Protecting Love

The pandemic has definitely changed the world. In some ways, it still feels broken. But I try to remember how good I really have it, how pleasant life is, on the whole, for so many people. There is still wonder and love and joy in the world. Let’s protect it.

Timeline Talk

As I get older I’ve noticed my preferences have changed. I’m sure it’s incredibly common over the past 4000 year or so. On that timeline, what does it say about our species? Or more importantly our planet? I firmly believe we can do this, that we can change the world. The first solution? To talk about it.

Social Circles

It’s interesting when our social circles intersect. I enjoy talking to someone who inhabits a different realm, because I learn so much perspective. How cool is it that we live in such a time? To not feel threatened while learning from someone completely different than you? It’s such an underrated, yet profound component of our modern experience.

Flag Day Reflection

Even though Flag Day isn’t a major holiday or something I actively celebrate, I always think about it when I see it on the calendar. We humans love our symbolism. It’s easier for us to attach identity and values to an entity if there’s a physical symbol to represent it. As part of our responsibility as patriots and global citizens, it’s also our duty to question the actions and follow up behind that flag. To make the world a better place, we must regularly take an honest look at its status. May we do just that on this Flag Day.

Making Home

We like to think about the “where were you moments,” but it’s actually about “who were you with.” When you experience enough of such moments, or view it from a far enough scale, you recognize that it is in fact all about the people. We are truly tribal creatures, and who we make our home with determines all.

Feeling It

It can be so: you think you have your own rhythm, and then you come face to face with someone else. All of a sudden you’re in a new realm, facing an unknown amount of variables.

This can happen every day, whether you regard yourself as someone “else” or not. And we’re looking, I hope, to unify that rhythm.

We just have to feel it.

Yet So Simple

This stuff is complicated. At times we can seem to have very different opinions about the happenings in the world. It takes time to suss out such conversations, not to mention patience. But really, if we get through it all, I believe we agree on more than we know.

We are all human. We all what the same things. We are one species, living together on one planet. We can change the world.

With Great Power

We hold unique power to manipulate our environment. Our civilizations have conquered continents, and our current population spans the entire globe. But rather than get cocky, can we rally to manipulate the planet’s environment as a force of good? Can we unite towards a common purpose of a prosperous planet? The very fate of our species depends on it.

Sapient Progression

Our evolution as sapiens is never ending, but it isn’t automatic. Our progress requires participation. We can change the world, but we need to do it, together.

The Path of Consideration

I believe most people are good. If you slow down and watch you can see that. However, I think most of us are self-centered a lot of the time—including myself, I’m certainly no saint.

That’s why consideration is crucial to the development of our species. We may inherit biological mechanisms that spur tribal behavior, but we also possess the ability to rise above our nature.

We have the profound ability to make conscious choices. If we can pause to consider—to think about the external world, to move outside and beyond our own internal environment—everyone will benefit. We will live healthier and happier lives. We will flourish as a species and as a planet. We just need to be considerate.

The Profound

There’s a reason we admire those who work toward something greater than themselves. To those who give to others without thought of reward. We celebrate these people because they provide a glimpse into the profound. What an amazing universe this is, in which we can be all that we want to.

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.