We can change the world.
A sulphur-crested cockatoo flies overhead in Australia, January 2020
The pandemic has forced us to take a look. We see what life is now in this altered world. We also gain perspective on what the world was before. Normality may never exactly return, but that also means the future is what we make it. That has always been the case, but our generation now has the gift of added perspective. Let’s use this perceptive insight to change the world.
The Old Town Square, Prague 2019
What is our most pressing problem? Is it the coronavirus that plagues our species? Is it climate change, which threatens all? Is it our struggle to unify as a species? How often does the average person consider such problems or their solutions? We have the means and technology for us to each pitch in. But we can’t truly address these issues unless we are aware of them. Seeing must come first. What better point in our history than right now?
Two young male lions surveying the Serengeti plains atop a kopje
I’m not sure we’ve collectively reckoned with the permanent implications of the coronavirus. The fact is we’ll all be living with it for the rest of our lives. It’s here to stay, and although the vaccines are promising and there’s a hopeful future ahead, it’s clear the world will never be the same again. The Spanish Flu and the Black Death didn’t occur when we had such technology and communication available. Nor was our population as large or densely grouped. We will face many challenges, even with our technology, that those who experienced prior plagues did not have to consider. However, this daunting reality also brings an impetus to change, to come together, to be better. Let us learn from our mistakes, discard our differences, and work together to build a new world. We have been given such an opportunity; all we have to do now is decide whether we wish to take it.
Looking to South Georgia from the upper deck, March 2019
As I’ve resumed my news consumption upon my return to “normalcy” today, I realize I wasn’t missing anything while away. If you’ve followed any of my previous posts, you’ll know that I’ve employed a myriad of strategies for staying informed while minimizing the mere act of consumption for its own sake, and that each undertaking has failed in striking that delicate balance.
And yet it seems in these unprecedented times you can’t ignore what’s happening in the world. There’s a balance there I’m sure of it, but even the news outlets I like and respect won’t tell me to turn them off or put them down.
Information is powerful, and in our current global system, it is used to exploit the average person around the world, not to empower her or him. Somehow some way we must seek to remedy that, as it will unlock the real potential for us to change the world.
Haleakala on the other side of Maui
The way back from an adventure always has that melancholy feeling to it, like the ending to Casablanca. There is the farewell to what was, and the reluctant acceptance of what now will be. I try to remind myself that such is part of life. It can in fact be a large component of our lives as time passes. The quicker we can appreciate and let go, the sooner we can embrace what is to come. It is not tragic, it is life. What a wondrous world we enjoy. Until next time Hawaii; thank you for the reconnection to Mother Nature.
The Pali turbines in from afar at sunset
It’s been a transformative week in Hawaii. As I look back since last Saturday, I feel I’ve learned a lot. The ocean is our planet. We are one with the Earth. And most of all, that you can most clearly experience that when you slow down a little bit, when you breathe and take it all in. Sure there are big bad problems to solve that require urgency and vigor, but to fully grasp why we must solve them we need to visit back with the Earth. Hawaii provides a great backdrop for embarking on such a return, and I hope I can bring the sense of calm I’ve grown accustomed to here back to the mainland.
Sunset view from Kihei tonight
Our technology is powerful, at least to our own expectations. But it can’t replace or even replicate nature. There is something to be understood from our connection with it. We are bound to the Earth, to its wondrous environments and the energy it provides us. This is our most important lesson, until we head for the stars. Even then, Earth is and will always be humanity’s harbor.
The King’s Trail through the Lava Fields on southern Maui
What’s also intriguing about this place is time. You don’t see time as easily in many parts of the world; sometimes it appears as if it stood still, others it’s a slow progression. An island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has a deep connection to time: it exists on a volcanic formation that took millions of years, thousands of years of evolution have led to the unique biodiversity present, and often hundreds of years of history have impacted any humans living on it. There’s a connection to the eternal, but also the present. I’m sure there’s much insight to appreciate. All it takes is some time on such an island.
The Iao Needle basking in the morning sun
Something that’s certainly contributed to my peace this week on this island is that I haven’t followed the news at all. I still believe remaining informed is an important responsibility of citizenship, but I have struggled to find the balance. This week, being blissfully unaware of the news has enabled positivity to flow through, and helped keep the negativity out. We need to figure out how to avoid sensationalism, how to create a system that shares information without regard to profit. I can tell you one thing: the answer isn’t going to come to me this week.
Turtle soaking all of it in, Kaulahao Beach
Perhaps the single most visceral takeaway from hashtag island life is that you’re on it with everyone else here; there is no getting away, in the sense. Sure tourists like me might leave in a week or so, but for that week, you’re stuck here with me. That understanding promotes an easy going nature in itself, an acceptance of cohabitation on limited space. Our species must cultivate such a perspective for this wondrous planet we cohabitate with all the other life present here. If we allow ourselves to see it... prosperity beckons.
Some semblance of connection to nature..
President’s Day.. there’s a lot of distance from that here in Hawaii. George Washington, although an accomplished figure, wasn’t mentioned today. Our history and our past is seldomly contemplated as a people; we accept today as a “bank holiday.” How difficult for us now in this year of 2021. Gosh, don’t we have much to learn! And haven’t we learned a lot? Let’s continue the connection from previous classrooms and future dilemmas. We have a road ahead. How will we travel, well... that’s up to us.
