Recently, I had the joy of visiting my family and friends, which is something long overdue and exciting… given the current situation in the world.

My longtime friend surprised me with video footage of us from high school (and just beyond). It was hilarious looking back, and a sad reminder that I was a lot dumber than I thought.

However, I really wish I could’ve told my past self to relax.

I would’ve told him:

The things you were worked up about,
anxious about,
events you were catastrophizing…

just relax.

Most of what you think is important won’t even hit the radar screen of your life in a few years.

You’re young, ambitious and hopelessly idealistic: use that to get what you want, ignore just about everyone else and set your own path.

There’s no need to impress anyone because they really don’t care. Any attempts to do so will just come across as you trying too hard anyway.

Things are better than you think and guess what?
They will continue to get better (in many ways—not all).

Just relax.

~~~

While I can’t go back and tell my younger self that right now, part of me feels my older self is telling that to me in this moment.

Let’s hope I can take my own advice.

It’s disorienting to show up with a particular mindset about something, only to have the situation change. You expect one thing, get thrown many curveballs and then it’s time to adapt.

If you don’t anticipate things could change, it can throw you off completely; ruin the experience. It can get in your head and fester.

This is even worse when a plan is in place.

Adapting quickly is a skillset that can get you through the situation, but serves a higher purpose: it gets you to face reality for what it is instead of what you want it to be.

In a world experiencing unprecedented changes, being able to adapt, learn and adjust can help us face the problems at our doorstep. It can also wake us up to the fact that some things aren’t as bad as we perceive them to be.

The promise of our accelerated communications technology was to create an inter-connected world.

Inter-connected.

Connection.

Yet, with all the technology available at our disposal, and all the social media outlets to choose from, how connected do we really feel?

Why do so many people still feel isolated during our pandemic lockdowns?

Yes, we have easier (and better) ways to stay in touch with people, but ease of communication does not mean ease of connection. People stay connected through concerted efforts and genuine interest; not haphazardly hitting heart and like buttons on random posts.

Real conversations are messy, raw and unfiltered. They are not carefully curated caricatures of ourselves speaking with presentation layers of other people. After all, we crave those wild dinner parties where anything goes, not chit-chat as we pass each other on the street.

The means of communication is easier, but actual connection is hard.

Anybody stating otherwise is telling a lie.

But is there someone who already has?

Is the effort to re-invent the wheel worth the tradeoff of simply asking, or referencing, somebody else? And even if you do figure it out, are you the best person to do it?

There’s a finite time we have in life and an unlimited source of knowledge at our fingertips.

To help us out, we should ask what is the limit of what we can do and what limits are we willing to break ourselves.

If we’re honest about both, we can save the limited, precious resource of time that we have.

Style used to be an interaction between the human soul and tools that were limiting. In the digital era, it will have to come from the soul alone.

Jaron Lanier

With the proliferation of using AI to augment everything we do, demonstrating perfect skill in a particular area won’t be a difficult task.

Thanks to the masters of the past, and present, we can program computers to do just about anything to the level of any human throughout history. That’s powerful.

While I am curious about the development of AI aided writing, I remain skeptical of what it will bring.

I can see this as a net positive to schools, especially post secondary programs, where students are forced to write the same, bland, formulaic essays. Why do I say positive?

It might finally force teachers and professors to rethink their assessment methods if they know their students are just plugging in terms into an AI engine to spit out a paper.

However, the idea of reading a sample of your writing to get a sense of your voice, then writing large chunks of text—that’s concerning. Finding your voice requires endless hours, many detours and tons of experimentation. This is true in writing, music, performance or whatever pursuit one embarks on.

It requires giving a bit, if not all, of your soul and what you’re doing. There’s a reason we still celebrate Johnny Cash and not some overproduced boy band of the 90s.

My worry is we will become so enamoured with the production values we’re capable of and forget what’s behind it.

Delivering some thing with soul means you bare your imperfections and brokenness, along with your passions. If we’re willing to do that, then the future is looking bright.

It’s always amazing to see the ways people interpret things: events, art, actions… whatever. What they perceive, versus what the intention may have been, is an outstanding insight into the lens from which they see the world.

