Love Songs

After listening to a lot of music recently, I thought about something the other day: the most common subject of songs, by far, is love. Humans write about it constantly, the woes and the waves. We are social beings that long to love, to from bonds with our fellows in order to better navigate the universe. And that gives me hope. We can change the world.

Democratic Participation

It took me well over an hour to vote tonight for the upcoming California primary election next month. There were a lot of positions up for election, and many candidates for each one. I used candidates’ campaign websites, their Twitter accounts if applicable, and third party graders to evaluate them on the issues important to me. But so much of it seems to be determined by perceived conception of someone. Are they honest, do they have integrity? Will they actually do what they say they will do? For those without any political record, it can be especially difficult to gauge their stance on any given issue, as well as hierarchically how important that issue is to them. Yes, democracy is slow and inefficient and has its own myriad share of pitfalls. My participation in it tonight forced me to consider first principles. We certainly have made major strides as a civilization; we are happier, more prosperous, and more peaceful than ever before, despite what the news might tell you. But we still have a long way to go. We are in the driver seat.

What’s Within

There’s enough in this world for us all to have our basic needs met and be happy. It’s the crux of all our problems in the world. It might be foolish, but I believe we can make progress quickly. We have the power to change the world, and it only takes what’s within us.

Buzzword Disambiguation

I think there’s a misconception around the word sustainability. We seem to make it synonymous with the word effortless. When something is sustainable, it’s not (necessarily) automated; those are two separate characteristics. A rockstar’s concert tour might be sustainable, but it’s not automatic—they still have to put in the work, keep performing at events.

This might seem silly, but I think it’s an important distinction for us as we navigate this century while juggling this buzzword. We want to strive toward sustainable energy, but that doesn’t mean set it and forget it. It will require maintenance and updates and continued effort. We want to build sustainable systems and institutions, but they won’t exist indefinitely: they will require constant diligence.

At the end of the day, there’s no getting around thermodynamics. As far as we know, we live in a zero-sum universe. Let’s pursue sustainability, but with realistic expectations.

Feelings of Optimism

I’ve written about the importance of gratitude many times before, and it’s indeed life-changing. Optimism is another great practice that improves quality of life, and it can stem directly from gratitude.

Things might not always be optimal, but we can always be grateful for how good they are (or how “not bad” they are), and that can lead to a belief that conditions will be better, that we can affect our future conditions. We cannot control or influence everything throughout our experience, but we can influence or control a great deal, including the most important thing: ourselves.

It is fully within our power to determine our attitude, our internal environment, our reactions to the outside world’s events. I find this incredibly uplifting, a natural precursor to feeling optimistic about the future.

The truth is we can change the world. It may be slow, it may be difficult, but it is possible. To me, that alone is a cause for optimism.

Peering into the Deep

I think it’s severely uncomfortable to take a deep, longitudinal look at our lives, which is why it can be so difficult and why so few people regularly do it.

When we ask ourselves things like “why am I here” or “what’s the meaning of all this,” it surfaces our greatest fear: the unknown. Our brains, while possessing the ability to ponder such questions, evolved to be capable of reasoning—it was a path toward sustained survival. We struggle with things that are seemingly unknowable.

It’s also a deeply personal experience, muddled by our individual psychologies. But if we are to pursue a better future together, we must face it. We must face it both individually and together, because when we communicate with each other about these most important of things, we’ll realize that we’re all the same. And that the universe is magical, something to be explored and experienced. Shall we do it together?

Different at Home

There’s always a reset when coming back home. It can be difficult every time, but it also presents another opportunity to build new habits, and reaffirm foundations. I always enjoy the stillness in keeping company with my tribe, even if I was just traveling with them. Somehow it’s different when you’re home.

Exploration Return

It was a very successful trip to Nashville, but it’s always good to be home. After hot fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, and good ole’ Tennessee whiskey, it’s time to rest at home. It was my first visit to the state of Tennessee, and it was fascinating to experience the differences from California. The United States is a huge diverse country, and I’m grateful I had the chance to explore one part of it.

Progress will happen

I told my wife today that things will continue to get better. I believe most people are good. Altogether I believe people are reasonable, that we all want the same basic things for the same reasons. It might not always be pretty, and it might feel much too slow, but progress will be made. It requires tremendous effort, some togetherness, and a lot of outreach and organization. It will never be guaranteed and must always be fought for and protected. That’s the nature of the universe. Can we stare it down in the face and accept that it will require our consistent vigilance, but that it will also happen?

Diverse Nashville

Tourism is certainly a major industry in Nashville, and for a reason: they do a good job here. It’s fun to eat and drink your way through town. But there’s also a ton of history in this city, and this area of the country. I’ve realized during my visit just how big and diverse it is in the United States. We all may eat and live differently, but we’re also all the same. We all breathe, we all laugh and smile and cry for the same reasons, and we’re all human.

