9/27

It may seem that we are but a grain of sand on a vast beach—worthless and dispensable; what difference would it make to the beach if one grain of sand ceases to exist or has never dared to exist in the first place?

Our mistake is crassly presuming that we truly understand this incomprehensibly complex world we live in. The stark realization we must make is that there is no such thing as a world we can take things in and out of play within this chain of cause and effect. What’s so hard for us to understand is the path in which that singular grain of sand came to be a grain of sand in the first place; the atoms that constitute it have seen millions of years of change, have come from millions of sources since the dawn of this planet and this universe. And now, it is in a constant state of flux, continually being worn away by the sea, settled down to the bottom of the ocean, or latched onto the bronzed, parched skin of oblivious beachgoers. Does anything truly make sense if we “take away” that one grain of sand?

Everything in our world exists, whether we like it or not. That one grain of sand exists for the same reason all the other grains of sand exist. And we exist, whether we like it or not. And no matter the means by which we confront this existence, whether we choose to spurn or embrace it, we will play a role—a role that we do not ultimately choose—in this unceasing chain of cause and effect.

9/26

A life lived with sensitivity, intention, and a desire for meaning is rarely as glamourously momentous and glorified as we make it out to be in our minds. For some reason, we want to believe that all the important work done in this world must be akin to saving a child from drowning in the ocean, to giving an inspirational or motivational speech to millions, to dying on the battlefield. The truth is that much of the work we do in this life is, on the surface, mundane and banal. And a life lived with sensitivity, intention, and a desire for meaning is simply realizing that in those seemingly mundane and banal moments, just how much of an impact we can make in this world through our actions. It is to catch a glimpse of this unceasing and tirelessly tangled web of cause and effect, wherein we can decide to spurn or to embrace our role.

9/25

It may seem that our thoughts are free—that we can bask in the freedom of our own mind, to take for granted the liberty of conjuring any thought at any moment.

But the terrifying fact is that our thoughts come at an immense cost—perhaps even more so than our spoken words or actions. Indeed, our thoughts determine the color of our soul and the fabric of our information space; these things determine our perception. And if perception determines the quality of our lives, we must tirelessly remember that every thought is equally capable of beautifying or destroying our experience of it.

9/18

Anger, jealousy, hate—it’s easy to embrace these emotions when they spur us into positive action.

But harder to embrace when they end up destroying our world.

It was never about good or bad, healthy or unhealthy, natural or unnatural; we falter when we impose our perception of things in the world as one or the other—to assign traits to the inanimate, the lifeless, and the neutral.

All we need is discernment, sensitivity, and awareness. The world we live in is far too complex to accommodate simple and easy answers that stand the test of time. May we go about life with great skepticism and caution when presented with such answers.

9/17

There is as much beauty in the world as there is suffering.

But only if we can learn to see both at the same time.

Or, perhaps, as one and the same.

9/6

“We're fighting off a constant fear,

But no one sees that part.”

9/4

None of the choices we can make are the right one. But we still have to choose.

9/3

Virtually nothing is exactly the same today as it was yesterday.

Each day that we think that things will be the same—that we can just go on with our routines, bask in our ignorance, that we take for granted safety and security, that we can live without a need for humility nor perspective—is another day inching closer and closer towards irreversible change.

The decision is simply to decide if we want to be ones changing it, or the ones changed.

8/29

Too soon, or too late?

Neither.

8/28

The world is already in balance. It always has, and always will be.

There is neither good nor evil, neither joy nor suffering, neither a plot nor characters. Merely matter moving about in peculiar ways.

We need not worry about the world—only ourselves.

At the end of the day, it is only about what we do for each other, how we speak with one another, and how we will write the stories that we will write. If we destroy ourselves in the process, or if we prosper, it will only matter to us.