Offline pineapples and your blue position
What stuck with me, what I’m contemplating, and one question worth asking
What stuck with me in October-December 2023
The End of the Extremely Online Era
There’s much goodness in this article, which makes the case that our obsession with the digital world is ending. I want this to be true, so I’ve deleted my social media accounts (except LinkedIn and Substack)1. Make choices that shape the world you want to live in.
Eating Better (a Lot Better) Than Kings
By Scott Lincicome
I referenced this article several times over the course of this holiday season (Yes, I am a blast at parties…). It took a simple, concrete example — the pineapple — and made the case for abundance in a way that permanently affixed it to my brain.
Highlight: “It’s easy to stroll through your local supermarket’s aisles and grab products from distant corners of the globe without a second thought. Yet this abundance is a relatively recent phenomenon. Between 1975 and 2022, the number of products in an average U.S. supermarket increased from 8,948 to a whopping 31,530.”
Scarcity and Gratitude
I have been exploring how our era of abundance creates new challenges and how we find a balance between the benefits of growth and the downsides of overwhelm.
Rob Henderson hits on one facet of this idea in this article, saying, “Scarcity breeds gratitude. In an environment of scarcity, occasional windfalls increase happiness because people are well aware that things could be worse. But a lifetime of prosperity and assumed abundance often coincides with ingratitude. Unless we regularly remind ourselves to run a plausible counterfactual in which we are suddenly dispossessed and made to live in meager circumstances. Without gratitude, happiness is impossible.”
Pale Blue Dot
By Carl Sagan
One of my favorite pieces because it grounds me in my insignificance and reminds me to tend to my focus. If you haven’t read this passage, please do.
Take a Position, Not a Side
I appreciated this post because it recognizes nuance. It also demands independent thinking. In short:
“Instead of sides, we need to speak, and think, in terms of positions. On any given issue, there are almost always more than two. But adopting a position is very different than choosing a side. It takes thought; it takes investigation; it takes a willingness to consider alternatives. Sides are intellectually easy and emotionally satisfying. Positions are intellectually challenging and emotionally complex. Once you know which side you're on—in the culture war, or the political war—you can let your friends, or your podcasts, do your thinking for you. But “positions” requires you not only to think things through for yourself, but to think each issue through on its own terms, from the ground up.”
The Ghost that Walks the Bridge
I first read Sherman Alexie’s work when I was in high school. I enjoyed it enough that the books still sit on my shelves. When I saw he was on Substack, I jumped at the chance to subscribe.
This poem struck me with its immense humanness conveyed through the specificity of Sherman’s relationship with his poetry editor. I paused to read it again when I wrote this post.
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What I’m contemplating
Oh, I’ve thought about a lot lately. I returned from my annual sabbatical on Monday, and I spent time thinking about my life as part of my annual life review.
I also thought about how I could better serve people in my community. Whether it’s all been said, or if there are new things to add to the conversation, and whether any of that matters if we’re all experiencing it for the first time ourselves. If my desire to make an impact is rooted in others or rooted in a quest for eternal life (h/t to Voldemort for this one). How to engage others because we need shared purpose as much as space for our own individual efforts.
And this:
I spent more time on the questions than I did on the answers. I suspect you’ll see further thoughts appear in the form of posts as we continue.
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One question worth asking
Are you having fun?
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Okay, my Facebook account is still live. I’m waiting for one more person to get back to me with their contact information. Then it will be gone.