One with nature on just an “ordinary” street in Wailuku
I know so little about the true island life, but visiting Maui has been a restorative experience. Much of it can be attributed to staying with a good friend, a local who makes it much easier to immerse in the island’s energy. We are not at a resort, we’re in a home. We listen to local reggae in the car and are privileged to be privy to inside advice. And there are less people here because of the pandemic. It’s a contingent of factors that has provided an opportunity to connect with Mother Nature. The views are either inspiring mountains or the beauty of the ocean. There is no pace, only the flow of each day. It’s truly a wondrous planet we live on, and just a handful of hours on one of its spectacular islands solidifies that reality. We are one with nature, we are a small part of it, not outside of it. What a lucky group of monkeys we are. Let us remember that as we move forward; we not only strive for a better human world, but a more perfect ecosystem of magnificence.
Beach, mountains, and sky, oh my
Do you ever arrive at a place and just exhale ‘wow?’ Maui is magic, and you can feel it from the moment you arrive on the island. I had been once as a kid, which doesn’t really count, and I’ve realized today how special these islands are. It’s an interesting mix of cultural and spiritual gravity combined with heavenly environmental backdrops. I’m so excited to explore more, to learn more, and to grow. To living.
From one of my favorite walks in the heart of Beijing, 2015
Today is Chinese New Year, which is an oddly significant day for me. I spent 4 transformative years in China, and on this special occasion each year I look back and reflect on my time and relationship with Chinese culture.
China has a vast, long, and rich heritage, and it’s still widely misunderstood outside the Sino sphere. Chinese people might be shy at first, but once you interact with them, they become some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.
What’s more, Spring Festival as a holiday centers around family and food, and exemplifies the best of traditional Chinese values. To all my friends over in the motherland, have a wonderful festival. Here’s to the year of the Ox bringing us health and good fortune.
Have we gone from running tribes to erecting grand structures?
I’ve found it difficult to get back to reading this year, and that’s why Born to Run by Christopher McDougall was a great entry point. It’s a quick read that’s easy to follow. Although McDougall can be hyperbolic throughout the story, and the plot does bounce around, the book flows quickly and inspires one to give running a fair shot. For me, having grown up running but healing from a serious ankle injury, it was great material. The anthropological sections were my favorite; even if it was only anecdotal evidence for the running man theory, it’s still interesting to consider the origins of our species’ evolution, and McDougall’s writing provides such an opportunity. For anyone with any inkling of interest in running, I’d give the book a solid three out of five stars. Running certainly provides me solace. Perhaps we are born to run.
Backroads in Arusha feel both a world away and what you’ve always known, November 2019
Global Consciousness is a term I use to describe humanity’s collective world view and planetary culture. It’s not inherently mystical, nor rooted in any accumulated scientific data. It’s kind of just common ecological sense: we inhabit a singular space, share it together, and interact with the same matter. Not to definitively call the Earth a closed system, but as of right now, we’re stuck here. Every single human being that has ever existed on this planet has died here. The totality of our species has subsisted on this ordinary heap of rock floating in the void.
So why do we separate ourselves into distinct groups? Why do we draw imaginary lines and create superfluous barriers between ourselves? Sure, we possess tribal biology and that dictates our behavior to a large degree, but if we’re capable of conceiving these thoughts... why don’t we aspire to develop our global consciousness? It is the vehicle which will unlock the scale of problem solving necessary for the continuing of our civilization.
Petty differences do not contribute to the fate of our species. It is time for us to awaken, to synergize as one group of primates who all desire the same things: life, fulfillment, prosperity. If we view the world from such a vantage point, we can change the world, for all.
The island of South Georgia exemplifies Earth’s incredible beauty
It can be difficult to make it through the psychological dread of pandemic infinity. I can only imagine how much harder it must be in colder environments. It’s easier to reach the antidote in California: nature. When we reconnect with the Earth, with where we came from, we can weather whatever storms which come. After all, the pandemic arose from the Earth as well. It is now part of this ecosystem of which we are a part. We can only thrive through a better understanding of nature.
A hot air balloon rises above the Nam Song river in Vang Vieng, Laos
Perhaps the next evolution in the news cycle is to have an app that collects stories about issues you care about and compiles them from opposite ends of the political spectrum—sound familiar? Except there’s no ads dispersed throughout the screen, and you don’t know the author or news outlet of the piece. It forces you to process and evaluate the information based on the merits of the arguments and the prevalence of evidence. Because how often do we judge incoming reports based upon the sender? We just might surprise ourselves, with how left or right we may actually be. Look, politics matter. The sooner we can actually focus on public policy, not the political actors and their rhetoric, the sooner we can create a more equal, more just, and more free society.
The beautiful beaches and coastline of Northern California
I don’t begrudge the questioning of holding a football game during a once-in-a-century pandemic, but something stood out to me while I watched it today. There were a lot of commercials that centered around sustainability—either referencing climate change or nodding to the powerful polarity within our society. I don’t ever remember a Super Bowl featuring such somber commercials. It was good to see that, not that it was happy or fun, but that it shows our society gets it, that people get it. I believe most people are good, that they want good things for themselves and their family, and that they wish good for others and the world. For how messed up some of our institutions within society are right now, there’s solace in the fact that most people do in fact get it. If we remember that, we will emerge from these hard times not only kinder, but wiser, and eventually, in a better world. We can do this. We can create a better world for our children and grandchildren. Time to play ball.
Docks and boats on Lake Titicaca, Bolivia 2019
I participated in a somewhat contentious conversation about politics today, and I feel I’ve come out better from it. The discussion was cordial and thoughtful, and although no concrete resolution resulted, everyone seemed to have learned something, especially myself. Such discourse is vital to the progression of our communities, our society, our species. Complicated problems are not solved in one conversation, but they are chipped away at. They are sighted, and cornered, and tussled with. Like a wild beast understood after many weeks of expedition, our political discussions provide a mechanism to better decide a more conscientious path forward. After all, politics affects everything. Shall we not engage in the complex determination of the evolution of our civilization?