The Future Field

Humanity’s problems can be pretty terrifying in their pervasiveness, scope, and severity: climate change, corruption, poverty, etc. However, despair is not a solution, as it only unveils one path forward—failure. 

Maybe we can find resiliency through an honest assessment of the situation. The circumstances are grim, and we must exert enormous effort, but we also contain some crucial advantages for the first time in the history of our species: an awareness of others around the globe, widespread education and literacy rates, and truly powerful technology. 

There is a wide open field before us, not a dark tunnel. We have options, we have choices, and we have the ability to change the world—let’s step up and go do it. 

Meta Questions

Facebook’s keynote didn’t sit well with me today, and it wasn’t because “Meta’s” ambitions were too grand or unbelievable. I just kept wondering, “is this what we should be aspiring towards?”

Should one of the world’s most valuable companies be focused on creating an embodied internet? I don’t believe it’s conflating problems when one questions a company’s actions and intentions when it holds so much sway over the lives of billions of people around the world. 

Even if it isn’t obvious we face more pressing problems, today’s announcement surely sparks societal reflection. Who are we as a species, and where are we going?

Painting the Universe

Health, wealth and happiness are the three prongs of quality of life that everyone always references. On a larger level, we all want to live in a society built upon freedom, equality, and justice.

These attributes seem so simple, and yet we so easily forget them. We so quickly yearn for more, for less substantive circumstances in life, that fade so swiftly when we really examine priorities. 

It all comes down to the question we must ask ourselves individually and on a societal level: who do we want to be? The universe is a canvas, ready for our masterpiece across time—what will we paint?

To Travel this Earth

Looking ahead I’m excited for the traveling I have planned. Hopefully the world will open up more as more people become vaccinated globally, and it will be fun and safe to travel once more.

I’m eager to be seduced by the planet’s beaches and mountains once more, to witness Earth’s pristine beauty. I’m ready to learn more about our species’ fascinating and diverse cultures, to meet strange new people. 

More than all, I look forward to being swept away by the thrill of adventure, that call to explore that only travel brings. How odious it would be to remain in one’s corner all one’s life; I look for the Earth to bring me it’s best!

The Long View

We can easily get caught in the pressing needs of the moment, of the hour or the day. Yet when we look back on a larger scale of years, do we not feel happiness?

This experience of which we can partially control is utterly amazing. If we feel down, we must only consider the grand picture and reflect on how wonderful it all is.

This is our antidote when we despair at our present societal circumstances: look how far we’ve come as a species. We are capable of great good, we just need need to reflect and remember. 

Holiday Community

The holiday season brings family traditions for many people, which is why it's revered. Whether we admit it or not, we value the time spent with our tribe.

Pumpkin carving, turkey trots and feasts, Christmas presents and holiday songs... these customs persist because they bring out meaningful interactions with those we love. And in the Northern hemisphere, they come during the cold winter months, when survival was hardest in times of old.

If we embrace these hallowed practices each year with our tribe, is it possible to extend the sentiment to something larger? Let us expand our sense of community to all those in our species, to all life on this planet, as we whirl around the galaxy.

Two Years of TAV

Today marks two years since I started blogging daily. Seven hundred and thirty days later, this practice has strengthened my focus toward bettering the world.

It can be difficult to consider what’s beyond the bubble of our personal lives; but such a perspective is necessary to truly change the world. I am convinced we can influence our future as a species and as a planet: we can prosper.

On the largest of scales, we are singularly unique as far as we know. Why not make the most of this existence, this captivating and amazing experience we call life. 

Learning Power

I watch my niece learning how to read and it reinforces education as the most important thing in our world. Learning is the lifeblood of our species.

How fundamental is reading to our everyday livelihood, the foundation upon we’ve built everything else? When’s the last time you have dedicated yourself to learning something on a daily basis over the span of years?

Continuous education is the path forward, so that we may continue to adapt no matter our individual circumstances. Our most important characteristic must be honed to be our most powerful asset. 

Political Scene Seeing

As I’ve witnessed the “Build Back Better” deal disaster, I’ve wondered: what skills are required to be a congressman or congresswoman? How prominently do negotiation skills or strategy feature within the congressional repertoire compared to marketing or public speaking?

But then I recognize that regardless of the answers to those questions, the underlying cause to our current state of affairs, not the more visible symptoms, is our incentive structure within the system. At the end of the day, elected officials and public office are not incentivized to vehemently pursue the populations’ best interests.

It is these core building blocks of campaign finance reform, lobbying laws, and governmental privileges that must be reformed. As our democracy exists today, we still yet hold the power to change these systems, to adapt them to the will and benefit of all people…can we see that, and will we act?

Travel Window

I’ve blogged before about the rush of trip planning, and how it can be almost as alluring in the moment as the travel itself. But if that were the case, would we do it without the reward of adventure after?

I’m excited to do some more traveling before the year is up. Exploring new places rejuvenates my outlook in life and fuels my sense of wonder and appreciation for the universe, how amazing this all is. 

