Trips and Travel

I said to a coworker today, “man I want to travel.” She laughed and remarked that I was “doing pretty good with it.” I didn’t question that in the moment, but have since reflected on it a bit.

There’s a difference between trips and travel. I just came back from a trip to Texas, and I throughly enjoyed it. I got to see a lot of the state, and it got to see a lot of me…

But it wasn’t uninterrupted, extended travel without an end date. The cities and sights were predetermined. And it was great; there was nothing wrong with it.

Yet my heart longs for the unknown, in destination and time. I’m confident my wife and I will embark on that type of journey again someday. Until then, I’ll be yearning for that irreplaceable experience no one but you will understand.

Today’s Consumption Opportunity

It feels as though there’s an inverse relationship between the amount of information we consume and the amount of thinking we do. At least with the chaotic nosiness of information bombardment that exists today. For centuries we had limited increase in opportunity to consume more data. That has accelerated exponentially in the past 2 decades, and we’re only just becoming aware of its impact now. How will we move forward with the balance of consumption and production?

Travel Adventures

Travel is always an adventure. Even a “routine” flight to another state, just a couple hours of flying time, can be delayed or unique. So it is with going somewhere else: there’s always unforeseen circumstances and hidden adventure lurking where you don’t expect. After a lengthy flight delay and change of planes, we’re on our way to Austin. Back to Texas, and here’s to new adventure. Let’s hear some music!

Information Sharing

As a species we have to be able to agree on information. Maybe it’s just that simple. It seems in today’s world we’re incapable of adhering to the same data, the same language. Perspectives can and should be different; it’s part of what makes our society so beautiful. But it should center around our best understanding of truth.

Circumstantial Agency

We really do move from circumstance to circumstance in this life. Or put differently, “nurture” has a lot to do with it—whether we’re five or forty.

That doesn’t mean there’s no agency. We can choose, as Viktor Frankl elucidated, despite any circumstance.

So the questions remains, pressing as ever since birth… what will we do with this one wild and precious depth of experience in the universe?

Uniting through Deepest Desire

We all want the same things.

I’ve lived in 3 countries, all with vastly different cultures and histories. I was young and dumb in South Africa and learned everyone wants prosperity. I grew up in China and learned everyone wants good for their tribe. And as I’ve grown older in the U.S., I’ve learned everyone wants to be healthy. Everyone wants the same thing.

Uniting humanity is simple—we just need to acknowledge we all want the same things. These universal desires are also our deepest desires. They aren’t superficial differences, like skin color or language or environment. We all share our humanity.

So our mission is simple (but not easy): focus on our deepest desires, and recognize that we all share them. We are One.

Attributing Empathy

My sister likely has limited capacity for empathy due to her circumstances. I’m sure it’s affected my own awareness for emotional intelligence, among many other ways in which she has changed my life. And I try to remember, in my worst moments, can I have a little bit more empathy? Can I place myself in another’s situation to try to understand their plight to some degree? I’m not always successful, but it’s accentuated my life experience, just as much as travel or anything else I often write about. Thank you Megan, you’re affecting the world in ways you might not even know.

To See to Organize

The ability to organize is the hallmark of our species. It is what separates us from the other living things on this planet: to coordinate, to distribute resources, to distribute effort and labor. One would think our organization results would increase linearly across the rise of technology and civilization. That we would be many orders of magnitude further along the graph to our cohesiveness as one species.

And yet it feels we are more disunited than ever. We still engage in war, and prejudice appears rampant. Even while not fighting with violence, politically we could not be more separated, and the threat of violence lurks sinisterly.

We must step outside of ourselves and see the bigger picture, view our species across thousands of years. To come together is the only way to avoid peril. To see our species as one, to eliminate othering, is the only way we’ll manage organizing on a planetary scale, and thus be able to solve our global problems. We can take the leap to global consciousness. We have the technology and the tools. We only need to see.

Love in Life

“Life is precious,” is the saying. It’s the most apparent when considering our purpose, love. We can only emanate love through life. When the spark is done, this little blip of life we receive, we can no longer impact the world. Only through our actions in life do we make a difference. So easy to take for granted, so important to never forget.

Commitment

Weddings are about love. I cry every time I’m invited to attend one; how honored am I to participate in a ceremony of commitment?

It’s not for sure, this commitment. There’s some inherent questioning there. Forever? And that’s the point. It’s not for certain. It’s a commitment.

We are a society built up of this. Can we form more commitments?

Growing up Settings

We do absolutely all we can to provide a better life for our children. So that they may have it better than we had it, so they have more opportunity for love and prosperity. And yet, when children grow up in a privileged setting, with nothing left to want, they can sometimes grow to have no drive or purpose. How do we combat this juxtaposition?

Transition Time

Time fluctuates during transitions. The end of quarters, a move or breakup… it can fly by at the speed of light or pass laboriously in trickles. I often wonder about the fluidity of time, and how personal experience seems to influence it, instead of the other way around. Perhaps we are more powerful than we imagine.

Critical Thinking in Today’s World

Biologically we aim to assimilate. In marketing, we aim to be different.

As consumers we’re attracted to the bright and shiny, so ads are catchy and evoke emotion.

And in today’s world, it becomes increasingly difficult to discern when we’re being sold to. I believe it should be wrapped into every level of education.

Our ability to think critically will be the last bastion in an ever changing world.