This Life

The hell with “international” perspective. Something as simple as your loved ones being involved in a car accident can flip the switch immediately. We enjoy such a precious gift; this experience, this reality we call life. This year hasn’t been the best, but we’re still here breathing, we’re still here living. From that perspective, that’s all that matters, and that’s all the motivation we need for hope and belief moving forward. 

International Perspective

I had the privilege and pleasure of talking with an international friend today. It made me feel grateful, not only for the wonderful technological capability an ordinary citizen like myself can enjoy on an everyday basis, but for the added perspective that diverse friendship can bring. There’s no question it’s been a really hard year, and that America has very serious political problems. But speaking with citizens of other countries around the world is enlightening; other countries have similar problems or ones of their own. As depressing as the situation in the United States can be sometimes, it’s important to remember we are not alone. There are significant challenges elsewhere. We can all address them, in our respective nation states. We can solve our problems, we can be better. We can change the world. It just takes work. 

Life’s Roller Coaster

If there’s one thing we’re being forced to come to terms with, whether we’re good at it or not, it’s living with uncertainty. I can tell you without hesitation, I’m not one of those people who are good at it. But we can’t always be in control. Like it or not, life is uncertain. We have to be comfortable with the beautiful ambiguity that this experience offers. This experience being life, being alive. It’s an amazing roller coaster ride, and part of it involves letting go of the lap bar. 

Community Building

One of the categories on my todo app (I use Things, which I highly recommend) is "community." I realized today when creating a new todo and tagging it that I haven't used the "community" tag in a while. Do we even still view our communities as communities? Or have we moved to viewing our society on a larger level, all negative political and economic implications included? For me at least, when I think about my relationship with the world, I immediately go to the national level. I don't really consider my neighborhood, or my city or region. A lot of this seems to be due to the pandemic--most people don't go out very much anymore and rarely see their friends and neighbors, if at all. The affluent stay inside working remotely and watching Netflix, while the working class serve a community that isn't there. It's a bleak picture, and it appears to have happened without a lot of notice. But perhaps if we focus on community more, we can bring a sense of it back to where we live. After all, changing an aspect of one's community is presumedly a lot less daunting than mounting a campaign to change the nation, or the world. What if we all just tried to make our neighborhoods a little bit cleaner, a little friendlier, a little more understanding? Small tiny improvements, when implemented on a vast scale, can effect grand change. What small thing can you do to help your community?

Handling Tough

Gosh it’s a tough world right now. That’s me as a tall, white, blonde-haired blue-eyed, heterosexual American male living in California saying that. I get it’s tough on everybody right now. It’s hard to know what to think, let alone do. My thoughts today are: keep faith in our ability to figure this out, and do what we can to make it the best we can. We can beat this virus, we can overcome our differences. We can change the world. 

Technology Calibration

A few weeks ago I deduced I was spending too much time on Facebook and Reddit and so decided I would refrain from visiting those sites until after Christmas. I randomly realized today that it’s been almost 3 weeks since then. Both have completely left my sphere of consciousness, in really not that much time. I have no urge to use either site, and my life has been devoid of their influence. I by no means possess exemplary willpower, so this phenomenon better eludicates how quickly our minds adapt to new circumstances. As I have been grappling with how best to declutter my brain moving forward by limiting screen time, this epiphany today has given me more confidence. It’s okay to put the phone down, to keep it in one room all day. Our psyche adjusts. Even locked up during lockdown this holiday season, we don’t need to consume information or entertainment every single second of the day. Will such a drastic change be easy? Certainly not. But if we do make a hard break, it’s amazing how quickly we acclimatize to our new normal. We enjoy effortless access to powerful tools—if we treat them just as that, we’ll lead enjoyable lives as well.

2020 Learning

People, including myself at times, have expressed the sentiment, “this year sucks.”

Yes, 2020 has been a hard year for millions of people around the globe. That’s a pandemic for you—they come every 50-200 years and they mess everything up. Lucky for us, this one isn’t that bad, relatively.

And although we haven’t enjoyed the same quality of life this calendar year, it has shown us what is truly important. Community and social connection, a balance between purpose and pure fun for fun’s sake... these things have not always been available to us this year.

So when we do beat this, and we will, let’s remember these lessons. Covid is now with us on this planet, for many years to come. We must accept that reality, but also be grateful for the relative luxury of life we enjoy normally, in an otherwise precarious world.

The year of 2020 will be historic, one for the pundits to rehash for decades to come. Let it also make the turning point in our species’ development into a more benevolent civilization, a more loving race. 

