We tend to dismiss how far someone is willing to go to endure a toxic relationship. That fear of worthiness or the fear of being alone can keep us frozen. Over time, that wall of endurance fails and can manifest in addiction or depression.
And what I’m trying to get out here is the pain that one feels is a known quantity. The pain someone could think is another. That unknown is enough to keep us where we’re at.
Halloween is done. You had to be there. Much of how we organize (concerts, live shows, in-person classes, the Super Bowl, etc.) is about being present in the moment to share with your friends. And while we can’t be everywhere all at once, it’s a reminder that getting candy isn’t the point. It’s that we are in this together.
Because of the amount of people that are willing to participate is exactly why it works.
This is how democracy works too. And traffic laws. There are so many games we willing participate in together. Way more than we realize.
Because we have become so conditioned to accept our place in the world.
It’s a really uncomfortable question to wrestle with. Conquered people, after all, have their agency taken away. They are hauled off in chains, put in debt peonage, and even slavery. While the Hollywood images are drummed up, it isn’t a stretch either when you read history and understand that taxes, for instance, were put on those who were conquered. Of course, we have more agency than someone in a medieval village who was put into bondage. But, this isn’t freedom either.
What we can’t anticipate far outweighs what we can guess will happen.
And the fear that plagues us today is the exposure to what we might never have imagined.
It’s not about the speed at which you move, but rather the amount you are willing to accomplish. Today’s world expects us to perform our checklist like a factory. But we shouldn’t approach our lives in such a productive manner. Life is meant to be loved.
When the outlook appears bleak, perhaps the best course of action is to step back and refrain from trying to solve everything. Just solve something. And when we create that momentum, one step at a time doesn’t seem so bad. We need to make the conditions for more change to happen.
Corruption? Racism? Sexism? Patriarchy? Big business? Money out of politics? Inequality? Climate change?
And you could ask a thousand people and get completely valid answers that are all different.
What it highlights, however, is that, despite the incredible modern-day comforts, we still face a multitude of problems with no clear answers on how to address them.
There is no single solution that can address all these problems.
When you work out Pi, quickly, you can guess it keeps going on and on. But we can’t prove that goes forever cause we can’t play it out. And so, we assume and make an assumption that allows us to do other work. However, we can be stuck in the weeds with data. Sufficient data is sufficient to make our work great. Not perfect. And indeed, if you need your work to be perfect before you present it to the world, well, you’ll never actually ship it then.
Josh Allred's Blog 