Life, Earth and Human

Road tripping through Utah this past weekend has reinvigorated my passion for travel and exploration. But it’s also reinforced just how sublime life can be, how magnificent the Earth is, and how wonderful it is to be human. 

The trip wasn’t perfect; I was often tired, it was a lot of driving, and it didn’t always bounce our way. But there’s so much beauty in this country and we got to see lots of it, Americans showed how friendly and warm they can be, and it was just an all around adventure. 

Visiting different parts of the Earth just builds upon your perspective. We have an amazing home, and we can be good to each other—appreciating nature makes it all the easier. 

Humanity’s Harbor

If you were Martian and landed on Earth, you’d be stunned by the natural beauty of the blue planet. Even more, your first impressions of Earth’s splendor would vary significantly depending on where you set down; much of the American Southwest resembles Mars itself, while the grassy plains, lush rainforests, and arctic hinterlands would truly feel an alien world. 

There’s so much breathtaking beauty all around this planet, it would be a shame not to explore it, to experience it. How enviable those Martians would be, that we happened to inherit a world full of life, water, and wonder. 

Maybe we would look upon each other differently if more of us traveled, maybe we would better understand that our presence here is a privilege. Humanity could not ask for a better base, a more magnificent domain, from which to experience the universe. 

Remote Beauty

It was a wonderful return to the Coyote Buttes region of southern Utah and northern Arizona today. It’s amazing how many more people have “discovered” the area’s sublime beauty. 

When I visited this place in early 2017, there were perhaps 15 people total; today I passed 15 families while exploring Buckskin Gulch. And there’s good reason—this remote area of the American Southwest features some of the most beautifully rugged desert terrain on the planet.

It’s been a hard year especially for the rural parts of our country, but today served as a reminder that many of them are the gateway to some of the prettiest places on the continent. Welcome to Kanab, Utah and Page, Arizona. 

America on the Road

Road trips that start with traffic aren’t fun, but it’s also the name of the game when you live in the city: it takes a while to get away from it all, and that’s part of the allure of getting away. Once you settle into wandering the great wide open, the never ending horizons bring the feeling of possibility.

So crank up the Americana and reflect on all that is the United States as you cross the continent; there’s something uniquely American about hitting the road and collecting mile markers. The technology to do so has existed for decades, so there’s something fundamentally unchanged about the whole experience. 

Today it’s teaching me to take the bad with the good, to slow down and settle in (to my American heritage). Here’s to expanding landscapes and perspectives. 

Pre-Trip Thrill

There is nothing like the excitement when on the verge of a trip. Humans are incredibly curious creatures in many ways, only one of which is to explore new places.

How satiating that investigation is, whether it’s of new geographical worlds, a new web of culture and community, or simply the unknown. Knowledge and perspective gained from travel can fundamentally change one’s way of life for the rest of their life experience. 

Planning and packing and anticipating; the initial stages of discovery. It’s wise to embrace it while it lasts, as eventually, undeniably, there comes a yearning for home. 

One Social Group

We’ve been so starved of social interaction, in many ways the lifeblood of our species, that now when we experience companionship outside our home it’s almost an abnormal experience. And yet the smiles and laughter and conversation don’t seem so foreign. 

We are social creatures, and enduring this pandemic while having access to modern technology has exacerbated that fact. The next step as a civilization is to recognize this important trait of our collective biology and make it easier for us to interact, to exchange, to connect. 

We face many challenges ahead; they will be much simpler if we face them as one race, the human race. Disregarding this very clear distinction would be our greatest folly. 

Gratitude Rabbit Hole

I find it meaningful to really settle down into the gratitude rabbit hole at night. There are always so many incredible things to be grateful for, aspects of your life that could very easily be a lot worse. 

I try to think, “I have an able body and a comfortable place to sleep at night. I enjoy everyday luxury as an ordinary person that monarchs and emperors of the past could not even imagine.”

And the other things I can be thankful for? The love and community in my life, the circumstances and successes—those are within my control. 

Global Fairness

As the world has become more connected, it’s become more apparent that we do not have equitable distribution across our global civilization. Concerning different regions of the world or pertaining to discrepancies between separate groups of people within a region, the current state of the world exhibits inequality and unfairness.

Now, economics and the dynamics involved within a complex global economy are a complicated issue that isn’t solved with blanket statements or the wave of a magic wand. So how do we proceed?

Deepening education amongst the populace is the beginning, and a continued, constructive conversation is the middle. The end is a more just, a more fair, and a more free world—if we want to fight for it. 

The Human Thread

We are a diverse species, of all kinds of backgrounds and creeds. We represent so many distinct ways of life, and yet...we are all human. 

If you had to explain to someone what makes a human being, what would you say? Are there qualities that every single sapien shares?

We seek betterment, we desire companionship, we live with joy, and we love. Is there anything more important than this common thread that weaves us all together?