Walking

It can be so simple as walking. Progressing through your neighborhood, or embarking on a hike. Perchance you notice something unexpected, perhaps a novel revelation disarms the current struggle. We are evolved to walk, to wander, and in a way through those, to wonder. Just maybe, in the midst of a pandemic, we can solve much and more by going on a walk. 

Pandemic Reality

Everyone has their thoughts on the vaccines, having been developed so rapidly. And there are significant distribution issues. The reality is it will be a tough winter and spring, as it will take some time to get a majority of the population vaccinated. We have to stick it out without its rescue for a prolonged period of time—and really, it’s not a 100% rescue. The biggest lesson from the pandemic is that nothing is 100%, that we do not live in a world of 100% certainty. We are now evolving alongside this novel virus, which has joined the fray with the millions of other species on this planet. It can be scary to accept this actuality, but once we do we can better organize and prepare for the continued advancement of our species. Perhaps, in fact, we will do so with a better understanding of the complex ecosystem in which we exist.  

December Feeling

Indulging in Christmas movies is a December past time. The nostalgia from Home Alone, The Santa Clause, It’s A Wonderful Life, and Die Hard is off the charts. These films transport me back to simpler, blissful times. I remember how excited I used to get every year, counting down the days until Christmas. There’s something special about December, about embracing the holiday spirit. It’s only one twelfth of the year, but that somehow makes it all the more exceptional. When we live with the feeling of Christmas, as the weather gets cold and family time, especially in 2020, becomes all the more important, we see how wonderful life truly is. 

Turning Off the TV

Something that I left out in my post about Tools of Titans yesterday, something that I’ve noticed in a few books that profile extremely successful people: all of them read regularly, and none of them watch TV. You don’t see any interviews of business moguls in which they say, “I really love that show True Blood, I’ve watched it multiple times.” You never hear a famous author gush about the Marvel movie franchise.

Now, I myself indulge in watching movies, and since buying a new TV last week have certainly been overindulging. Who doesn’t enjoy classic Christmas movies during the holiday season? I’m not trying to say TV is evil, just that it’s simply a form of entertainment. And how much time do you spend on entertainment? Successful people spend their time building their skillsets, on building their portfolio of work. Reading can equip one with new knowledge and insight, even new skills, in a myriad of ways that TV could never compete. People who have made an impact have succeeded because they think outside the proverbial square box.

Down time is important, and we all struggle on some level to maintain that ever so precious balance between rigor and recharge. But time in front of the TV, and really all screens, certainly siphons our productivity, creativity, and psychological freedom.

Tools of Titans

Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss is a compendium of quotes, habits, and knowledge from world-class performers from virtually every arena. I read it on my Kindle but will be buying the book in the near future, because as the author himself suggests, it’s a great source of reference, whether it be wisdom, motivation, or perspective you seek. The book is a series of excerpts from Tim’s podcast interviews, and is divided into 3 parts: healthy, wealthy, and wise. There’s some great nutrition and lifting insight in the healthy section, if you’re into those particular domains. The wealthy segment proved very inspiring, not in terms of getting rich, but in generating value for the world, in contributing something to humanity. And the last section reads as a poignant reassurance that everything will be okay, that we are all human, and to enjoy the most precious commodity we own—time. I would highly recommend a perusal of Tools of Titans, as there’s probably something powerful inside for just about everyone, no matter who you are. With so many varying points of view on offer, the most important lesson from its pages may simply be: consider why you want what you do, determine what works for you, and strike as great a balance as you can between getting after that, and enjoying the ride. 

Biological Wires

Continuing on the note of the Big Picture, I had a thought this morning about emotion that was somewhat consoling. It feels like my emotions bubble to the surface so much more easily now, and I think a big reason is the pandemic. We are more stressed, exhausted, and anxious this year, much more than normal. I get angry much quicker than I used to, and the underlying tension can’t be helping. But then I thought about the totality of our species, every single human that’s ever lived, and the range of emotion that we have all experienced. Have I experienced anything unique compared to every other human who’s ever lived? Probably not. One could even make a list of emotions that are possible for a human being: joy, anger, envy, sadness, excitement, fear, hope, etc. In fact, scientists have been doing experiments and analysis on the topic for decades. Exploring these thoughts didn’t immediately subside my anger, but it enabled me to recognize it for what it was, that it wasn’t me, it was just an emotion in reaction to a stimulus (underlying or not). In one sense we are a collection of biological wires, and in another—is our compilation of wires so special that no other has ever created such connections? And finally, if those things are true, what kind of connections can we then form between each other?

