THE FRAGILITY OF CERTAINTY
“Nobody is going to pour truth into your brain. It’s something you have to find out for yourself.”
ORDERING CHAOS
Life, at its core, is absurd and chaotic. Paradoxically, the only thing that is certain in this life, is that change is inevitable. The more we explore the regions of the micro within the quantum realm, the more discoveries that are uncovered that are puzzling and often contradictory. For many centuries, religion has sought to provide order amid this chaos, by explaining the unexplainable in ways we can grasp and attempt to organize our lives in some way. However, the truth is often far stranger than fiction and cracks inevitably form in any system that tries to organize what is inherently disordered.
During the Scientific Revolution, the validity of the Bible as an ultimate source of truth came under scrutiny. Confronted with the realization of a dwindling flock, and in response to the growing dissonance between the scriptures and the science, theologians crafted doctrines such as “inerrancy” of the scriptures to defend their institutions. This birthed dogmas like the 6,000-year-old Earth, the literal worldwide flood, and the future-oriented interpretation of Revelation—all relatively modern constructs.
Even today, the idea of scriptural inerrancy is complicated by discoveries like the Dead Sea Scrolls, which although they support the historical existence of the scriptures, they also reveal discrepancies in translations and contextual meanings across centuries. But what happens if we take these scriptures at face value?
The Biblical mandate to “go forth and make disciples of all nations” is a core belief and mandate to many practitioners. So, let’s follow this scenario to its ultimate conclusion. Imagine if tomorrow, every soul on Earth embraced Christianity. Would this create heaven on Earth? A paradise of unified beliefs?
Imagine if suddenly, everyone begins practicing speaking in tongues. [This is where the Baptists would say: “Well wait a minute, we don’t believe in it that way.”]
Okay, well then there will be wonderful Men and women who will lead churches together. [The Fundamentalists will say “Not so fast!”]
Worship will be conducted from heavenly choruses and adorned with heavenly instruments. [The Church of God speaks up “Worship is to be created with the human voice, never by instrument.”
I see, well then we have many giving reverence to Mary. [Evangelicals will say: “We are not Catholic and only Jesus should be worshipped.”]
Confessionals begin popping up everywhere. [Protestants shout: “Whoa, wait just a minute!”]
Joseph Smith appears. [Everyone except Mormons: “Hold up, who?!”]
If even the promise of universal religion cannot bring heaven to Earth, what assurance do we have that heaven itself will be harmonious? The fractures we create here reflect the fractures within us.
“Thinking is difficult. That’s why most people judge.”
THE CALL TO THINK CRITICALLY
I once believed religion provided the best explanation for our existence—until I realized it often discourages deeper exploration. By checking into religion, many of us check out of curiosity.
The truth, however, will never force itself upon us. It must be sought, unraveled, and lived. This is what gives life its zest. “The joy is in the journey” as they say. And while religion may pervade our society in a multitude of ways, open-mindedness is the key to understanding ideas that initially feel strange or even absurd.
This doesn’t mean discarding religion entirely. There is truth within its stories. Just as the Dead Sea Scrolls confirm the historic existence of the scriptures, third party historical evidence affirms that Jesus was a real person who walked the Earth and preached, as documented by contemporaries at the time. Likewise, however, just as the Dead Sea scrolls present us with obvious contextual differences in the content or meaning of the narratives over the centuries, the message that Jesus was actually trying to bring to us is a question we must ask ourselves.
Polarization is the enemy. More than one thing can be true at the same time. Conversely, more than one thing can be false. The most meaningful and impactful aspects of life are far too complex to be expressed in this or that scenarios. It’s important to not disregard entirely or adopt with unwavering certainty such philosophies that cannot be comprehensively proven or disproven.
“Every moment of one’s existence, one is growing into more or retreating into less.”
A HUMBLE PERSPECTIVE
Allow me to provide a brief vocabulary lesson, which I hope will stick with you and reveal some new words that I think describe concepts in a beautiful and meaningful way:
Epistemic: Relating to knowledge and its validation.
Humility: The freedom from pride and arrogance.
Epistemic Humility, then, is the understanding that our experiences are limited, and our knowledge is filtered through our experiences. It is the willingness to admit that we may be wrong and not know everything. It recognizes the inherent complexity of the world and the intricate interplay of various factors that shape our understanding of it. Together, they remind us that our understanding is shaped by our limited experiences. The willingness to admit we don’t know everything is not a weakness but a strength.