When we travel we exit our comfort zone and enter a new dimension, one rarely accessed in the modern first world. We get a glimpse through the window to true life, and all its splendor.

A Grandpa’s Wisdom

Today I reflect on the time I spent with my Grandpa and how he impacted my life. Beyond being thankful for my time with him, I appreciate how much I learned from him at such a young age. 

I’ve always been interested in socioecopolitical forces, and how the intersection of the three determine the effervescent circumstances of our society. I wonder how much I can attribute that to my talks with my grandfather, who would sit with me at the table, long after dinner, when I was a teenager.

He would challenge me to consider the other and to think critically, but most importantly, he would listen. A grandparents’ tutelage can expand one’s awareness capacity in life; thank you Grandpa, for shaping mine. You passed down something meaningful to me, and I love you.

Institutional Try

What if we gave every high school graduate ten thousand dollars? Coupled with a Civics or citizenship curriculum, it could be highly encouraged to spend the sum on one of two things: school, or starting a business. 

Perhaps a wild idea compared to our more common standards, such a program could incentivize two of the most powerful ways to build wealth. After all, higher education and entrepreneurship present two core pathways for a better financial future, besides the stock market and home ownership. 

This isn’t the only option, but it’s a new idea that has the potential to teach more, to promote greater social mobility. Is that not one of the primary tenets of our economic and political system?

To Open Up

I’ve gone through periods of my adult life in which I’ve been more or less healthy, more driven or more chill, and many other cycles through spectrums. I find myself now in pattern of being less open. 

I wonder if some of it can be attributed to the pandemic, and just being more isolated. But regardless of factors, I’ve recognized it has occurred, and I want to get back on track. 

Openness to the new and unfamiliar enables one to widen their life experience, and as the world opens up, I want to as well. There is so much to discover outside our internal realm of comfort—it’s time to embrace and explore!

Pandemic Perspective

It’s very likely the pandemic will permanently change us. Upon considering other global events like 9/11 and the World Wars, it would be shocking if it didn’t. 

If we recognize the likelihood of this fact, we can get in front of it, and use the unique perspective we momentarily hold to change the world for the better. An improved life experience for the masses is possible if we leverage the pandemic to re-prioritize.

Capitalism has largely brought better lives for billions, but some checks and controls, as made obvious by present circumstances, can create more equity. How will we respond to this crisis, how will we build from here?

Modern Monkeys

The modern world is simply an amazing environment, when you consider it. There are millions of us living in all types of places, completely disconnected from our food, using a currency for transactions. 

It’s so far removed from our original animalistic state. We don’t hunt or gather to survive, are never far from shelter, and spend exorbitant amounts of time looking at pieces of glass and plastic. 

And we’re the only ones that do it, on this planet surrounded by all this other life, perhaps in the solar system and even the galaxy. What do we want to be, and what to we want to do?

Lots Going On

There’s a lot going on in many of the major countries in the world. I realized that today when reflecting on some of China’s recent policies and comparing them to all that’s happening in the US.

Even when asking someone from a reasonably well governed country in Scandinavia, they’ll reply that their government and nation has many problems. The intricate societal structures we have created seem to struggle to keep up with our population’s problems with organizing. 

The only way it gets better is if more people take a vested interest. It requires caring about what is happening elsewhere on the planet, both in distance and time—for those of us subsisting beyond pure survival, will we act?

Seeing the Earth

What would happen if we built a space station exclusively for tourism, and we sent every fifth grader up on a field trip to view the Earth? Money aside, would that alone change the world?

I imagine it would, that it would unite humanity to one singular purpose: improving our home, and life on it, as much as possible. And engaging in such a thought experiment gives me hope, despite all the negativity in the world. 

We are more similar than we are different, and from the grandest perspective, we all want the same things. If we return to the Earth, we can achieve such synergy and harmony. 

History and Now

How connected are we to the history that enabled us? Watching Hamilton tonight sparked such a discussion thread in my head. 

We inherit luxurious circumstances built by chance and brilliance, can we deny that? If we put our current struggles within the context of humanity’s overall fight, maybe we can resolve some of them. 

What can we do? It’s a question we all must ask ourselves, for ourselves, and for our future. 

Recognition Today

There are so many different perspectives out there; a few doors down, the next city over, across the continent or the ocean. When’s the last time I’ve interacted with folks who have those opinions?

It’s an honest question that we should each ask ourselves, given what we know about, well.. everything. It all really comes down to a simple question: who do we want to be?

We tend to focus on ourselves, and that’s fine in a sense… but who do we want to be? What heights can we achieve, what is utterly, in the true sense of the word, possible… it’s for us to decide. 

To Question Work

What are the weekends for? I think it’s a question worth asking, as the nature of “work” has changed as our society and technology have evolved. 

With more wealth and more leisure time afforded to more people, we seem to have sunken into the 5 day, 40 hour workweek, at least in the United States. But people often fail to realize these numbers are not law; in fact they were fought for over generations. 

So where do we find ourselves now, in a global economy built around growth? How much do we contribute true value, and how much should we enjoy the fruits of our efforts?