Natural Solitude

My wife may be influencing me, but I’m drawn more and more to the quiet rural life. Walking amongst the trees and greenery today, beyond the sensual experience itself, it also drew me to my most profound experiences this year. 

The moments I feel most at peace, most connected to the universe, are the ones of solitude in nature. When there are just a few other tribal members and myself, immersed in the natural beauty that is our planet: that’s when I feel grounded and alive. 

Do we experience this enough as a whole, as a species? If not, and if it rings enough bells, then we need to take drastic action so that those after us can experience the same.

Ancient Ways of Nature

The Earth is so incredibly beautiful, I don’t know how we forget so easily. We get wrapped up in zeitgeist and careers and the pursuit of fortune. 

But true living is timing your day around sunrise and sunset; it’s what humans have been doing for hundreds of thousands of years. Positioning oneself where nature and the atmosphere is most spiritual—that’s how we have traditionally lived. 

We learned so much as a species, but we must not forget the call of the ocean and the mountains and all that is green. We are connected to this blue marble, and when surrounded by nature we can experience our ancient way of life. 

Sea Connection

There is no other sound like the waves of the sea. Continuous, ever present yet still the background, the music of the ocean simply soothes.

Does it matter at what port we receive such sound? There’s character and history everywhere, but something about the sea is eternal. 

We are a part of this ecosystem, no matter if land-dwelling. It feels good to be connected again. 

Big World News

You get caught up on the news and are fed all this new information, and then you wonder how much of it applies to you. The business model in the internet industry is still very much geared toward exploration and profit, instead of pure information. 

And we have to make sense of that, and figure it out. It’s a dilemma for the modern human: how to remain informed to thus make good choices, yet still live life at the same time. 

We can reconcile both ends of the extreme, if we decide to invest energy in it. It’s one of several things we are working out on the global scale—let’s keep at it. 

All We Are

You just gotta keep going in life. Great things happen and we enjoy them, and bad things happen and we have to move past them. 

We have it so easy compared to so many before us, and I try to remember that during those tougher times. The only way for us to continue on that path is to keep trying together. 

Doing our best, treating each other with consideration: these are the measures we must continually take to change the world. It will never stop being necessary, and it will take all that we are; but that’s kind of the point anyway. 

Tribe Support

Even a day later, and the results are the same. Family is what matters. 

I look back on what has transpired over the past 24 hours, and my tribe is the constant. The other externalities have come and gone. 

It really is up to us to choose what we want, and when surrounded by good people, that becomes a lot easier. Our tribe is the change we wish to see in the world. 

Tribal Days

How do you take in the most important day of your life? Today I am figuring that out, as a start a new chapter with my partner. 

I seem to always come back to tribe in my published writing. My tribe has made me who I am today, and any pride I have in my character can be directly attributed to them. 

Today they witness my next step. What an amazing world we live in. 

To Evolution

I don’t know what our purpose is in this universe. On this beautiful Earth, it seems we have ample opportunity to figure it out. 

When you look out to the ocean, it offers the most tangible semblance of eternity. We can’t fathom everything of our existence, but we can find a deep sense of acceptance and peace. 

Until tomorrow: forever we push onwards into the unknown. All we can do is contribute to evolution. 

Grandparent Time

I enjoy spending time with my grandparents, because besides their company, it’s a window into a world beyond. I hear their stories and feel their perspective, and it’s the closest connection I have to history. 

It reinforces that every generation does the best it can, with the knowledge at hand. And it strikes me queerly how times change during a single lifetime. 

Time is the one flowing element we cannot overcome, and grandparents provide a tiny insight into its effects and reckoning. It is one world, as it was for all our ancestors who ever were, and we must register such depth into our consideration moving forward. 

Offering Love

When life becomes stressful for a prolonged period, at some point, you realize you still have to enjoy it. There are simple things, beautiful little experiences, every single day, that we miss if we don’t pay attention. 

Spending quality time with your tribe is an easy way to bring back that gratitude. We are the people we share our lives with, and when you appreciate that, you appreciate the opportunity to hold union. 

We can all use to remember that every single one of us desires companionship and love. If we offer it more freely, not only will the world benefit, but we enjoy life more too. 

One Percent of Eight Billion

I normally blog about major holidays and zeitgeist happening in the world, things like Juneteenth and Father’s Day. It’s been difficult to expand beyond my sphere of control though recently, as my life has taken a busy turn. 

