One Big Tribe

Anyone alive while I write this might never be able to escape the tribalism that’s engrained in our biology. We’re naturally social and want to belong to a group. But can we recalibrate our expectations of tribal scale? Can we collectively identify our tribe as a global unit, can we reconsider the parameters of our group? We are all human. We are all one big tribe.

Timescales

We tend to operate on a short timescale, and expanding it would improve outcomes. We think in terms of today, tomorrow, next week or next year. But that’s such a minuscule time window within the larger universe. Our energy policy decisions must be made on the timeline of centuries. Our systems and institutions need to be future-proofed with all possible forethought. What we do now will echo for generations. What a wonderful opportunity.

Weekend Endeavors

I wonder how universal the feeling or concept of the weekend is around the world. Many countries now have some semblance of a five day workweek, but it also feels very “Western.” Perhaps because my weekends in China were on weekdays, I experienced a slightly different sensation. I’ve noticed my priorities and desires have shifted during this coveted free time. I now long to spend it with my tribe, to spend time slowly, cherishing the good times in the present moment. How similar are those values across the planet? Can we pursue such a course together, without infringement of the larger group? Sometimes weekends are for thinking about things like this.

Dinner at the Table

I enjoyed a simple and delicious meal at the table this evening. And it made me wonder about today’s zeitgeist. How many Americans are eating together with their tribe every evening? It’s a multi-millennial tradition, likely engrained into our biology alongside our social development. What if something simple, like eating dinner together, could preemptively solve much of what ails us? Food for thought.

Getting Through

Being healthy, both mentally and physically, is a consistent process. I’ve come to learn that as I’ve grown older. It feels as though it’s exacerbated by the pandemic; we’re worn out, beyond our stressing point, and collectively tired.

I too easily slip into feelings of pity. It’s worse than when I succumb to loathing, because that usually snaps me out of it through fire. But sometimes, I also recognize the opportunity for the harsh truth, and thus for gratitude. It could be worse, and so many people have it so. Is there any true reason to experience pity?

This is how we get out of any effervescent funk as a group: realizing that others have it far worse. Embracing the harsh reality in the moment, and being grateful that it’s not that bad. We can get through this. And it’s only possible together.

Being Wrong

I’ve seen how quickly perspective can change. I feel like mine does throughout the day, and maybe that’s a bad thing in some ways. But it also stands in stark contrast to the absolute resoluteness of many peoples’ opinions. It seems in today’s world it’s common to marry one’s identity to their beliefs and opinions. People appear to be phobic to being wrong. We’re all wrong sometimes. And the only way we’ll change the world is together, once we expand our perspective to the larger picture, despite it meaning we may be wrong about certain things. Being wrong is okay.

Experience Spectrum

It takes me a while now to recover from busy and boisterous weekends. There is a time for action, and a time for rest. I can see that balance more and more clearly as I get older. The different aspects of experience are all strands along the same spectrum.

Hard Question

On Memorial Day today I think about liberty and justice for all. Do we experience that?

Working it in the City

Everything is beautiful. Isn’t it? Maybe I just don’t experience that urban environment often. We are working together in this world, and if you look carefully, you see that in the city.

Walking in the City

I really enjoy walking around the city. The skyscrapers everywhere make the world feel larger. The unique architecture and history make it feel like part of a story. The people are full of life, exploring for an experience beyond the space available. It’s a street photographer’s dream. San Francisco is a special place.

Wanting More

Reminiscing is fun and useful. When you discuss old times with your tribe you strengthen it. Looking forward to the future can also prove important. Where are we going? Will we grow and pursue new ventures? Survival is fundamental to being human, but so is our capacity for more. What more do we want?

A Good Birthday

It’s hard to believe, today is my younger sister’s 32nd birthday. Time just passes on I guess. My sister is a special person; she always seems to have something going on in her head, even if I can’t quite understand it or reach it. She’s “living her best life,” as they say. I worry she might feel alone sometimes, and my family tries to mitigate that as much as possible. Today my beautiful younger sister had a good day, and that is reason to celebrate. Our time with our tribe is the most important experience in this life. Today was special; today was a good day.

Present Moments

I always get caught up with the realization that life simply goes on. We always know the present the best, and it’s difficult to reach back toward the past to remember, to understand, to put together with what we experience now. Likewise the future will always be slightly out of grasp. And in this case, why don’t we embrace it, and make the absolute best out of this moment together that we can.

Month of May Momentum

I used to consider The Month of May to be special when I was in high school. May brought warmer temperatures, and the prospect of the summer, which back then equated to freedom. It became a thing with my friends, serving as a month-long crescendo towards the promise of fun.

I can once again feel it in the air. Even though Covid cases have been on the rise, it seems we’re pulling further and further from the initial horror of the pandemic. People are excited about the summer, about the future in general.

And we should be. Things can be much better, and we’ll need to work toward them, but it could also be much worse. We can be grateful for where we are now, and hold hope for the future being brighter. Summer is coming. Our world is healing. We can continue to make it better, and there’s so much for us to experience.

Life Enjoyment

I’ve always put pressure on myself to do well, to be the best I feel I should be. It can be an asset in many ways, but it can also be a source of stress and anxiety. I try to remind myself often that everything will be alright. Forget the end of the day: at the end of our lives, we will look back on our fond memories because we enjoyed them, not because they were accomplishments. It’s up to us to love and live to the fullest extent possible in our limited time. And for all of that I am grateful. We can change the world yes, but we can also live.

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.