We can change the world.
But of a weather front eh - Antarctica, March 2019
When you’ve found the elixir, it begets hesitation amongst your kin. But that is in fact what connects us, what unites us.
We are all here, in this very place, right now, with each other. There is no majesty of thought that can replace the sheer sensory reality of it.
What will you do? What will I? What will we commit to in this moment together?
Snapshot of a lifetime ago - Shanghai, September 2012
Isn’t it funny how the world seems to grow up as we do? I mean, our understanding only keeps growing as we get older?
Reality is wild. When we acknowledge that, we enter another realm.
It’s goes beyond changing the world. It’s the eternal connection to it.
A Texas longhorn in a field in Paris, Texas, January 2020
When things aren’t going well, spend time with your tribe. For different people, that can mean different things. Sitcoms in the ‘90’s show us that much.
I just find this to be more and more true as I get older, as life goes on. What is life without your family, without your tribe
Hiking the “W” in Torres del Paine, March 2019
We do live in an incredibly amazing world. Why do we not feel hopeful about our species’ existence?
We must not let pandemic fatigue become the new collective emotional normal. There are still millions of things to celebrate. There are polar bears in the world! And dilapidated ruins of ancient civilizations all over the planet, full of history and art. Our planet’s tilt and rotation is such that we enjoy these things called seasons, as the abundant water and air moves around and changes.
There is work to do, yes. Work we must do. It’s imperative we address some of our biggest problems. But despair does not get us out; it only guarantees dread’s foreboding.
Fight it. Embrace all the good and wonderful in the world, all the awe that makes up our universe, the splendor that is life. If we do that, we can change the world.
Sydney contains a remarkable amount of coastline, January 2020
I’ve been fatigued from the forever-pandemic (or so it seems), just like everyone else, I’m sure. It can be so easy for every day to feel like every other, a never-ending trudge to oblivion.
And yet, any “ordinary” day can be special. I’ve realized that this week. Today is Groundhog Day, an early commemoration of the seasons, a hint of change. The date was also 2-2-22, a unique marker that won’t happen again for a hundred years.
Every day is special, and different, if we let it be. And gratitude enables us to see it.
Exploring the sites in Shenyang, China during Spring Festival time, February 2013
Spring Festival in China evokes similar excitement and buildup as Christmas in the US, at least in my experience. It’s a time for family, for gratitude and well wishes, and of course, eating. I remember braving the cold in the northeast, feeling the anticipation in the air as nearly everyone was off work.
I think we need breaks like this during the year, special times in which we can gather, reflect, and celebrate. Much like the structure of music, culture requires some consistency, and some variation. Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate it. May the year of the Tiger bring health, joy, and prosperity.
A view of the Venice of the North, St. Petersburg, Russia, September 2019
Our planet is miraculous in its beauty and diversity. The sunset tonight on my walk was stunning, just an ordinary night in the South Bay. That happens all around the world, in various places depending on the ever changing weather, day after day. How lucky we are to enjoy such a paradise. We must not take it for granted.
A typical market scene in Arusha, Tanzania, November 2019
The pandemic has given us at least one gift, an opportunity to see from a different perspective. More than ever, the importance of family time stands out. It’s what enabled us to survive the savannah, and it’s what makes us human.
A glimpse of South Georgia Island, penguins glaciers and all, March 2019
I saw more acquaintances tonight than I have in a while, and it was refreshing. We are indeed social creatures, but it provided insight to how integral it really is. We need to address that social miracles exist, because when we stop to look, it’s all pretty amazing.
The Great Wall at Badaling on a typical smoggy day near Beijing, China, June 2012
The crux is to align on what matters. If we can openly discuss what fundamentally matters most, we’ll surprise ourselves: we want the same things, across cultures and continents, all across the world.
The hard part is then done. Sure there will still be work involved, lots of it. But the primary step is to see beyond the limitations determined by the current configuration of our institutions.
We are free to change the world, to shape the future toward equality and prosperity. We just have to see it. To take command. What do you see?
Distant view of Bell Rock in Sedona, Arizona, July 2020
I always push back on the concept of karma, that “what goes around comes around.” I don’t disbelieve it, but I’m also not aware of any real evidence that “what you put out in the world comes back to you.”
Really, I think it’s just something people say and believe in to make themselves feel better.
And that’s okay. The adherence to such a code doesn’t harm anyone. But a small voice inside me always retorts: do good because it’s right, because you want to. Even if there’s no cause or sensible connection to your suffering, accept it as a condition of being a part of this miraculous universe, and decide to still do good.
This independence, this ability to choose our way, despite hardship or circumstances, is what makes us human. The contributions we make to the universe come from conviction, not as a response to a stimulus. We can change the world, not because something good happened to us, but because we want to.