It’s a part of our experience, and we have to accept that we all sometimes focus on our own circles more than the big picture. It’s impossible to consider all of humanity all of the time. 

That’s why I advocate for the one percent solution: if each of us can contribute one percent of our energy and time to the greater world, we all reap the benefits. One percent of eight billion people can change the world. 

Aware of Us

I cannot hold the sense of detachment at bay when considering where we’re at. We enjoy progress built upon dozens of generations, and yet where are we?

There’s much to improve in this world, and we can only do it if we act through true benevolence, without concern of our own importance. If we all take a minute to consider how many other people there are, how many possibilities exist beyond the current circumstances… it becomes possible. 

There is more, there is greater, than you, than me. It doesn’t require kumbaya, just an awareness that there is more, and that we can experience it together. 

No Place Like Home

When does a house become a home? Little chaos and some organization certainly helps. 

But proximity to your tribe might matter most. Comfortability and a sense of belonging come from the memories you share with loved ones in your most sedentary location. 

I have traveled a good deal in my life so far and have previously pondered roaming the globe as a nomad. But there’s really no place, or people, like home. 

Screen Strength

In the process of moving and remodeling I’ve been living without a TV for the past week or so, and it’s been grand. I’ve spent time with both sides of the family, as respite to the carrying and building and driving, and it’s been real time with those in my tribe. 

We normalize so quickly to new circumstances, and when life becomes chaotic, family time is immediately treasured. Screens are ubiquitous in everyday life, yet when meaningful business grips your time, they lose allure and meaning. 

We are animals whose biology has flourished upon trust, collaboration, and social interaction. I guess it can sometimes take an upheaval to remove yourself from screen addiction and recognize our natural strength. 

Self Convincing

Negative set talk can expand a victim mindset and make it difficult to progress. I struggle with it often, and try to remember to not be so hard on myself. 

Because from the widest angle, my deepest darkest fears and problems aren’t so bad. It takes a little courage at first to peek into the abyss and recognize that, but doing so changes your outlook. 

In today’s world it’s a balance of being the best person one can be while also being aware and considerate of the larger ecosystem of which we are a part. We are who we want to be, and sometimes it starts with convincing ourselves. 

Working it Out

Depending on the way you look at it, everything works out in the end. Not to examine the situation from a detached perspective, but when you step back far enough, there are a few key thing that matter. 

I’ve pontificated about family and how integral our relationship with our tribe can be to our overall well being. Imaging the end of life can also place things in a more measured perspective. 

We have an unknown amount of allotted time on this Earth. It’s our ultimate burden and freedom to determine how to allocate our energy, and to what end. 

Life’s Incredulity

Perspective seems to change so quickly, I don’t know what to make of it. I guess that’s an indication of how dynamic life can be, that circumstances can appear so familiar or foreign within the same week?

It’s just an incredible world that we share. We may get caught up in day to day drama or in thinking that we know it all, but the truth remains that we live in an incredible time in which so much is possible. 

It’s up to each one of us to choose our path. Do we embrace the incredulity of it all, or do we shy away?

Tribal Lean

Just when you get discouraged, things start to come together. I try to remember it when feeling disheartened.

When you treat family like family, they come through for you. It’s a reciprocal relationship that builds over effort and time. 

So when dark before time, lean into your tribe. In this thing called life, they make all the difference. 

Modern Fatigue

Tiredness changes our brains and limits our functionality—that was on full display for me as I was moving this weekend. It makes me wonder how often most of us really are tired. 

That might be a hallmark of our species’ progression, that we have created and maintained a world where many are less tired. We use our bodies less because we’ve developed solutions to make our lives easier. 

Not to say this is good or bad, but is it true? Fighting through fatigue can be exhausting, and in today’s world, we do it much less often. 

Gratitude Vortex

Every single one of us can look back on our lives and be grateful. I understand I am privileged compared to many, but each of us could have suffered more; could have but haven’t. 

Living with gratitude expands what is possible to experience. When we open up to the world, to this strange phenomenon called life, we can more wholly and thoroughly enjoy the time allotted to us. 

Paradoxically it’s easy to become removed from gratitude, all too normalized to get away from it. But once you return to its vortex, it seems foolish to leave.