Umwelt: German, referring to something’s surroundings or environment.
There is a beautiful word in the German language that describes a concept that we have no English word for. Umwelt, (oom-velt) meaning “environment,” describes how each species perceives the world through its unique sensory and perceptual systems.
Notice the seemingly speedy movements of a mouse or a bird. They seem to move through life at such a high speed to us. But from their perspective, this would be a normal pace. A bird may see humans as slow-moving curiosities, while a tortoise might view us as frenetic blurs.
Similarly, each human life is a tapestry woven from individual perspectives and backgrounds. Our differences should not divide us but enrich us. The world is not black-and-white; it is a kaleidoscope of experiences.
“If you’re not growing, you’re dying.”
BRAVE VULNERABILITY
To seek truth is to embrace complexity and confront uncertainty. Yet, our modern world is increasingly shaped by polarization—a dangerous force that thrives on certainty and the rejection of nuance.
Religious dogmas, when introduced into governance, risk turning faith into legislation and morality into mandate. History warns us that when one worldview seeks to dominate, diversity of thought suffers. This is not just about religious belief; it’s about how rigid ideologies erode the foundation of a free, pluralistic society. One must ask themselves when faced with such ideologies: who stands to benefit or prosper from the successful instillation of such beliefs? And who stands to potentially suffer loss from the same?
When beliefs become weapons, wielded to shape laws that govern all, we lose the ability to celebrate differences and instead foster division. The promise of truth is not in conformity but in coexistence.
We must remember: no one holds the ultimate monopoly on truth. Epistemic humility teaches us that our perspectives are limited, and our experiences, no matter how profound, are but a fragment of the greater whole. It is only through dialogue, understanding, and the willingness to admit we might be wrong that we can hope to bridge the growing chasms between us.
Our shared humanity demands that we find common ground—not by forcing others to believe as we do but by respecting their right to seek truth in their own way. Our understanding of the processes and landscape of the fabric that undergirds our reality is not static; it continually evolves as we learn more and are able to test our theories against what is known. But even in areas that we are certain are truthful, we must avoid the instinct to instantly scoff at hypothesis’ that contradict our understanding. The seeds of horrific cruelties can begin to sprout at the point from which we cease to listen to and empathize with others. Practicing discernment, while humbly providing space to learn and grow from individuals with credible counter-positions is what creates meaningful dialogue and intelligent societies.
The nature of these turbulent times requires us to stop the rhetoric and pause for a moment to allow conversation and understanding to flourish. In the days and years ahead, let us choose curiosity over dogma, empathy over judgment, and unity over division. The future of our society depends on it.
Reference for further evaluation:
Abegg, Flint, & Ulrich. (1999). The Dead Sea Scroll Bible. Harper Collins.
VOTE
“Men do not go into administration as the direct Road to Heaven.” Instead, they are moved by self-love, and therefore “the only Way to secure the most virtuous is by making it their Interest to act rightly.”-Gouverneur Morris
Do you know who actually penned the Constitution? The final verbiage was decided upon by the Constitutional Convention, but the man who actually put pen to paper and drafted those famous words beginning with "We the People" is someone you've probably not heard of before. Governeur Morris (known as the "Penman of the Constitution"), has a very interesting story which I highly recommend learning more about him. It is often the hidden figures of history that seem to make the most meaningful impact and it's their obscurity that speaks to a character that does not seek notoriety but instead strives to ensure the greatest outcome for the common good.
DIVINE ORCHESTRATION
“Coincidence and intention are two sides of a tapestry, my lord. You may find one more agreeable to look at, but you cannot say one is true and the other is false.”
There are moments in our lives when things happen that defy any logical explanation. Although I think these moments are more frequent than we think, they are often overlooked, unless one is acutely tuned in to spotting them. A sort of divine orchestration that, once recognized can leave you crying and laughing at the same time in your car possibly coming across to those in your peripheral like some crazy person, but because you are so amazed at the serendipity you haven’t the slightest care about any such appearances. This is, in fact, an intentional oddly specific description because it was literally me today.
I had recently became so frustrated at a particular circumstance I was dealing with that when the latest manifestation of this plight occurred in the preceding weeks I found myself screaming out loud at no one in particular asking “why is this happening to me?!?” Now, I’m intelligent enough to recognize when difficult things happen there is usually some underlying reason or lesson we are supposed to learn from it. But in this case I hadn’t the slightest idea why this was happening. And there was and still is nothing I can do about it. It’s a hopeless and depressing situation and further not recognizing why it is that it’s happening adds an additional layer that makes it seem pointless and therefore had me screaming into the “void”. The parenthetical void meaning I was not directing at anyone or any thing but I would soon realize that “void” was listening nonetheless.