Reset Mechanisms

I know of 2 ways to ground oneself: enduring survival conditions and anchoring expectations to that experience, or appreciating the magnificence of an amazing universe at full capacity. Both work, but the latter can be evoked by anyone at any time.

I routinely fall into first-world perspectives, but if I'm able to climb out and compare to true hardship, my problems fade into oblivion. Likewise, modern luxury can make it easy to take comfort and convenience for granted; but when I respect the sheer incredulity of it all, life becomes much simpler and more peaceful.

There may be other strategies, but understanding how good you have it and contemplating the magic of reality are both accessible and powerful. Basically: it's probably not that bad in the grand scheme of things, because the grand scheme is infinitely spectacular. 

Learning from each other

Political discussions can be hard to come by these days. Sure there’s plenty of dross on the TV and in the news, but what about real conversations between real people?

Lasting change only occurs when “regular” citizens are talking about policy and power. These debates can quickly become messy, but when we begin from the same place—wanting the world to be better for everyone—we are able to see where we are wrong, where we can learn. 

I wholeheartedly advocate for people holding respectful, challenging discussions about the systems of power in the world and how they can be improved. It’s difficult as hell sometimes, definitely... but how else can we change the world?

Societal Years

Exactly a year ago today, I lamented the pandemic and imagined it all an April Fool’s Day prank—how naive my perspective was back then. Now I wonder: what have we all learned in the prolonged time that is this past year?

Or put a different way, if you were aware then of all you know now, what would you caution? That the “other side” or “other” learn its lessons?

I sometimes struggle to remain vigilant against such thinking. A year is such an incredibly long time (perhaps this year was a little extra long)—for the next year, what do we hope to learn, to achieve, and to build upon as a society?

Simple Livin’

Was life more boring before the exponential explosion of technology? Perhaps, but the fewer opportunities for dopamine-inducing stimuli enabled a more focused attention. 

I consistently think about how much I use my phone, and I’m still almost powerless to its seduction. Though in the rare instances I’m able to leave it be, I relish the return to simple pleasures, innocent indulgences, and just an overall fascination with the world around me. 

We undoubtedly live safer, more convenient, and more comfortable lives when immersed within the scaffolding of technology. But there’s also indeed something sensational about simple living.  

Choosing What’s in the Pipes

Similarly, what we choose to focus on (in the limited time we have available) is also important. With only so much bandwidth, what will we choose to play?

Creativity and innovation and value are words thrown around a lot, but really, it’s up to each person to decide where or put their attention across 80+ odd years. What’s the balance between spending time with the tribe and doing work?

There might be different levels for each of us. Are we willing to openly support everyone’s choices within a unified system?

Time and Money

I once caught up with a friend and he asked me, “how are you spending your time?” He meant it casually and was genuinely asking how I was doing, but I found it such a perceptive question when greeting others.

Because until we make significant progress in life extension, if we ever do, time is each person’s most valuable resource. The question goes, if you could trade lives with the 90 year old Warren Buffet, would you?

Most people substantially younger than he would probably pass, because we inherently value time of life more than 85 billion dollars. When viewing it from this perspective, there’s no argument, so...what are we doing with our time?

Crowd Decisions

Lots of decisions to make in life huh? As advised, I’ll take it as it comes.

We get to choose who we surround ourselves with, and that proportionally affects the environment we live in. It precedes many of the other potential decisions we might face. 

That extends to the entire planet. Can’t really get away from each other—so let’s make it work. 

Spendin’ Time

Time is each person’s most precious resource. Don’t we owe it to each other to recognize that?

We have inherently known this for millennia; surely there have been grandparents around the world explaining this to their grandchildren for thousands of years. So what is it that prevents us from collectively communicating this simple yet profound truth to each other?

The ultimate gesture is to tell another you love them, that you want to spend your most valuable resource with them—your time, your life. How can we leverage this fact to the world for all?

Live with Love

I don’t know if it’s from a recent book or movie, but I’ve realized a new maxim for me (and us): live with love. Love is a choice, and putting it out into the world causes reverberations beyond what we can see. 

If we reject the idea that love ‘happens’ to us, that it’s an uncontrollable condition, then we regain our greatest power. Our most impactful ability is to generate and transfer love onto other beings, and this foundational capability enables all other good we can do in this world.

Love cannot be extinguished by anything external, it’s something each of can choose to emanate. What a simple and beautiful epiphany—live with love. 

Storywriters

We are biologically disposed to make and see stories. Do you ever watch a movie or finish a book and feel melancholy when it’s over?

So what’s our collective story? We can craft whatever individual stories we want about our own individual lives, but how do they all come together?

We are the arbiters of our civilization’s fate. We decide what story to tell; we are the storywriters.

Travel World

I had this passing thought today, of a world in which most people traveled. Not in an anarchical sense, but just of humans regularly visiting different places around the globe. 

There are so many distinct cultures within our species, each beautiful in its own way. There are millions of other species, spread across a multitude of geographies and environments. 

In this world passing through my head, we lived in awe. It’s any other emotion odd?