Emotions change from moment to moment. A lifetime of emotions can be felt in one day. Joy, awe, inspiration, anger, sadness—it’s all right there with us every day.
I’ve been thinking more about this, and one thing that has helped is better sleep. I know it isn’t a sexy option. But the better my sleep, the better the next day is for wrestling with these emotions. Somehow, I feel more of the positive ones too, and less of the petty ones.
Nothing good starts from a place of anger. Anger is a manifestation of entitlement. And we often believe we deserve something that isn’t present in the moment. Be honest with the anger.
Holidays are a happy time of year for some. And for others? It is the hardest time of year. It’s surprising to me how scared we get to reach out to someone—even just a text. Have the courage to say, “I was just thinking of you. Merry Christmas.” The worst that can happen is to spread cheer. The best-case scenario is that you can reunite with something that was once.
Distance is a matter of perspective. Great distances feel greater when we haven’t done it before. Ancient Mariners crossing the sea. Albert the Monkey is going into space. Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon. MER on Mars. And once it’s done, it seems reasonable to do it again. In fact, it seems shorter.
Much like when Roger Banister ran the sub-four-minute mile, or Phillip Petite walked a high line between the twin towers, the mental hurdles are often just as challenging to overcome as the logistics.
Perhaps then, quiet confidence that you can do something that has never been done before is the greatest asset anyone can have. In the age of AI, I see a lot of fear. And maybe it’s time to see the quiet confidence of these new tools at our disposal again.
“I think most artists feel a lot happier discussing the process of what they do rather than what the hell it means…I know so many painters who title their works after they’ve done them, which is a real giveaway, you know.”
This David Bowie quote is a fascinating perspective. That an artist without an endpoint didn’t have an intention to start. Bowie is obviously a genius—one of one. I also slightly disagree that you sometimes don’t know what you want to say, but you have something in you that must be worked out. I think we get so wrapped up in the process that we forget the most essential thing: start. And see what happens. Not every piece of work is a masterpiece. And plenty will be disregarded, put in the trash, or stuffed in a drawer. And in chopping wood and carrying water, however, sometimes inspiration hits us like a freight train.
Wile E. Coyote sometimes thinks he can fly. Until someone (usually The Road Runner) points out he can’t. Then disaster strikes.
Confidence often works the same way. There’s magic in that moment before people burst our bubble. It turns out our culture is full of bubble poppers.
From medical to auto, symptoms help indicate what’s wrong. Intuitively, we look inward for answers. It’s sometimes worth looking externally for answers, too. What’s coming in? From food to stress to social media. We may not be able to control what’s going in the inside but we can shut down our phones, choose what we eat, and decide which battles to fight.
It is so difficult to create things in this world. You have to see a need, have imagination, build intuition, and build it so that someone will use it.
What’s easier? It isn’t to destroy or tear down but to criticize. Critique. And yes, give a suggestion.
Feedback isn’t a problem, of course. From those who care, show up, and understand the intent, by all means, tell the creator what you think. But for everyone else, criticism is just another form of gossip.
Humans are storytelling creatures. Someone who strongly believes in mythology, legends, and mysticism can see coincidences as miracles. Someone else who anchors in statistics and empirical data might see it as chance, luck, or something as statistically unlikely but not impossible.
But either way, we see a story. Because while the search for capital T Truth may not be obtainable, we do a good job of finding and defining our own truth.
What’s important to remember is that humans don’t always hold the same truths. We do, however, a better job sharing our ideals. Perhaps then, we can reframe our search for truth as our search for ideals. Once ideals are established, maybe then we can search for truth.
It’s easy to type something online and post it. And it’s even easier to stay in the shadows and not have a name next to what it is you say. I do not doubt that, after nearly a decade of blogging, there are things I have said that are dated and inconsistent with today’s standards. But my name is still there to stand by what I said, or more importantly, I have an opportunity to address it and yes, change it if it needs to be. As a result, there is an opportunity to grow my ideas. Not hide from them.
One of my favorite websites, Mountain Projects, lets you post a comment without a name, but they are very clear about marking you as “Anonymous Coward.” Creating a standard if you are not going to stand by what you post. More importantly, sending the signal to the rest that you don’t need to treat this comment as if it came from someone who matters as much.
What if it is possible to create that same sorta feedback loop on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X? How would it change if whatever you posted was also featured on your LinkedIn? Would you act differently? Would you share something else?
Anonymously posting kills the public discord in the long run. Because what is being rewarded isn’t facts or truth, but what is viral.
Josh Allred's Blog 