Little Life Things

Life will continue to throw things at you forever. I feel it just feeds off complacency. Think your life is too boring? The universe can handle that.

Perhaps it’s just the little things I’m noticing: the route to work might change, or a neighborhood dog isn’t there any more, or you decide to walk at a different time each morning. Those little things are there all the time if we notice them, and they add up to a lot, our general current life experience. Sometimes you just gotta sit with it.

Walking and Consideration

It can be challenging to keep perspective sometimes when cooped up in the house all day. Even when I work remotely, I try to at least go outside for a twenty minute walk. The low intensity exercise, the exposure to the sun and air, and the simple nature of exploring my surroundings… it’s all invigorating. We’re designed to walk around. We’ve made our lives so easy and convenient that walking is no longer a given part of daily life. We can be proud of the significant accomplishments our species has thus far achieved, but we can also be mindful of our current reality, and any of its potential limitations. We can adopt a critical eye for trade offs. Such awareness is the task ahead of this generation. Can we see it?

Getting Healthy

There are cycles in life. One of the most powerful feelings is health and vitality; getting into shape feels completely different than falling out of it. When we’re becoming stronger and faster and more metabolically and neurologically fit, we experience a different life. When we’re sick and unhealthy, all we want is to become healthy again. It’s difficult not to take it for granted. We just have to be grateful for the human experience.

The Power of Family

As I progress on this journey, I recognize more that this all requires a group effort. Our species didn’t evolve to dominate the environment with single individuals. Humans progressed because we work together to increase our chances of survival. I’m so incredibly thankful about how much I get to share my life with my parents. We are a tribe, and we navigate this world together. Our timing in this century doesn’t water; it would be the same a thousand years in either direction. And I believe if we recognize that many people around the world experience the same sentiment, we can effect real change. We’re all in this together.

Funny Alignment

It’s a funny world we live in. Even in the area I’m from, there are so many diverse perspectives and courses of life to take. I enjoy learning about different journeys from very different people. Do we have a common thread or belief? Can we unite around a single purpose? I can’t prove it, but I think a vast majority of the human species would say yes. Together, we can change the world.

The Nature of Hard Work

And sometimes, you just have to immerse yourself in your work and work hard. Entering the flow state of getting shit done helps melt away a lot of the extra bullshit. And it feels good to work hard. Often your brain doesn’t want to believe it at the outset, but it’s almost always true in the end. It’s almost like you have to trick yourself into it, into just starting. Because once you’re in it, you won’t want to stop; your focus will be consumed by the task at hand.

Remembering these simple truths can provide encouragement for the future, for the world. We can accomplish so much when we work hard. Imagine what we can achieve working hard together.

Combating Negativity

So how do you avert negativity? When it unintentionally, unconsciously, consumes part of your life, how do you pull back?

I’m trying to figure that out. Part of it seems to simply be a relinquishing of the importance of life: what is a life well lived if we don’t enjoy it? If we don’t have fun? Part of living is purely hedonistic.

Another theory I’ve considered: gratitude. Perhaps negativity is the absence of gratitude, and maybe if we reach back out to the universe with our hearts, with genuine thankfulness for all that is, not what could be, we can transcend that negativity.

As I pursue both these avenues, I remind myself how life is hard. This is a journey after all, and journeys are not composed of short easy ventures.

40 year investment

I wonder sometimes when we’ll recognize the significance of a 40 year investment. That is what it takes for us to see the dividends of a child today. Their education at five years old changed the landscape of what’s possible, in 40 years. Solid consistent build up of high expectations, critical thinking skills, and elevated literacy and numeracy… what could that do for the world in 40 years, at scale? Can we collectively decide the investment would pay for itself?

On to 88

My grandma turned 88 years old today, and she’s still going strong. You begin to cherish your time with grandparents more and more as you get older. Even though we’re still 750 miles away, every trip, every visit, is worth it. I can only wonder what it’s like to sit down to a meal surrounded by the large family you’ve created with your partner. I hope it’s as magical as it seems, because my grandma deserves it. Thank you for your intriguing stories, timeless simple wisdom, and carefree positivity. I will do my best to live up to those habits and pass it on to others. Happy birthday Grandma.

MLK Day, not any other

I’m not sure MLK Day gets enough credence. It’s nice to see his name and legacy presented on sports television, but it’s not simply another day off. His impact, and his principles, are as American as anything else: the strength of this country is its diversity. Let us not allow it to also become our weakness. Thank you Martin Luther King Jr., for all you have given the world.

