Josh Allred's Blog

When staring at a mirror and looking at an image of yourself, who blinks first?

When we look in the mirror, we see what we want to see. All the flaws and imperfections are just part of the story we tell ourselves.

Great, what a pleasant surprise. We can count ourselves lucky and continue to push forward.

But it usually doesn’t go as planned. Which is why we need to build resiliency into our plans. Slack when things fail. A backup plan when things fall apart. A way to pivot. And then…we can continue to push forward.

The path isn’t straight. But progress can be measured not in the destination but in the steps that led you there.

I was talking to someone recently about solving the urgent problem of climate change. To which they replied, “I just don’t feel like anything I do will fix this.”

It breaks my heart to hear this. That the culture has worked so hard to get us to believe that we are not special and that we cannot make a difference. For a problem that is solvable. If a problem was unsolvable it would be a situation, not something that can be changed.

One of the ways to get started is to understand the problem. When we can reframe the story we tell, we can define the path forward.

Coal, combustion, cows and concrete make up 70% of the climate change crisis. On top of that, 55% of the US population believes climate change is concerning or alarming. Only 20% are dismissive of climate change. To which I say, good riddance. We can leave these laggards alone. You don’t need them to change things.

You don’t need to change everyone, just someone. Enough “someones” and the tide changes.

HT The Carbon Almanac

It translates to “self-publishing.” During the Soviet Union, there were many books censored for the public. As a result, a grassroots effort started as a form of protest by reproducing these books and distributing them. The problem was that most printing presses and typewriters had to be registered. To avoid the secret police most were rewritten by hand. Making the process painstaking and slow. But with time, “dangerous” books began to circulate in small circles again.

I once was asked if any of the books on my bookshelf were dangerous. I replied, “Only if you read them.”

Writing and reading remain one of the most important (if not the most important) tools at our disposal. When we educate ourselves and learn, there is no telling what we can accomplish. Indeed, when we numb ourselves and lull ourselves into sleep, apathy kicks in. Literature inspires the heart. It is why those who exercise power unjustly don’t want to see the masses educated. Just enough to be compliant.

Dreams are a one-way street. You can chase your dreams but your dreams won’t chase you.

The world needs more people to follow their dreams. It was easy to dream about being an astronaut when you were young but when you get older and “reality” sets in, you push those dreams to the side.

That’s what 12 years of schooling will do. It didn’t train us to reach for the stars but to fit in and be alike. The only way an economy works is if we participate. And so, we settle for a job.

If you are still dreaming then you are not too old to follow them.

It is a dangerous road to take to fulfill other people’s expectations. The work suffers as you try to water it down for “everyone” to understand and agree with.

The irony is when you started your work you were probably trying to learn something about yourself. And in the process we forget to explore in the face of trying to be popular.

A new year is a new starting line. A chance to start over and to shift prioritize again.

We have to be clear, that flipping the page on the calendar is an arbitrary way to feel motivated.

In fact, you can treat every day or every moment as a turn of the page.

You can treat today as an opportunity to start the year on the right foot. And you should. You can also do it again on any random day.

Every race needs a starting line. Every race needs an end. You can shrink it or expand it any way you like from the perspective you choose.

I wish you all the best this coming year. Most of all, I hope you do something bold and brave.

Two monks traveling together come to a raging river. As the monks were preparing to cross, a woman was also ready to make an attempt. The woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side. The problem was that the two monks had taken vows not to touch a woman. Without saying anything, the older monk picked up the woman and carried her across the river. Then continued on his way.

The younger monk was stunned by what had just happened. So much so, he was speechless, and let many hours pass without any words exchanged. Finally, the younger monk blurted out “We are not permitted to touch a woman, how could you then carry that woman on your shoulders?”

The older monk simply replied, “Brother, I set her down on the other side of the river, why are you still carrying her?”

I have also heard this parable told with a woman screaming at the monks and not saying thank you. Either way, the point still stands that our internal dialogue can be loud and take control of the driver’s seat. We have a false sense as to what is fair. But when we are wise, we can create new contexts based on the circumstances at hand. While the senior monk only carried the woman for a couple minutes, the padawan carried her for hours.

The image is powerful in the burdens we carry in a post-industrial economy. One bad interaction can indeed ruin an entire day unless we change the story we tell.

What burdens or hurt feelings can we let go to start the new year?

Individualism is the product of convience.

Without the microwave, dishwasher, and instant brownies, we wouldn’t have the time to focus on ourselves. But without inconvenience, we begin to look for a path from what’s easy to what is the easiest.

Therefore, we demand a quick fix to complex problems because everywhere else we look we find the quick fix.

But as we slowly strip away inconvenience, we also lose the part of our lives where we find joy and meaning in the struggle. There is no personal satisfaction in heading straight to Go and collecting 200 dollars.

How many light years ahead of everyone who lived before 1983 are you just by having access to the internet?

To feel “normal” we must feel like we belong to something larger than ourselves. An idea, a home, a place, a tribe, a people…something to connect us with the past and the future.

We want to be part of the journey.

We also want that space to feel safe in our same shared experiences. And so, we look to others to see, “Is this right?”

That reassurance can feel good especially when we are in unknown territory. But it also could mean when we are stepping into the void, we are on the edge of something great and daring.

That isn’t anything that we call “normal.” That is extraordinary. Most of us don’t have the guts to be on the edge of something that might not work. In this zone, there is no one to look to except yourself.

Trust thyself.