Ted Talk: Wisdom

Questions

"Live the questions now," I was once told that I was a very inquisitive person, with this I can agree. At times I follow in the footsteps of the great Curious George.

My most recent life model is a short run trip across the desert Southwest in November. With the economy in the tank and nothing to do until May I decided I might as well ride my bike.

Antsy

I am antsy, you know what I mean, antsy where, you want to move, and shake, and run. Like a fire is burning inside and you can't put it out. I am antsy. I get this way when the doctors don't let me out of my cage, antsy. Jump. The moods come too fast they are up they are done, left right center. Antsy. It makes me want to scream, like I am twitching without movement. My face is straight but my mind is racing, you know antsy, I know you do.

Environmental Justice

Here is a great talk I found on TED.com about environmental justice in the South Bronx. I have heard about these issues before, they are prevalent everywhere including my home state of Texas, notably Houston's school district and port district. I am sure if you look around you will find it in your own cities. I enjoyed her talk and the work she is doing, cheers.

The Monster

I sit with this pink machine, our motives at a standstill. To sew or not to sew is not the question, the question is how to sew, or more directly how to set up the sewing machine. As I sit and ponder this, the radio hums the tunes of Summertime, one of my favorite jazz pieces, this one on trumpet. I have a copy of Summertime on guitar by Doc Watson which is fantastic. I spent some time yesterday trying to figure it out, which makes this experience somewhat prophetic in nature. The fire is crackling in the stove but my hands are still cold. But I digress, back to the machine. One might well ask why a large twenty something male is trying to motive such a small pink machine into any kind of productivity, that question can be left aside for now as long as we accept that I feel the need to create, and currently that creation wants to find its true form under the needle. Now that that is settled to the machine itself. They are very complicated to the untrained eye, I have seen them in use before and been the unlearned operator of a properly adjusted machine on just one other occasion. So here I sit, with a distinctly pink contraption full of springs and strings trying to make end from end.

Some Thoughts

I get very worked up and concerned about our American cultural bent. I try to understand why it happens this way, outside of the monetary gain of a small portion of the world, and it does not make sense. So, I end up getting depressed, until I sit back and remember all of the good people out there sharing their lives with others. Working hard to make their little piece of the world a little better. There is a lot that can and has been done on a local level that goes under the cultural umbrella. As a recent ex-pat in Japan it seems easy sometimes to shun my home country and fret over the whole ordeal, but I find it more comforting to think about the good things that are going on. The folks at home who are talking and sharing and discussing options and the future. The small scale farmers, the family stores, the cyclists, doing their little bit to effect a change, voting with their dollars and their feet. The country is full of good people, some of its leaders ( elected and otherwise) are a different story.

Critical Mass

We can't go on in this vein, consuming our resources as fast as possible without regard for the consequences. The idea that we always find a way to overcome resource challenges is bunk, because we have always had more resources or people to exploit. If we didn't have the resources here we just got in our ships and stole them from somewhere else. The current global economic and ecosystemic crisis could be a turning point, could be where we say enough is enough. It is a chance to reevaluate our system and look at who is benefiting from the exploitation. We could start the long climb toward peace and happiness through fulfillment of social and spiritual connection, bipassing the consumer culture that is at the root of the problem. But the feeling everywhere seems to be that this is a hump to get over, everything will be good again, big houses and gas guzzling continue. We are on a collision course, we are climbing that last hill on the roller coaster but the tracks run out at the bottom, no more, done. Every generation looks back at its predecessors and thinks them idiots, naive, or uninformed. The idea is that they did not know as much as we do, but now we know so let us push on. Of course we are making giant mistakes of ignorance and claiming them as feats, we are following a long tradition.