The fun of writing is seeing the response people give to your work. Sometimes, it provides insight into the reader and other times it provides great insight into myself.

How am I being perceived?

There’s what I intended and what I think I’m conveying, but if it’s been taking a different way, it’s time for serious self reflection.

However, sometimes people are just going to interpret and take from you as they will. There’s not much you can do about it except shrug.

For instance, in my first year of theology, I had a professor who brought in art objects every lesson and asked us to provide our insight/interpretation. One student in the class would consistently remark on the phallic nature of said objects.

And when I say consistently, I mean every… single… object.

It didn’t matter what it was, just like sometimes it won’t matter what you do—people will just take from it what they will.

Patience is a virtue that seems to be rapidly declining, but is highly lauded. Regardless of who we are, we could all use a bit more of it in life.

Then there’s the whole axiom of good things coming to those who wait, which has a great kernel of truth to it.

However, if we wait too long, or wait for the “perfect” moment, we will miss it tremendously. I equate it to being stuck in the dreaded ‘waiting place’ of Dr. Seuss’ Oh the Places You’ll Go.

People just waiting.

Some of the best advice I ever received was a direct shot at my indecisiveness (masked as patience) when I was told waiting for the right/perfect circumstances is a futile effort. If things are mostly in place, make the leap and work with what happens.

So far, it’s worked out well.

I also think of the story of NASA launching the Voyager probes. Their window to get them out there and cross the solar system was very limited. It was a perfect alignment that rarely happens, but would allow the satellites to reach the outskirts of the system in record time while visiting each planet.

Have they waited until technology was a bit better, they had more funding, info, etc. they would’ve missed an opportunity that comes only once every 175 years.

It’s a strong lesson that when the circumstances are in place, it’s time to make the leap.

I’ve been contemplating the nature of art for the past two decades. While minuscule compared to the great artists of the past who spent a lifetime contemplating it, I do have one advantage:

I can learn from all of them.

What I’ve come to understand so far is the nature of art is fluid. It is in constant flux.

It pushes boundaries and it also elevates its audience… good art anyway. Spitting on the ground and calling it performance art, and other such nonsense, is ridiculous.

However, the idea of art is no longer relegated to the traditional boundaries of galleries and museums.

How often do we hear a master of their craft tell us there’s an art to their work?

Plumbing, mathematics, gardening—you name it.

A lifelong dedication to any craft is an art form and since we spend our lives pursuing it, all of life is really an art.

Art is life and it’s what moves us, sustains us and gives us purpose.

Consider the number of ideas they get trashed and life.

These are ideas that might be written down and physically dumped, virtually deleted or banished from the recesses of your mind. Gone.

Why?

Why were they deemed unworthy of attention?

What stopped you from pursuing them?

Often, we consider realistic expectations as the primary explanation (and it can be a good one), but the danger is applying at carte blanche. It’s easy to cross over into the boundary of only safe or comfortable ideas.

In other words, the trash bin can be your excuse for not taking any risks.

However, if we’re looking to take another look at what’s in there, we will find something worth pursuing.

Something courageous.

Something you need right now.

There’s this classic story that the enlightenment in Europe happened as a direct result of importing coffee. Prior to this, the safest thing to drink was alcohol and people (including kids) would drink it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Then, coffee is introduced and everything changed.

The process of making coffee involved boiling water (even safer than the distilling process of alcohol), after which you ingested a stimulant (caffeine). People gathered at coffeehouses to discuss ideas, the fog of alcohol wore off and the rest is history.

Pretty simplistic, but it drives home a point:

Removing the obstacle of clear, coherent thought, combined with the exchange of sober ideas, leads to a rapid acceleration of knowledge.

While there is still a case for caffeine, it being the most addictive drug in the world, many of our water supplies are clean. We have many places to gather and share ideas… and we can even do this virtually on a global scale.

So where is our enlightenment?

It’s hiding behind a new fog.

It’s not alcohol that is hindering our thinking (although that may be the case for many), it’s distraction.

To blame one particular entity for our constant distracted state would miss the broader view; too much noise.

While it would be wonderful if we were introduced to a new drink that would block the noise and keep us focused, we will have to settle for the slow, arduous process of self-discipline.