It wasn’t long before an answer was provided: clear as day and without question. In such a random way that I’m still reeling from the implications. A chance encounter that was most likely never to occur but still did. An outside third party intervention that ensured the subsequent chain of events would indeed come to pass. And another’s similar but also very recent personal revelations and their graciousness to share transparently left me speechless.
The answer to my question was not an easy one. And will require a lot of meditation and introspection on my part. But it was given to me by another, for lack of a better phrase, “on a silver platter”. And because of that method of delivery, and the orchestration it took to get it there, it has been received loud and clear.
All of this of course, including even my unintentional blindness to this personal self realization was not coincidental at all. Had these things not happened as they did, I would have not arrived at this point today where I am laugh/crying like a mad person and in complete awe and deep gratitude for such an orchestration to have occurred on my behalf.
This lesson I share with all: don’t allow the minutia of daily life to obscure the fact that we all have profound roles to play as we constructively weave together this tapestry of life. And although we cannot see the completed picture from this side of things down in the trenches, the more we tune in to the process and lean into the things that make us unique, the more we are allowed to see just how beautiful of a work of art we are co-creating together. And this thing we are putting together has to be something of profound beauty because just a small glimpse can leave you a puddle of emotions: looking like you just stepped out of the mental facility. Which, if such a prerequisite is required to arrive here, then please check me in because I would not hesitate to endure it for such a small glimpse behind the proverbial curtain that I’ve just witnessed and am eternally grateful for
THE LEAST OF THESE
When confronting a decision, where the direction isn’t clear; or deciding a course of action where the outcome is unknown: always err on the side of empathy.
Instead of envisioning things as they may play out sequentially, try looking at it from the other side (as best as is ascertainable): from the end backwards. Because regardless of the minutiae, choosing the path that expresses the greatest positive influence and grace towards others will always be the right decision.
This includes placing dogma over compassion or law over mercy. You have been released from the burden of judgment, therefore your focus should be placed on grace and seeking to understand.
None of us have all the answers, so all should be humble. The act of listening to understand, opposed to hearing to respond might just surprise you with gaining a profound new insight you hadn’t considered before.
And when all is said and done, the last stars have shed their final light and the record of humanity has been finished, being remembered as someone who truly sought to improve the plight of their fellow man is objectively a much greater testimonial than one who furthered anguish by placing an interpretation of law above seeking to understand another’s lived experience.
WHAT IS NOW?
An exploration into The Block Universe
Retrocausality: a concept of cause and effect in which an effect precedes its cause in time and so a later event affects an earlier one. In quantum physics, the distinction between cause and effect is not made at the most fundamental level and so time-symmetric systems can be viewed as causal or retrocausal. [1]
Even though we cannot access memories of the future, the future does exert a sort of gravitational pull upon us. It’s a weak force, not a solid state as the past becomes for us. We have complete freedom in the present to choose what our next move will be, but there is a sort of leaning towards or perhaps an intuition that influences and shapes our decision making.
It has been scientifically demonstrated that our brains arrive at a decision a micro second prior to us making a choice. We are all in a sense exhibiting precognition all the time.
Published in the prestigious Nature journal, an experiment carried out in the Future Minds Lab at UNSW School of Psychology showed that free choices about what to think can be predicted from patterns of brain activity 11 seconds before people consciously chose what to think about.
The experiment consisted of asking people to freely choose between two visual patterns of red and green stripes – one of them running horizontally, the other vertically – before consciously imagining them while being observed in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine.
The participants were also asked to rate how strongly they felt their visualisations of the patterns were after choosing them, again while researchers recorded their brain activity during the process.
Not only could the researchers predict which pattern they would choose, they could also predict how strongly the participants were to rate their visualisations. With the assistance of machine learning, the researchers were successful at making above-chance predictions of the participants’ volitional choices at an average of 11 seconds before the thoughts became conscious.
The brain areas that revealed information about the future choices were located in executive areas of the brain – where our conscious decision-making is made – as well as visual and subcortical structures, suggesting an extended network of areas responsible for the birth of thoughts.
Lab director Professor Joel Pearson believes what could be happening in the brain is that we may have thoughts on ‘standby’ based on previous brain activity, which then influences the final decision without us being aware.
