Month: June 2024

Freedom is the degree measured by the amount of one’s agency.

When people complain of needing more freedom, what most mean is more ability to choose.

Of course, it is not the kind of choice between products. We are talking about choosing what type of work to dedicate oneself to. The option to begin (or quit) something. Deciding which direction to walk.

What robs us the culture we have built that strips agency away…

Debt systems.

Incarceration.

Addiction.

Technology.

There’s something very human about having the ability to choose our path even when that path isn’t optimal.

The frightening part is when we surrender this last part of ourselves, whether to a higher power, cause, or algorithm.

Running away from something is instinctual.

Turning about and making friends with the thing that scares us is hard to do.

I don’t know anyone that can run for forever.

If there is no game, recognition, status—would you still do it?

If the answer is a yes, then that’s a project worth pursuing.

The bottom isn’t made of rock. Its made of dirt. And you’ll hit it once you stop digging.

The first step:

Tell yourself the story that you are going to make it. That you are going to break through.

The second step:

Believing that story. Long enough for it to come true.

I recently heard a flip of a script saying.

Instead of asking, “Why me?”

Perhaps, the better question is, “Why not me?”

If we are willing to accept what is happening, we can say, “Its my turn.”

Bad things happen. That’s a given. But whats interesting is seeing the door that opens cause of it.

The closer we get to the edge, the more our heart tends to pump.

And yet, we think we are safe by standing away from it.

The truth is, we are all just falling. Whether we realize it or not. The modern world of distraction also has created an illusion of safety.

We always talk about second chances. But perhaps, the emphasis needs to be 20 chances. As a culture, it still amazes me that we haven’t built an ecosystem where mistakes are not permitted. But, in fact, it’s frowned upon. There is no room for context today. That’s a choice.

Goodby is part of the journey. Perhaps, the hardest part.

Yet, no one argues the structure of a story has a beginning, a middle, and end.

Why do we have such a hard time accepting the end?

I think it’s because of either accepting the fact that we are one step closer to the end or the story we have to tell everyone around us. Indeed, shame runs deep. And when something ends, we feel a pull to hold on longer than we should.

The emphasis to a question is the answer.

But rarely do we stop to ask if this is the right question.

Perhaps, the emphasis needs to be what kind of questions are we asking.