There’s a fog of nonsense dictated to us by society that has fed us a script of being woefully inadequate. Who we are, what we do, what we’ve accomplished, how we’ve lived… all not good enough.

Always more to be had and always more to be done, but we aren’t the ones capable of doing it. Here’s a few motivational speeches to make you feel even worse about the person you could be, but aren’t.

Lifting the fog involves recognizing that who we are is adequate enough to get going.

And moving, no matter how much, is infinitely better than doing nothing.

I’m a bit dumbfounded by the exorbiant amount of “vegan alternatives” on the market right now, each one vying to capture the attention of “health conscious” consumers.

Those who choose the vegan route as their modus operandi (to be clear, I don’t) have a great base message: eat more plants.

We could all benefit from more plants in our diet.

Somehow, in the mix of that, other messages have surfaced around the themes of meat being evil and going vegan to stop climate change. Those arguments are way too simplistic, but whatever. It’s the “alternatives” being developed to either sway others or capitalize on a market trend (possibly both, but I’m going to lean more towards the money on this one) that need addressing.

The alternatives (burgers, cheese, etc.) are really just glorified junk foods and completely miss the mark on getting your body to live off and develop a taste for plants. It’s a smokescreen, not a gateway.

Eating burgers, cheese and what not all day is still an unhealthy practice—even if it has the word ‘vegan’ in front of it.

This is just another example of corporations trying to have their cake and eat it too. Unfortunately, it won’t be the last time this happens.

Thanks to our phones and social media, people can wake up and have their whole day ruined before they even get out of bed?

As a society, we are literally driving ourselves insane and yet, can’t turn away. While it almost makes me envious of those who live in those Antarctic research bases, this points towards something really needed right now:

A renaissance in finding meaning in our lives.

“It’s the truth I’m after, and the truth never harmed anyone. What harms us is to persist in self-deceit and ignorance.”

Marcus Aurelius

That quote is the background of my phone as a reminder of many things:

• Truth is multifaceted
• It can be painful to face
• No one person, subject or discipline has the fullness of truth
• There’s always more to it
• And sometimes it’s simple and we overcomplicate it
• We can never fully know it
• But we can make steps towards learning it

The path to truth is a long, slow process that requires us to be open to it, abandon ideas that conflict with it and always be ready for surprises.

This isn’t an all-or-nothing argument, nor is it a siren call of nostalgia. It’s simply a defense of our most versatile thinking resource, which is good ol’ paper.

I think back to grade eleven when my Communications Technology teacher advocated for technology as the catalyst for a paperless future. And it made sense at the time.

Paper had some serious limitations.

Its production required precious resources, specifically trees. More paper=more trees and you either get that by destroying forests or creating forest farms. Not to mention the energy intensive industries required to process and dispose of it afterwards.

It could also be easily lost, destroyed and takes up a physical space that isn’t always convenient.

Yet, despite its limitations, it is the ultimate free form for expression. You can write, scribble, sketch, draw, fold, colour and use every corner to your liking.

It can be organized in any way you see fit.

It requires no battery or power source to use.

But my favourite is it requires your full engagement to use it. It doesn’t do any creative thinking for you, but can be a catalyst to get you thinking deeply.

Unlike technology, you don’t have to worry about compatibility issues with paper. There’s no file format to consider when handing paper over to another person. Preserved properly, it can last for generations.

Perhaps the dream of a paperless future hadn’t considered the limitations of technology itself. Or maybe it couldn’t foresee a future built upon a handful of corporations desperate to keep one addicted to their services.

While it has been an overall boon and I certainly appreciate the ease in which technologocal advances have improved our lives, touching paper resonates something deeper within us.

It can get us to think and be free in ways that technology simply cannot.

Let’s not rush to get rid of it.

It’s the excitement.

The joy.

The eagerness to share during a moment of epiphany.

Say it, write it down or find a way to record it because ideas build on each other… and you can’t build on nothing.

We tout collaboration as the necessary skill for young people. And yes, it is the reason humanity was able to dominate the planet—especially our ability to do so in such large groups. Yet, we have a serious disconnect with what we’re told and the example being set.

I see collaboration among friends and small communities of people, especially those working towards a cause. But everywhere else?

Not a chance.

What I do see are politicians opting to attack each other, fighting for power, rather than collaborate and serve the people that elected them.

I see workplaces turn toxic as it divides into camps and gossip circles.

Academics in the ivory tower go on the offensive to protect their ego rather than work with colleagues who might offer some necessary insight to lead our collective knowledge forward.

Businesses who would have some amazing synergy if they worked together (especially tech ones), but opt to hide behind corporate plays for power and stifle innovation we could all benefit from.

Religious leaders who bury their feet (and sometimes their heads) in the sand rather than reach out and work together for the common good.

While we do have some great examples on a small scale, but it’s nowhere near where it needs to be.

If anything, the hope I have for our young people is to completely enshrine themselves within their natural rebellious ways in order to ignore the example being set.

When a job is complete, no one asks what brand of hammer was used to do the work, much like no diner asks what knife the chef used in the kitchen. The tools themselves are in service to the final product.

Too often we can get caught up in paying attention to the tool that we forget they are not the end goal.

Use whatever is going to get the job done and adjust accordingly.

Although I still consider myself relatively young in my education career (edging on thirteen years in various roles), it’s still astounding the fads that have come and gone. This isn’t anything new in this particular field, but it does teach you an important skill:

Assessing the effectiveness of new tools and ideas.

That’s actually a polite way of saying that it teaches you to have a BS meter that is set on extremely low.

My criteria for anything new always revolves around the question of whether this new idea or tool best serves my students. Some do, some don’t and a few only serve a handful.

However, with the proliferation of the tech industry nabbing our brightest minds, our world right now is flooded with crap we didn’t ask for and mostly don’t need. I mean, does the world really need another mindfulness app?

It’s hard not to get caught up in the marketing hype of some products, only to realize their usefulness is nothing more than novelty that will quickly be abandoned in favour of another shiny product. Or better yet, back to what was working in the first place.

Then, of course, you have the clever ways people bring back extremely old ideas and present them as something ‘new’ as they dress it up slightly different. Education is horrendous for this particular practice and now we’re seeing it everywhere.

Having been caught up in some of these whirlwinds, I’ve taken a step back and armed myself with two tools that are waning in popularity today—patience and careful reflection.

If it’s trying to solve an issue I don’t have, then maybe it’s a novelty I don’t need.

It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.

St. Francis of Assisi

Although the attributed quote to St. Francis is, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words,” the above quote is more verbatim. Whatever the nuance or meaning, we have a message here.

There is a growing irritation of people posturing themselves, going out of their way even, to speak about their “Christian” stance. It’s a flag they fly as high and loud as possible to make sure others know.

This causes me to shake my head because the harder you try to convince people of who you are, the less likely you are that thing. Given that most of our communication is non-verbal, our actions speak so loud that it’s sometimes hard to hear the words coming out of our mouths.

In other words, all they’re trying to do is convince themselves of something they’re not.

I’m almost certain if Jesus did come back today, these same people would be the first to attack and ostracize him, not recognizing they hijacked an ideology he spoke out against.

Or maybe the answer is simple:

They don’t want to admit to the type of people they really are.

Because admitting that is incredibly difficult.