“We believe that when we are faced with the choice between two or more options of what to think about, non-conscious traces of the thoughts are there already, a bit like unconscious hallucinations,” Professor Joel Pearson of UNSW says. [2]
This experiment shows that there is some sort of substance to the future than just a complete unknown. In fact if you examine the universe and how we observe distant objects, according to the block universe theory, at vast distances and depending on the direction of travel towards or away from an object, we are looking at either that object’s past or we are observing that object’s future. The past, present, and future are all real. If the future is observable across the universe then one observing our universe can also see our very real past or very real future.
One of the greatest changes in my life was a result of such a force. This pull seemed to always be there waiting just under the surface, but became so intense of a pull that resistance towards it would only strengthen its gravitational force upon me and I felt as though I would eventually be crushed by it. For many years after, what I thought was the reason for the seemingly abrupt change turned out to only be an instrument through which the real reason for the course correction could accomplish its ultimate goal. For that powerful tsunami has receded back into the ocean and has not near the effect upon me anymore. But as the wave receded, it becomes clearer more and more that it was about so much more than I ever thought possible.
New discoveries are constantly changing our perceptions of what is real. And a lot of times they reveal something completely outside of our expectations.
Anthropomorphizing everything does not always reveal objective truths. We are repeatedly reminded of our limited frame of reference. And when it comes to time, the way time behaves versus the way we think about it, can be disorienting.
Knowing that there is a real future and that we all access it in small ways unknowingly is further evidence that the future can indeed have influence over the present.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrocausality.
[2] https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2019/03/our-brains-reveal-our-choices-before-were-even-aware-of-them--st
RECOMMENDED READING:
THE MERCHANT AND THE ALCHEMIST’S GATE BY TED CHIANG
“The story I have to tell is truly a strange one, and were the entirety to be tattooed at the corner of one’s eye, the marvel of its presentation would not exceed that of the events recounted, for it is a warning to those who would be warned and a lesson to those who would learn. ”
"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" is a fantasy novelette by American writer Ted Chiang, originally published in 2007 by Subterranean Press and reprinted in the September 2007 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction. In 2019, the novelette was included in the collection of short stories Exhalation: Stories.
A Baghdad merchant encounters a mysterious alchemist who claims to have invented a device that can transport him across time and space. But what is the true nature of this marvelous invention, and what are its consequences?
CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO READ:
https://images.shulcloud.com/1202/uploads/Documents/TheMerchantandtheAlchemistsGate.pdf
ETHEREAL
Second video from "Portals" and a continuation from Part One.
Second video from the album, “Portals”. “I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness.”
SYNCHRONICITY
"Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt." -William Shakespeare
“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”
When you spend much of your life people pleasing and in service to others, when you finally get your world shaken up and after the dust settles, you begin to live a life that more aligns with and resonates with you. Then comes a phase of time spent on making up for lost time. In my case, once I gave myself permission to just be me, the foray into withheld creativity began. There was a figurative dam that burst and it’s been this steady stream of experimenting with different formats and genres, sometimes successfully and sometimes closer to “back to the drawing board”.
Here is one such foray into the very-inexperienced-to-me realm of music production. And of course, it’s me so there had to be an accompanying music video as well. Hope you enjoy, the message of the video seems pretty straightforward, but if it resonates with you or if it doesn’t and makes no sense whatsoever to you, let me know!
THE LINEAGES UPON WHOSE FOUNDATION WE STAND
Space may be vast and beautiful, but we are the crown jewels of the universe.
Space may be vast and beautiful, but we are the crown jewels of the universe.
When you return home to that familiar place you know oh so well, the place of your youth, the sounds and the sights and the unexplainable smells (that you can’t quite describe or put your finger on but that if you were to ask your siblings they’d know just what you’re talking about), when you see the fields you ran in or the streets you logged hundreds of miles on while peddling your bicycle, you instantly have a million memories wash over you and the nostalgia comes alive as if it were a living thing.
The interesting thing though is that the home you return to is never really at a fixed location. Its location in time and space are ever changing. I mean the earth is traveling at a thousand miles per hour as it rotates around the sun and at the same time the galaxy is rotating and moving all the time. If you wanted to traverse time (assuming that were possible) and go back to re-experience the days from which you recall this nostalgia, you’d have to know exactly where the place was located in the universe at that exact moment or else you might go back and find yourself surrounded by empty space or worse, at the event horizon of a black hole.
