If you don’t need to spend time learning how to drive a stick, it frees us to learn something else.
This is great since our culture is more complicated than it ever has been.
200 years ago, you needed to learn the ways of the land and now there are jobs that are built in a digital world of 1s and 0s.
You have more free time and more space to learn something new. What are you spending time doing? Surfing the web? Netflix? Or something else–more important and more productive?
Our world will continue to be more automated, and as a result, create more free space to do something daring and great. If you choose.
Governor Cox asked Utahns again to conserve water in an effort to minimize the damage of a decade of drought we have faced in Utah.
The requests are reasonable. Fill up your dishwasher before you run it. Water your lawn in the evenings. Perhaps find an alternative to water games. After all, we do live in the desert. The way we have used water for a century cannot continue.
But what the Governor is not asking is for people to omit showers altogether. Why? Because as a collective we value hygiene. We value showing up to work clean. We like the feeling.
Collectively when we work together and do our part change can happen. We saved billions of gallons last year because it was on the mind of many. It’s difficult to see at the moment until something happens that requires us to dramatically change our lifestyle. Like not showering or flushing toilets.
Instead, he is asking to make small changes now to avoid large changes in the future. This isn’t rock science. We all understand this. Yet, we continue to misbehave. It’s easier to appeal to neighbors and water shame those around us but avoid the hard conversation with growers and industry. (Elections matter!)
Ultimately, we will have to address our mindset of water consumption in the desert. The way change is most effective is when we have to dramatically alter how we live or when we see someone we know is affected. In the coming decade, don’t be surprised when more is required because enough of us still haven’t changed the story we tell ourselves of water. We are so used to turning on the tap and having clean water appear. That is indeed one of the greatest solutions to one of the greatest problems humans faced for tens of thousands of years. Let’s not forget. Clean water when it is abundant is not valuable. Humans don’t know how good something is until it is gone.
The more time we spend online the less likely we are to engage in the community.
Which makes sense. If we are spending more time online, we are spending less of it around other people. And when we are isolated there isn’t a chance to connect with them.
In fact, studies have found this with teens that spend a lot of time online are 45% more likely to believe it’s important to own expensive artifacts like a luxury car but are 14% less likely to think about social issues.
It appears we are exposed to issues about equality or the environment or democracy but the expectation has grown (particularly for teens) this is someone else’s problem to fix.
The internet highlights the problems that plague our culture while simultaneously reminding us to jump on the treadmill of dissatisfaction. Like a rat running with no where else to go, I am reminded:
70% of adults said they thought the world has become less safe for children since they were children.
But all the evidence has pointed otherwise.
By almost every measure the world is the safest it has ever been. Child mortality rates are better. There are less wars and refugees. Acts of violence is on the decline. Teens are safer and making smarter choices. We are seeing declines in teen pregnancy, STDs, and drunk driving accidents.
So, what is happening?
We are afraid of the imaginary world we have created in our minds rather the real world. It just feels more dangerous because we are constantly reminded by the amygdala to check the status of the world with our phones. Our perception of things rarely match with the way things are.
Genesis is pointing out the order and structure of how things are done around here.
And as far as we can remember, we think the way things are often are how things always have been. Of course, we deep down know this isn’t true. But we forget when something like a car becomes so ubiquitous form of transportation, we are shocked to see other cultures go by foot.
“The way it is” is indeed a powerful force. Seducing us into believing that this is all there is. Get used to it.
This isn’t true.
While we cannot change what has happened, we can change what might be. When we develop this posture of “since we have decided” we invoking the powerful forces needed create change.
It’s always been a decision to lead, to start a movement, to create a ruckus. If you won’t decide, someone will decide for you. That request is usually compliance.
TK means “to come”. (No one really knows why writer’s don’t use TC.) It’s an old writers trick so you don’t get stuck finding out trivial facts like how tall is the tallest building in the world but can instead focus on writing the first draft.
It can also help when you are stuck like coming up with a CompanyNameTK. With TK, you can simply move on to get more work done.
TK makes it easy to search in any document. Simplifying the polishing process.
We think that we need to follow every step to complete our work. Order of operations matter but there is often room in which sequence. TKing offers a hack. We can put aside what may not be there for us in the moment and keep working.
The goal is to finish and with any project the details will often take the wind from our sails.
On a recent trip to Newport Beach, California, we came across beach art. Someone had produced beautiful patterns in the sand with a rake and a shovel to make something we can all enjoy.
I watched someone accidentally walk across it. When they realized it, they immediately jumped off but were quick to point out the ocean will wash it away soon anyway.
That’s the point.
Nothing is permanent. Art is to be observed and enjoyed. And for that moment someone gets to see something beautiful, understanding its inevitable fate by the ocean. Respect the art. Respect the work and effort. Regardless of the length of the piece. The artist is teaching us something when we are not mindful of what is around us–when we accidentally step on the piece or perhaps on purpose.
Impermanence is real for all of us.
No one builds castles made of sand and expects them to last forever. But for some reason, we write a sonnet and we expect it should transcend the lengths of time.
Take any polarizing topic today, and try to convince someone to switch their position.
Most attempts are fruitless. We are left asking ourselves Why? Why is someone so stubborn or unwilling to change? Why can’t they understand this or see it clearly?
That is because the recipient must have some kind of framework that allows something to be true. Otherwise, they will perpetually ask Why.
In order for someone to change their mind requires an admission of incompetence. What wasn’t true, now is. Because absolute truth is unavailable. We can always ask Why and land in a space we don’t have an answer for. Truth then is what we make.
Human beings are experts in wishful thinking. We can go to great lengths to obscure the truth to preserve ourselves. We can create imaginary worlds and systems based on invisible lines we draw.
Indeed, the greatest source of our suffering is the lies we tell ourselves. It’s fiction.
The key like most things is seeing the world as it is rather than as we want it to be. Which requires extreme awareness. Awareness of our thoughts, patterns, and why we think what we think.
If we scroll through our feeds, we are losing awareness.
When we are thinking about the next thing to say rather than listening to the person in front of us, we are not aware.
And when we want to ignore the truth, we are losing clarity.
Awareness is rare. It’s so easy to lose sight of this moment. Because the next is already here.
Social media has capitalized on our culture of individualism. Individualism is the invisible force that pushes us to think more about ourselves and less about social norms. Of course, not all of this is bad. We have seen great strides in bending the world towards equality. On the other side of the coin, the culture is also constantly reminding us to feel good all the time.
“Do what makes you happy.”
“Find your passion.”
And here, have a participation trophy.
There’s nothing inherently good or bad about these things. The illusion, the great lie, however, is that it is impossible to make ourselves happy all the time, even though social media says otherwise.
Social media didn’t create individualism. Individualism created social media. Because if we didn’t care so much about how we appeared to others or cared about the story people told about us, social media wouldn’t be a popular place to go.
What we read/watch/scroll/click has such an effect on how we feel.
We are missing so much on what life is offering by trying to fill a hole that can never be filled. When we contrast the good with the bad, the blissful moments of life are that much better.
Frankly, we are just too busy looking for peace when peace can be in every step.
