Seeing It

I stood and stared at the sky today and it was glorious. We inhabit a wondrous world. When we stop to see it, we can see a whole lot more.

Thank You Granny

Foolishly, I didn’t realize how much I would miss my Granny today. This was her day. She would cook for her entire tribe and treat us to the best evening of the year. It’s simply not the same without her at the table. And I guess that’s okay; life changes and we change with it. But it doesn’t mean I have to forget. It doesn’t mean there’s nothing lingering in the forging of new traditions. My emotion today reinforces the fact that our time together was meaningful. Her legacy lives on in her children and grandchildren preparing the same meals, gathering together to give thanks to all our family enjoys. I love you so much Granny, and I’m thankful for everything you provided for our tribe. We carry it onward, in your honor, and to honor the future generations that come after us.

Gathering

Maybe it’s very American of me to state this, because my country and culture is so young, but I’ve realized that a huge part of tradition is gathering together with your loved ones. Making the ceremony is obviously the function of the tradition, the occasion, but the gathering is the essence. It’s what we’re meant to do as humans.

Offering Kindness

Some day each of us will be gone, no longer. So doesn’t it make sense to be kind to others while we are here? If we’re going to be gone some day, might we as well be good to each other? Is kindness such an inconvenience? I don’t see the logic of nihilism on this larger timescale. If I can afford one small kindness to a stranger while here on this Earth, I would sooner offer it then contribute to the cold hard omnipresent entropy. Flames should dance while lit.

Human Time Horizon

What happens to your life’s work when you die? I think we don’t think about this, on the longest timescale, as much as necessary, myself included. Will your work be passed to your children or some other heir? Will someone inherit it with the same vigor and sense of purpose to carry it forward? Will they be aligned to your principles and raison d’etre, so that even if they evolve the work, it would change to something you’d approve? We can contribute to meaningful pursuits that matter over hundreds of years, if we so choose. Can we see past the time horizon of our own lives?

What Weekends Are For

Sometimes it really does feel as though the weekends are for doing nothing. For rest and for rejuvenation for the week ahead. And that works if you do what you love. I’ve come to realize that as I’ve grown older: health time and happiness might be the most important things in life, but next comes purpose and passion through a lifelong mission. I want to work toward TAV being mine.

Silent Outlook

Outlook can change so quickly, or at least it seems like it in retrospect. And that change is found in the silence, not in sociability with others or heads down work or even in music. But I’ve found the silence to also be the toughest test of tutelage for the outlook we all wish we had all the time. It’s a fleeting and delicate thing. But I guess that’s just life.

Precious Planet

Our planet is so incredibly beautiful and precious. It’s there for us to see every single day, if we can and choose to see it. There are millions of species of living things that have evolved to work together in harmony. We inhabit this wondrous place together. Can we see it? Can we contribute to it together?

The Two Worlds

It’s amazing how entrapped we can become in the  internal world. We may move about through the external world, but if our mind stays entrenched, we don’t fully join it. Our two worlds remain separated. And it prevents true actualization of us as human beings. We must allow the two worlds to flow freely between one another. It’s the only way for us to truly share the experience.

The Big Three

As the days go by, you start to see the big three: health, love and time. Without some semblance of all three of these, there can be little life. We all need all three, and in a way, we’re searching for all three.

With the Sun

The beautiful sunsets don’t get old. As the days get shorter and darker, it’s always nice to feel the natural beauty. It’s a reminder for how good we really have it.

With the Tribe

I find myself surrounded by those I love and I don’t take it for granted. We have this one shared experience together… I want to enjoy the opportunity with my tribe. Can we make it that world together?

Grouping

And there are other things. Life goes on. But family reigns true. We make our way in this universe based on our tribe. Can we make it better for all?

Love you Momma

There are multiple points in your life when you realize your mother is your entire reference point for your experience, all that you know. Those moments should shake all of us, gender or identity  or century be dammed. I will never be able to repay my mother in any way for what I’ve been given. I guess on my momma’s birthday it comes to the fore. I love you Mom; sixty-two and comin’ through!

Bubbles

It’s an interesting bubble each of us live in. We know our own worlds and little else. This has been the norm for millennia. We just now have the global awareness to expand our perspectives, beyond our small spheres of understanding. Can we recognize it, and transcend?

Voting Momentum

I was uninspired while performing my civic duty of voting today. We’re definitely making steps in the right direction with encouraging people to vote. You see it in commercials during sports games, which have mass appeal to the population, and there’s more general consensus that voting is a good thing. That’s a long way from just a hundred years ago, or the beginning of the formation of this country, or a thousand years ago.

But it’s not enough to just show up and fill in bubbles on a piece of paper. The next step is to develop an informed citizenry that doesn’t need to be told to vote, and the step after that is to improve the voting system, and make the actual propositions more accessible and transparent to all. Yes there’s a long way to go, and it will take a lot of hard work to get there. But we’re on our way, and I guess that’s something. We have it so much better than many other places in the world, and I think in this specific case, we should be greedy to push for more.

Appreciating Present Moments

It’s okay to be excited for something in the future, to look forward to it. But I sometimes find myself doing so at the expense of the present day, the present moment. And that’s all that we have. Right now is what matters because it determines how we get to whatever we’re looking forward to, and whether we even get there. It can be difficult when we’re conditioned to view ordinary as mundane, but there’s beauty in the regular moments too. Maybe if we find those miracles, we can be kinder to one another, and make the world that much better for us all.

Solving Problems

Problem solving is a skill that requires practice. I find when I do it often for work or one of my hobbies, I strengthen the solving muscle. It’s easy to sit around watching the telly all day, but we all benefit when each of us improves our problem solving ability. It’s one of the small ways we can make the world better together.

Miracle Seasons

The recent rain has been welcome; we don’t get enough of it in California. It makes me appreciate the wonderful weather this state normally enjoys almost year round. Autumn is certainly here, and the leaves change and the temperature drops. Maybe because they only come once a year and California rarely cold, but I seem to always forget what autumn and winter really feel like. We’re so lucky to inhabit a planet with this orbit, to experience four unique seasons. Just living on this planet itself is a miracle.

Building for the Future

I had a thought about the future: in 30 years I’ll be in my 60’s (it was kind of a scary thought). And I wondered, “what will make me proud in 30 years?” Or out another way, what do I need to do regularly to contribute, to make an impact on this world? It certainly isn’t watching TV or browsing Reddit. This framing made me realize how precious our time is. If we’re satisfied with simply being alive, healthy, and with loved ones, that’s okay. But we all have a unique opportunity to contribute. All of us possess the ability to change the world in some way, no matter how small. So what are the non-negotiables that we must do each day to make that happen? It doesn’t occur overnight, but humans have a remarkable ability for effecting change over longer timescales. What will we build together?