But imagine you could literally trace your path from birth to death across time as you traverse the planet, the solar system, the universe and you would have what is called your individual “world line.” Now imagine every human being who ever existed and how vast their world lines would be, all of us intersecting, entangling, in a beautiful dance across time and space surging forth from some point in a very distant past. You would see that we are incredibly huge in time but relatively small in space on this little planet which just happens to have the perfect conditions needed for us to be.
As three dimensional beings, we are bound by time: inching forward one second after another. Into the future we are thrust as the past closes off to us forever. We exist as the sum of literally billions of years of time, where processes and interactions had to occur just as they did in order for you to exist. Each individual of our lineages lived, discovered, dreamed, and made indelable marks in their day which echoed through time and then eventually passed on, but they left us with an inheritance that persists beyond their finite years to this day. You see, none of us exists in a vacuum. As we build our future on the established efforts of the past, just as our children and children’s children, and so forth will build things we cannot even imagine from the foundations we are laying at this very moment. We take for granted the on demand electricity, and our clean, running water, and the freedom afforded us via a giant network of traversible roads and multiple modes of transportation. Inventing the next great technologies doesn’t require us to start at building the first wheel - we build upon those before us who built upon the work of those before them and so on.
For whatever reason, we constantly try to search for meaning and fulfillment outside of ourselves among the stars, asking where there may be others like us. Not realizing that they may not exist. And we have been looking intently for a while now. But we, in fact do exist and we must stop and realize that we are incredibly special. As of this moment, we know of no other place among the millions of stars and galaxies our technologies have allowed us to view quite like us. Imagine for a moment that you were able to step outside of our world and see it from above for the very first time - how indescribably fascinating humanity would appear! In all of our goodness and imaginations as well as our heartaches and horrors, we generate so much information every second it’s mind blowing.
Now by all means, continue searching the heavens, embrace that spirit of adventure and exploring the unknown, because that too is the culmination of huge amounts of established ingenuity from our past that gave us the blessing of the Webb telescope today; whose images it bestows upon us are breathtakingly beautiful. But also remind yourself daily how special you are. Although we are far more than just physical beings, looking from that physical perspective only: of the trillions of combinations that DNA could express itself, most have never existed and will never exist - but yours does. You are alive and you have lived, and no one can take that away! Your experience in this world is one that has never been nor ever will be after you are gone. You forge through the cosmos with eons of distinctive history and experiences that all had to precisely occur so that you would be here at this moment, both equal parts unique individual and component of a collective of humanity that has the privilege of experiencing life right here and right now. Let it truly sink in how many things had to line up across the ages for you to be here now. When you stop to consider it all, it’s difficult not to be overwhelmed with gratitude. You must realize that all of that time and miraculous effort should not result in a being that lives out its days in service to that which is outside of itself, who is not nor ever will be the one of a kind person that is you. We each have to search for the truth, finding our purpose and passions that the rest of the world desperately needs. No one will spoon feed you your reason for existence, and those who attempt to should be scrutinized. The truth doesn’t care about the scrutiny because it comes out the same at the end.
The take away here is don’t just exist and feel like you’re just another cog in the wheel of the machine that trudges forward aimlessly. Because you are a part of a giant miracle transversing the galaxy made literally of star dust who happened to become physical and alive. And what a star does best is shine light across the darkness. From a grateful heart, comes creative imagination and you are experiencing the rarity of life as well as leaving your own indelible mark within the entirety of the largest framework of this incredibly rare human experience that thus far has not been found anywhere else in the cosmos. Remember your novelty, be grateful for this life, and you’ll naturally leave a legacy reaching far beyond the brevity of the time you’re allowed.
Footnotes:
Check out Sara Imari Walker’s work on Assembly Theory and Emergence
And the new release, “Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life’s Emergence”
IN A NEW YORK MINUTE
A last minute business trip doubles as a new adventure
A last minute work trip to Pennsylvania close to the weekend opened up an opportunity to visit NYC for the first time! Although I only had one day, I was able to see quite a bit (although I definitely plan to go back someday). The work trip, by the way, was another videography project for True Value, more to come on that at a later date!
And, being that I was staying in Allentown, PA, I was able to capture some of the quite unexpected beauty of Pennsylvania as well:
I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to experience all of this while also doing the thing that I love most!
PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE
The centennial bulb, located in California, has been burning since 1901.