Music City Muse

Music City certainly has lots of music, as well as lots of good food. There’s a charge in the air when walking around downtown; the people here are upbeat and happy. Lots is happening constantly, and the energy permeates out from the cool confines of the AC into the hot streets. Tourists like myself abound everywhere around Broadway, and the honky tonks reverberate with sound. Nashville is indeed a place of action. Swaller n holler, and get to dancing, because in Tennessee’s capital life is good.

Off to Nashville

I was asked a couple times what I was most excited about in visiting Nashville for the first time. Music and food is obviously a priority, but my answer was always the same: I’m eager to explore a new place with an open mind, to learn what it’s all about. Nashville will undoubtedly be very different from the Bay Area, and I’m excited to experience it. Our diversity in culture is part of what makes us American, and part of being human. When we develop an understanding of our differences, we can better work together through all the important common traits we all share. Welcome to Tennessee. 

Don’t Worry Be Happy

Today when I was on my run I randomly thought about a Facebook post I made a long time ago, back when the platform was still only accessible to college students. It read something along the lines of “I’ve realized I’m really happy, and I’ve decided it’s going to stay that way.”

It made me smile to myself because I’ve been trying to practice gratitude recently. I really don’t have any reason not to be happy—none of us do—if we start from a place of gratitude. The world is amazing, and most people are good. Don’t worry, be happy. 

Welcoming Optimism

I feel optimism creeping back into our collective psyche. It might have to do with the weather warming in the northern hemisphere, the full bloom of spring and the tantalizing whiff of approaching summer… or it could be something else. It just seems like we are over the bullshit. Yes, there are serious problems to consider and solve. Yes, there are many blockers to those solutions, many times simply ourselves. But that also means we have the power to change them. If we rectify the hate, and listen to each other, there’s no limit to our potential. We can enjoy this truly big beautiful and amazing world. We can change the world. 

Reminder

Today is a special day in the United States because it’s the one in which we honor our parentage. Every human being that’s ever lived has come from a mother. It’s easy to get caught up in the bullshit of the world, but I think that’s staggering. Where would we be without them? Because it obviously goes beyond the birth. We are who we are because of mothers. It will never be repaid. All one can say is thank you. 

The Tribal Way

I spend most of my time on weekends with family, and that makes me grateful. It is our greatest freedom in the modern world: how to spend our time. I find it best to either explore, or visit with people we love. Won’t we be more likely to want to make the world a better place when we experience it with our tribe?

Acting Accordingly

Today I held the baby that I mentioned yesterday for the first time, and it was profound. A lot of my friends have young children now, and I relish the opportunities to spend time with them, to literally live alongside them. As a species and a planet we possess the most remarkable quality we’ve yet discovered in this universe: the ability to produce life. It is incredibly precious, indeed the most precious phenomenon of which we know. We must act accordingly. 

New Life

One of the most important people in my life had a baby this week. New life coming into the world. As I continue to get older and experience new things, I can’t get over how wonderful this life is. We have so much to celebrate. It’s okay to be sad sometimes when sad things happen, but the gift of life is so incredibly precious and amazing, it would be a shame to not embrace it wholly and fully. I cannot wait to meet you Xander, and I’m so eager to be in your life. We are human, and we are alive. It’s truly a big beautiful amazing world; how lucky we all are. 

Beginning with Breath

I’ve been trying to be more consistent with my daily mediation in terms of regularity and duration. Still to this day, it astounds me how powerful the breath is. We breathe our entire lives, from our first moments until our death. Most of the time we let the involuntary muscles run it in the background. But it is with the breath we can find presence, we can find calm. We creatures on this planet evolved to breathe, a form of continuously interacting with the matter of the universe outside ourselves. It is through this interaction that we can experience union with the universe. Perhaps if we visit this communion more often, we can be more at peace, and thus impart peace upon the world. It truly all begins with the breath. 

Alive and Human

I rose early this morning to exercise, and I felt so alive, so human, when I returned home. There’s something fundamentally human about awakening at dawn and exerting full energy first thing in the morning. It’s ancestral. It’s how we have evolved over the past 2 million years. We are born to move. 

Perhaps this simple yet profound characteristic shapes us more than we know. How many of our larger problems can be attributed to a first world sedentary lifestyle, our poor diets and diminished mental health? Maybe if we get collectively healthier, mind body and soul, we’ll have more will, more energy, and more solutions to offer to our current problems. 

We need to feel alive, to feel human. If we feel these things, we truly live. And that takes care of everything else.