Tribe Impact

How much has Black Friday and Cyber Monday been buoyed by the pandemic? I certainly took advantage of some deals to finish furnishing my apartment, and even counterintuitively purchased a device to reduce my screen time and technology usage—more on that in another post. I wonder how many people were like me, resorting to the temporary dopamine hit of buying new things to substitute the lack of social contact. It’s definitely easy to fall into the trap. Looking at the big picture can be helpful—will the objects I bought last me a lifetime? Of course not, especially with how things are made now. But the memories I create with my tribe will. Sure there’s the balance between achievement and hedonism, but in both worlds, our tribe exists. We get to choose our tribe, and it chooses us. In the big picture, it’s one of the most important decisions we make; as they say, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. When we are intentional with the selection of our tribe, we can more easily enjoy both worlds of work and relaxation, because we’ll have friends in both. 

Consideration Crux

As I look towards what habits and resolutions will be the most beneficial to me when we leave the hellish year of 2020, I can’t help but think of what we as a society can collectively do to make 2021 better. The political divide, disinformation online and the epistemological crisis, they all come down to one thing each of us can control: consideration. If we think and act and behave with more consideration, we will make this upcoming year radically better. Will we? 

Remember the Laughter

I get to have a second Thanksgiving today with my partner’s side of the family. It’s pretty incredible how much there is to be grateful for—a recurring theme with my tribe over the past 2 days. Yes, 2020 has sucked in a lot of ways for pretty much everybody. But there’s also so much to give thanks for someone in my position. I’ve visited 6 countries on 3 continents this year. I’ve been fortunate to live close to the most important people in my tribe and have thus been able to maintain a safe bubble with them throughout this pandemic. Looking back on photos from this year, there have still been a lot of laughs and a lot of good times. I think that’s the most important thing to consider as we close this year out. Yes there’s much to be done—our political system does not function for the average American, and we have some serious environmental problems. But we also have much cause for joy and laughter. If we reflect back on it, I think we’ll be surprised with how happy we’ve been and how good we really have it. These may be tense times. But they also present opportunity for future growth.

The Day After

Did anyone else make it through Thanksgiving without talking about politics? Because I didn’t. But today was a special day too, as it has been every year since I was young. The Day After Thanksgiving is spent going to the mountains to cut down the Christmas tree. I got to spend it with the people who mean the most to me, just like yesterday. How lucky can you get? As much as you’re grateful for. 

Unique Thanksgiving

What can we say about Thanksgiving this year? If you’re reading this, you have a lot to be thankful for, as do I. This is my favorite holiday, because there’s no bullshit. It’s get together with your family and enjoy a spectacular meal. It’s a little different this year, to say the least. But you know what? With everything 2020 has thrown our way, there’s still much to be thankful for. It’s a good exercise for us to consider what we have, and to make resolutions for what we can change. 

Why Change the World

Do we care about improving the world because it alleviates the fear of death? That was the thought I had last night while laying my head down to rest on my pillow. Do I care about climate change, the politico-economic system, and education simply because it’s a distraction from the knowledge of the inevitable? Why do some folks truly care about making a difference, while others are content with making a living? Is the notion of legacy, of leaving the world better than you found it, nothing more than our ego trying to control one additional matter? These deep questions bear a lot of weight and deserve introspection. Discovering and acknowledging our “why,” our “raison d’être,” can help guide us when the road becomes difficult. It can also make light times that much more enjoyable. Despite our inescapable fate, I believe we do matter, and that our actions matter. Changing the world will make someone else’s brief time here just a little bit better, and I think that’s worth the toil. After all, don’t we enjoy such a luxurious quality of life because of the work and sacrifices of countless others? Death is coming, that’s for sure. Striking the balance between impact and joy seems to be the best way to meet it.

Misinformation Remedies

It’s been clear in the days since the election, if it wasn’t already, that misinformation is rampant online. We have large groups of people in this country who cannot agree on simple facts of reality. This “epistemological crisis,” as it’s called, undermines our other collective problems, such as climate change, the coronavirus pandemic, and political ineffectiveness. There are some easy ways we can combat this. Read 2 articles about the same news event, one from your political standpoint and one from the opposite. What’s in common? That’s probably the truth. You can also  insist on gathering information from the most neutral sources possible, such as Rising or All Sides. There are solutions to this problem out there; we just have to be willing to leave our comfortable bubbles. Information should not be divisive, it should be the criteria for determining conclusions. Sometimes we’re wrong, and that’s okay. We can be collectively right, if we recognize we have the same goals and dreams: health, wealth, and happiness.