This is the Centennial Bulb which has shone non-stop for 115 years.
Our current age of information has changed the game of media and information dissemination somewhat, but is a double edged sword. On the one hand, information is so abundant that it can become daunting and almost impossible to discern fact from fiction. Leading to a natural inclination towards skepticism. Then on the other hand, information that is rooted in fact-based, reproducible scientific scrutiny can be circulated so quickly far and wide that it is almost impossible to stop and can become immune to suppression attempts.
Before scrolling on, let me tell you a quick story you may not have heard before about the amazing little piece of technology that literally lights up our world. Did you know that, prior to the current LED light bulbs that have relatively long life spans, those years and years of us having to dispose of burned out traditional light bulbs and spending money to replace them over and over again was actually not necessary and was very much an intentional act? The photo above shows how light bulbs could easily have lasted for decades or longer, this one in particular lighting a firehouse for over 115 years and counting. This longevity of a product was not in the best interest of the corporations that produced them. And so, according to a BBC article from June 2016, “Greater sums of money could be reaped, companies figured, by making bulbs disposable and putting replacement costs onto customers. Thus was born the infamous “Phoebus cartel” in the 1920s, wherein representatives from top light bulb manufacturers worldwide, such as Germany’s Osram, the United Kingdom’s Associated Electrical Industries, and General Electric (GE) in the United States (via a British subsidiary), colluded to artificially reduce bulbs’ lifetimes to 1,000 hours. The details of the scam emerged decades later in governmental and journalistic investigations.”*
Such is a real world example of the term, planned obsolescence, wherein corporations who provide a particular good or necessity decide to intentionally manufacture sub-par products in order to keep us patronizing the malls and marketplaces, forking over our hard-earned money to buy a newer version at predictable rates. I know I almost lose sleep worrying about those corporate budgets so I’m just so glad to be able to be a part of their success. I mean, what would I do with that extra money anyway? Actually enjoy a vacation somewhere? How selfish of me!
Anyway, I digress. If such a thing can be true about light bulbs, imagine what a threat to elite lifestyles discoveries are that reduce or eliminate our dependence on oil and gas or other heavy polluting energy sources that for some odd reason we just have not been “smart enough” all these decades to reach any solutions for, doggone it. You might be a tad upset upon learning that viable and significantly more efficient energy alternatives have been around for a very long time. But of course how could we not sacrifice the world and well being of the bulk of society when we had to work to ensure that we kept those billionaires supported and who in turn, created this utopia we have now where the two finest examples of sound leadership keep us all wondering how we ever got so lucky to have as choices to lead the greatest nation ever to grace the world?
Heavy sarcasm aside, we must admit that we do in fact have better quality of lives in general than even 100 years ago. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be even more advanced at this point and the truth is that extreme wealth disparities are evidence of strangleholds on our societal progress. It’s more naive to refuse to believe that those who benefit the most from the current structure and who also wield significant power and control would not take significant measures to protect their status. And let’s all be honest, those who actually have the ability to do something about the greatest problems facing the world, would have already done so. While I may feel good about switching to laundry detergent sheets rather than using the giant heavy plastic detergent bottles that wind up in landfills or donating to habitat for humanity, these individual actions just don’t make enough of a difference. Those in positions of privilege who can make a real difference, simply don’t. Therefore their lack of concern is our evidence of the threats they pose to us all as well as the absence of empathy. So when you begin to hear spin on the coat tails of exciting new; sound and scientifically tested new ideas, remember the light bulb. When you have got a lot to lose along with a history of ruthlessly stomping out competition that is actually beneficial to everyone all in the name of self-preservation, there’s not much you wouldn’t try in order to hold on to that spot on the top of the mountain.
*Here's the truth about the 'Planned Obsolesence' of tech, by Adam Hadhazy, 12 June 2016, BBC news
THE GRADUATE
Julie,
As you stand on the threshold of this new chapter in your life, my heart swells with pride and love for the incredible person you have become. Graduating college is no small feat, and your tenacity and resilience in the face of whatever obstacles present themselves are truly inspiring.
I remember the day you were born, holding you in my arms for the first time, and feeling so enamored at this tiny little blessing that I literally could not put you down! In fact, I may have spoiled you a bit because you expected that treatment even after we brought you home and had a hard time getting you to sleep in your crib. (Sorry, not sorry as I’d do it again if I had the chance! Lol). Watching you grow and mature over the years and seeing all that you’ve accomplished is such a blessing to this dad’s heart. That overabundance of love and admiration towards you persists to this day.
