures can handle. They can survive being frozen at temperatures colder than anywhere on Earth, and they can also handle heat that would melt lead. They can take radiation levels that would kill a human instantly—we’re talking about 1,000 times more radiation than what would be deadly to us. Scientists have even shot them into space, where there’s no air, deadly radiation, and extreme cold and heat. The tardigrades came back to Earth alive and healthy, making them the only animals we know of that can survive in outer space.
This is why the tardigrade is the perfect symbol for what I call a GRAYBELT. Just like these tough little animals, some people have learned how to survive life’s worst challenges and come out the other side still standing. They might look a little worn down, like that faded martial arts belt, but that wear shows their strength, not their weakness. The tardigrade proves that real toughness isn’t about being the biggest or strongest—it’s about having what it takes to keep going no matter what life throws at you, and that’s exactly what a GRAYBELT represents.
Meet my six-foot-tall tardigrade totem—the ultimate embodiment of quiet strength pushed to its limit. With six muscular arms and a face that says “I’ve had enough,” this isn’t your typical microscopic water bear. This is what happens when decades of patience, resilience, and taking life’s punches finally reaches its breaking point. Just like the real tardigrade can survive the vacuum of space and radiation that would kill anything else, this towering version represents what happens when someone who’s endured everything life can throw at them decides they’re done being underestimated.
Now, take a look at my life history and imagine what kind of tardigrade I would be. In the photo below, I’ve shape-shifted into my alternate identity when the barista—who undoubtedly has a Master’s degree—was giving me attitude. Remember this the next time you’re belittled by someone young enough to be your child. You’ve lived a civil life, avoided conflict, and put up with more than anyone should have to. You’ve been the microscopic tardigrade, quietly surviving in the background while others got the credit. But just like that tiny creature can emerge from decades of suspended animation ready to take on the world, now it’s time to let loose the tardigrade!
You heard me right. Senior Discount!!!