Phoenix Love

Flying again, and arriving in Phoenix. Getting picked up by my dad, and arriving at my grandparents’ facility. Then relatives, near and distant, are showing up, greeting each other, spending quality time. All for my grandma. A woman soon to turn eighty-eight years old, a woman of character… and she can tell some stories. I admire her today with respect, for the progeny that traveled and then gathered around her. What else more can you ask for at eighty-eight? Health and love were reinforced today. I love you Grandma.

Effervescence

Effervescence is a legitimate phenomenon. In today’s world, we mostly only acknowledge it in a sports setting, when thousands of people are screaming for an outcome decided in real time by a few number of others (go Niners). But that cheering accounts for something, and we sort of acknowledge it, and sort of dismiss it. Momentum is real, as much on a sports field as in daily life. And it’s magnified when it involves others. When we recognize that, we can harness our full human potential.

Reflecting on Purpose

Around the turn of the new year, I like to reflect on purpose. It can be helpful to ask oneself, “am I happy with what I’m doing? Do I want to keep doing it? What is my purpose in life?” Considering such questions helps bring out the largest possible picture, of our lives as they exist within the entire space and time of the universe. We have this one life, as far as we know. What will we do with it?

Bay Back

And back to it: back to admiring the place that is the Bay Area. Driving into the city can be chaotic, and the meals can be world-class, and the interactions can be unique. That is one sliver of the San Francisco Bay Area that exists in any given moment for you.

Jet Lag Phenomenon

Another way to gain perspective on daily life: experience jet lag upon returning home, so that you are tired during normal waking hours, and awake during odd times of the night. It helps one assess what a “day” means in daily life, and how much energy or conviction we wish to live our lives. Because they keep ticking by, one by one, year by year, if health and time allow it. It can be so easy to become lost in the passage of time. What will we do with our days? What impact will we make? Are we contributing to the betterment of the universe, or are we simply existing?

Gaining Perspective

There are many perspectives and opinions in the world, and many of their owners are confident they are correct. It can be hard to know what to think or believe sometimes. But individual agency is an important right and an important responsibility. We should value the evidence brought forth by experts and those with deep specialization, but not blindly defer. With an increasingly educated populace, a respectful debate between individuals can also provide value.

Back Home Again

It’s always a bit surreal to be back home after a long trip, or one that jolts you to another world. You get a unique opportunity to evaluate your life and perspective from an outsider’s viewpoint. I found myself much more patient on the road this morning after being exposed to Egyptian driving. Working in an office can easily be very sedentary, and my lunchtime walk didn’t seem very far. America can be a very special place, and there are certainly flaws to work out. I’m grateful to be home and back with my loved ones. Once the jet lag has abated, it’s truly back to it.

Final Egyptian Impressions, and heading home

On to the way home. Always the least best part of the trip, because you just want to be home, get there, so you can relax and sleep. On this homeward journey though, I can’t stop thinking about all the amazing things we’ve seen. Upon post assessment, I stand by my previous assertion that Egypt is vast. There is simply so much to see, and so much to experience. The history and culture from ancient times is astounding, and the people are incredibly warm-hearted, even though their culture is much different than what I grew up in. Despite the chaos, which was incredibly frustrating at times, Egypt retains a unique charm. You have to breathe and be open to receiving it, but it’s there. I’m so thankful I was able to visit the land of one of the cradles of civilization, and I’m now just left to wonder if I will return some day. Farewell for hopefully now.

The Great Pyramids

You’ve seen them a thousand times in pictures. But it’s surreal to stand before them, up close, in all their grandeur and glory. The Great Pyramids are the only remaining wonder of the ancient world, and they certainly invoke awe. Their sheer size dominates all that’s around them, including the modern buildings. And beyond their pure audacity, great mystery still surrounds them. How were they built, and why? They defy logic and comprehension—you feel it while standing before them. The Great Pyramids of Giza may be overrun by the machinations of mass tourism now, but the visitors come for a reason: they are one of the most incredible sites in the world, and by themselves justify a trip to Egypt.

Cairo First Impressions

As the cacophony of honking horns surrounds me on our hotel terrace overlooking the Nile, I wonder to myself if they make them differently here, with all the use they get. I think to one of my favorite movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Salah says to Indy, “welcome to Cairo, the city of the living.” The capital is certainly alive with activity. Twenty million people strong, Cairo resembles a hive, people scurrying everywhere, minarets punctuating the polluted sky. There is as much to experience here as there is to see.

And yet Coptic Cairo transports you to a resemblance of Europe, with the oldest churches in Africa and Christian cemeteries. Wandering around Islamic Cairo, with few vehicles, almost takes you back to medieval times. Cairo is a city with many faces. And if you can get past the chaos, see through it, you’ll discover a very unique place.