I’m excited for you as you and Ty begin this adventure of a life together. Speaking of, I couldn’t ask for a better person for you at your side than Ty. As a bonus, his family is a collection of such great souls who are full of love and who are just as thrilled at your accomplishments as if you’d been with them and known them your whole life.
These are just words of course and I don’t think I could compose anything to adequately express the feelings I have within, but you must know that these words are from my heart and reflect just a fraction of the love and gratitude I have inside for the privilege of being your dad. Despite whatever life throws at us, I know that there exists within you at your core the deep connection we share, the thread that neither distance nor circumstance will ever sever. There are things I wish I would have done better or differently and many ways in which I may have not met your expectations and for that I cannot undo or change and that makes my heart hurt profoundly. But through difficulties this has just made your resilience shine even brighter.
“Though she be but little, she is fierce!”
-Shakespeare
Now you will begin your adventures in education and your impact will reverberate down through the years in the young people who are lucky to have you as their teacher. It’s your calling in life, and although there will be some tough days and even tougher circumstances you may encounter, I know your light will shine through and your realm of influence will create a brighter place as a result.
In closing, I’ll share with you a few things that I have learned over the years. We only regret the chances we didn’t take: remember that the gifts you possess within you are there for a reason, so be fearless as you move forward because the world needs your talents. Those who think they know everything, actually know nothing: so remain humble, stay open hearted and open minded. When in doubt, err on the side of compassion towards others. When confronted with an incomplete picture, never assume but rather seek out the answers for yourself before reaching solid conclusions. Always keep learning. The world’s greatest achievements are never created in a vacuum, but are accomplished through collaboration with others of differing mindsets, experiences, and backgrounds.
“What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”
-Henry David Thoreau
And most importantly, remember that I am always here for you and love you with every fiber of my being. My door is always open to you at any time and for any reason and no circumstances will ever change that. You deserve the best of all that life has to offer, and I have no doubt that the best is yet to come for you.
EXCLUSIVE
Pack Productions goes interstate, traveling to Chicago to produce content for a retailer announcement release
EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP WITH SPYDER ANNOUNCEMENT
After a year and a half of churning out projects left and right (many of which were for True Value), someone from our Corporate Communications team reached out about having me produce a video for an upcoming partnership announcement for our retailers. I traveled to Chicago and spent the week filming for the launch and also working on another side project while there involving media to our retailers (more on that later). The project included many on the communications team, the SVP of merchandising and several from his team, as well as our CEO, who came by for an introductory message to include. This was a surreal moment and one you could not have convinced me would be happening if you tried to tell me two years ago. I would never have believed it. The crazy thing is that, while this was beyond amazing, it is just one of many other opportunities that have come my way since fall of 2022. My story is proof that setting clear intentions, pushing ahead through tough times, and wholly embracing the identity of what it is you want, that you can truly manifest your dreams. The mirror principle in action: what you put out into the universe is what the universe will support and reflect back to you what it is that it interprets that which you convey. I plan to explain more about the unbelievable things that have happened in the past few years at some point when I have time - I’ve been busy which is a great thing in this case! I am so thankful and humbled by the support that has come to me in so many different forms as well as individuals who encouraged me when I needed it and for that I am eternally grateful! Excited to see what lies ahead!
PTA MERCHANDISING ANNOUNCEMENT
And of course I could not pass up posting some great outtakes:
WOODSTOCK
I made a visit to the town where “Groundhog Day” was filmed
While in the Chicago area, and specifically the north west surrounding area of Chicago, I got to visit Woodstock, IL - which you may or may not know is where the movie “Groundhog Day” was filmed. See if you can identify any of the photos I took from the movie.
IN LIVING COLOR
Using different colored lighting creates many different looks.
Mini photo shoot with Jenna-Elizabeth
Lighting can make all the difference between a good and bad photograph. Mixing it up with various colors of lighting creates several different looks that you can use as a single image or combine with others making a really cool collage. Just utilize a dark room and for this photo shoot we used a ring light that produces different colors.
CELESTIAL MAGNIFICENCE
A once in a lifetime event
FOUR MINUES PLUS TEN SECONDS EQUALS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EVENT
April 8, 2024 we will witness a once in a lifetime event as we enter a total solar eclipse!
