A Great Place for All: Scaling Life (23.05)
2023 June 25 (Essay: 23.05 Scaling)
Welcome to column 23.05 and thanks again for reading, subscribing, and sharing. This column is part of my quest for a unified world and country that can become a better (make that .. Great) place for all. Please Stay tuned, stay healthy, be kind, love, and be loved!
Today is a new day. I get to abandon the things and ideas that hold me back. The problem is that others may or may not do the same in different directions. It is scary to integrate the 7 Billion of us while also trying to enjoy life and respect others.
We all have different perspectives of life and respect, what is urgent, what pays the bills, what we should do today or tomorrow. Kids, family, work impact that; so does our home, yard (if any), car/SUV (if any), limits on our finances (I am currently seeking work, others have enormous debts or expenses, hopes for vacations, saving plans for homes, cars, retirement). These things are personal and immediate.
Then there are the global things such as Ukraine, Inflation, Biden, Trump, and China. As all of you reading this know, I am a bit bombastic on improving the world and yet individuals (ideally) must respect themselves and others.
Then there are the personal, I mean really personal self-talk items. When do we go to sleep, am I getting enough sleep, what foods we eat (whether we like the taste of them, eat them because they are convenient, healthy, or a habit we have), when we eat, when we exercise, poop, read email, connect with others, think about our (many) health and appearance concerns (creaky knees, stomach aches, neck/back issues, weight/diet, sinus, teeth, face, eye, mole, hair, toe, and shaving), and then finances. What do you really want, can afford, want to afford, attempt to control what others can and do purchase (kids, significant others), and how others control us financially (government, work, family, our banks). Then there is job, career progression, career mistakes, and commuting. Then family and friends and even co-workers, and our desires for them. Then there is attraction and sex (wanting it, not getting enough, right/wrong partner, relationship errors), drugs (legal or otherwise), alcohol (too much or not enough), entertainment (Music, Movies, TV and again there are lots of details), family and friends (do we want to see them or not, do we want to listen to their struggles, opinions, expectations), and then there is putting the highly motivating (life stirring) things together to form our soul.
How we integrate our lives, shut things out, and express ourselves drives our development of our interests, souls, hobbies, and changes to everything above; for us individually and every single one of us in the world.
As I deal with inflation, learn, and gain/lose money, I will buy differently, have different interests, discuss different things, have different tolerances for family, friends, TV, and work. Are we optimal in our allocation of time, thought, and spending? I wonder what an AI algorithm would say (ha sorry I really don’t want its opinion on that).
Life is complicated and there is always someone who wants to complicate it further by having you focus on them and their needs and their beliefs/fears. I have never been one to retreat or go to a monastery, or meditate daily, so unsurprisingly, my mind wanders a bit too much.
I guess it is time for a vacation or new job. Oh but if I go on vacation then where will I go, for how long, how will my garden look when I return, what will I do with my pet, my job, cleaning out my refrigerator, do I need to pause my mail? If I get a new job, what will that mean for my exercise routine, sleep, time for reading, watching sports, sex, drinking, and upgrading my car/house/yard?
My point in writing this is for us to appreciate each other and ourselves for each and every decision, consideration we incorporate, and thought we make, so that we better understand that all of us (people on the earth) impact everything on this planet (animals, plants, people) through our actions. Intent matters, respect matters, we each matter, and the other person matters too (even if we’d rather they did not: fill in Trump and Biden and Gates and Musk as desired). I have written about the Dunbar number before, but we can’t forget that there are more than 150 people in the world even if we have 150 meaningful connections, and I really wish Trump, Biden, Gates, Musk, and all of us thought meaningfully about 7 billion people (plus animals and plants) rather than their favorite 150.
Oh crap, I need to pay my insurance bill, let me make tea first, then walk the dog, check my Oura Ring and FitBit, and verify my Prime membership’s Subscribe and Save, and wish my sister a happy birthday.
Thanks for reading and until next time! Stay tuned, stay healthy, be kind, love, and be loved!
Joyously,
Richard at richardferdman@substack.com
Books, Articles and Podcasts inspiring this or referenced within include: Jose Andres: when governments don't care enough, Eating to Extinction, Propaganda (Mark Crispin Miller), Lost Horizon (1937), Scaling People, Dunbar's number
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