A stunning mixed sky over the Amazon River in Peru, April 2019
I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels they constantly repeat themselves when discussing the pandemic or politics. It almost feels as though we’ve lost our ability to think critically, to parse our nuance.
Our society, and our world, has reached an important juncture: our technology enables us to do incredible things, but we still need to improve our ability to organize.
We are bound by our biology to certain things, but openness and consideration aren’t included. How else did we learn to explore and to build? For that is in our biology too.
The main promenade in Cairns, Australia, January 2020
I believe it’s important to love what you do. If we ascribe meaning to the activities that fill our time, then our lives become meaningful.
There’s more than one way to go about this; your can do what you love for work, or you can dedicate your free time to hobbies that are meaningful to you. I don’t think there’s a “right” way, as everyone’s circumstances are slightly different.
I’m still exploring my way, and it’s all a part of the journey, the figuring life out. But that meaning, that connection, is integral to our existence as humans. In a way we’re so small and insignificant on the scale of the universe. But we’re also connected to it, a part of it, and our contributions ripple through space and time, one with it all.
A shot of peaceful Siena, Italy, away from the crowds in August 2019
We don’t know how much time we get, and it can make even the so-called “ordinary” moments that much more special. Living with love, spending time with your tribe… the older we get, the more this becomes obvious. When we consider it this way, we recognize we really do have it all.
Looking out toward Table Mountain from the V&A in Cape Town, South Africa, December 2019
It truly is a incredible thing.. this journey that we call “life.” How many people living right now have friends since they were children? Perhaps that could be a metric we track to assess the health of our species’ progression. We make our way separately yet together, in this modern landscape. I’m as much a learner as anyone else, but… we seem to be social creatures, and this collective experience appears to be better together.
South Georgia, island of wonder, on a balmy day in March 2019
Today during my mediation I truly focused on my breath, and it was a revelatory experience. I could feel my mortality, my biological body sustaining itself with the oxygen it requires to exist.
Afterwards my thoughts strayed to the universe. The elements that exist in the universe are what we have to manipulate, to play with, so to speak, within the “rules,” or properties, of the universe. And we’re still learning these rules.
We can do anything we want within the confines of these basic laws and elements. We can be anything we want. How amazing that simple fact is, this life is. What will we embark on, what will we embrace, what will we do with this sentience? What do we want to be?
Monks on their daily early morning round in Luang Prabang, Laos, March 2020
On a podcast I heard someone say, “people don’t think about politics, they think about the conditions of their lives.”
While this may be true, we also need to understand that politics determines the conditions of our lives. Politics is making the decisions of how to organize our society, determining what systems to use, and establishing rules and policies.
If we don’t like the conditions of our lives, the solution is to change the system. It all comes down to how we organize, and that is politics.
A cemetery in Paris, Texas offers opportunity to reflect on time and purpose, January 2021
Do you ever look out on your calendar, months ahead, and wonder what it will be like then? In doing some planning for this year, I experienced that sensation when viewing the calendar for April, July, December of 2022.
Fluctuation seems to be at the core of being human. We adapt to changing circumstances, altered perceptions and varied expectations. Knowing what we do now, how has the internet shaped our collective psyche? Do we feel the heat to act on climate change?
Setting our perspective within this larger time frame, of a year, a decade, our lifetime, our civilization.. this is how we can feel confident in our choices, how we can determine our sacrifices, and how we can form our continuing reality.
Problems melt away when you take in how beautiful our planet is, Fernando de Noronha, Brazil, February 2019
I heard the host on my news show today say “I’m confident you could pick random people off the street and they would do a better job than our elected officials,” or something along those lines. They were referring specifically to our congressional representatives’ complete lack of advocation for wildly popular policies, like drug price reform and a $15 federal minimum wage and healthcare for all; these positions consistently poll at 60% majority or higher.
Yet I don’t think it’s that simple. It appears the system we have incentivizes such behavior, or lack of action, from our legislative officials. I don’t know if “regular people” would do any better, as they would be subjected to the same systemic forces.
So how do we combat these institutional pitfalls, these larger-than-life machines? It’s our same answer: evaluate our paradigms, in order to recognize we are one. Reject the culture war, the partisanship, and the polarized pandering. We will all benefit from a reformed system, as we are all more similar than we are different. We all want the same things. If we come together, we can change the world.
Two kangaroos enjoying the sun in a preserve south of Sydney, Australia, January 2020
We really do enjoy a fleeting moment together on this planet. I used to think of it as clutch when I was a teenager…how you perform when it matters.
The truth is it all matters. When we inhabit the present, we’re connected to all of it. We can change the world, and make our mark on the universe.