INEXORABLE
From Henry David Thoreau’s wisdom in the book, Walden
The wisdom of Henry David Thoreau
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life that he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours”
WE THE PARENTS
Released just earlier this year, this documentary provides an excellent explanation of the destruction perpetrated against families at the hands of our own judicial system. (NOT one of our productions, but definitely needed to be recommended)
This documentary just released this year in 2024, is a must see, eye-opening look at the current corrupt system. (For clarity, this is not a Pack Productions creation but needs to be promoted and recommended nonetheless) The preview clip here pretty succinctly explains most of the ways in which families are routinely traumatized by the system and how this same system refuses to reform a structure that rewards their continued abuse of power. If you’re like me, I personally had no idea any of this went on, believing that the justice system would surely provide competent and common sense solutions - until I found myself caught up in it. The reality is that you are more likely to fare better in criminal court any day than to even be heard in family court. The stories of unnecessary agony, pain and suffering are numerous and sadly this is the most common outcome one can expect.
This is a classic tactic of our government, used for other nefarious purposes to great success in the past: keep people from organizing and trying to challenge the system by getting them to instead fight amongst themselves. You can see how this played out with civil rights, by instilling a revolting sense of false superiority among poorer whites over people of color thereby keeping them from organizing alongside the civil rights leaders. It’s sad to realize how many bought this lie, but sadder still to see how effective it was in slowing real progress and in the end we all lost to the elites in power. Apathy is a good friend to the corrupt.
So, this topic may not affect you personally, but it probably touches someone close to you in some way. Instead of turning away, I would highly recommend watching and asking yourself how you might feel if it were you and your children who were being played as pawns in a larger scheme and realizing that under the current system, you were highly unlikely to have even an opportunity presented to be heard. Unless you could afford an excellent attorney’s fees on top of the system already arbitrarily siphoning one third of your income or more. But even if you had the best attorney money could by, the odds still are not in your favor.
If there’s any scenario wherein you could imagine the exploitation of your own children in exchange for government funds, which can absolutely happen to anyone, then please educate yourself to the reality before us all.
EPISTEMIC HUMILITY
A true sign of intelligence is being able to change your mind when presented with a new set of facts.
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
Anyone who knows me knows that I love podcasts. In fact, I frequently find myself frequently relating conversations to a recently listened to podcast. A few days ago, I was listening to a podcast where the host was interviewing Megan Phelps-Roper, who was once closely tied to the toxic Westboro Baptist Church. She is the granddaughter of the late founder, Fred Phelps. Her story was quite interesting. While still deeply involved in the church, she became active on twitter on behalf of the institution and it was through people she met online who took the time to hear her out and share their own stories that convinced her she was not where she ought to be. She eventually found the courage to break free from the church and move away from its negative and oppressive atmosphere. She now spends her time sharing her story and attempting to make amends with those she once hurt. A phrase was mentioned in her story that really struck me. The phrase was epistemic humility. The word epistemic means relating to knowledge or to the degree of its validation. Therefore, epistemic humility is having an appreciation for the fact that you don’t know and will never know everything there is to know. Many of the problems we face today stem from a lack of this understanding. People are so eager to share their viewpoint, which in their eyes is the only correct viewpoint, without taking the time to listen to others. Spreading disinformation that makes us feel good just because it aligns with our point of view without researching the facts. We lack understanding because we don’t take the time to empathize and listen to the experiences of others. The more that science reveals of the universe, the more mysteries it uncovers, prompting more questions to be answered. Human beings once believed the world to be flat (some still do), then many were confident that the sun revolved around the earth. Then we learned about not only our own solar system but have discovered a plethora of exoplanets circling distant systems among the billions of known stars in the billion of galaxies. And today we are able to peer down into the quantum realm, which has shaken up and tossed around all that we once thought we knew to be true about the world around us and left us redefining the parameters of our views on reality itself. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. In Christian circles, many scriptural misinterpretations happen when the Bible is taken literally and without the context in which it was meant during the time it was written. While there is most certainly a wealth of knowledge found in scripture, we can not ignore the book of nature that is laid out before our very eyes. True followers of Christ would understand that the gist of the Bible is love and if you are closed off to your fellow human beings because of some misinterpreted text then you’ve completely missed the point of why God placed us here to begin with. There’s a reason why the message Jesus presents is quite different and more widely accepted than the whole of scripture. The joy of life is found in our differences. In loving those who God places in our path regardless of skin color, nationality, social standing, dialect, or who they were born being. Epistemic humility is understanding our finite knowledge as human beings. I don’t think God intended any of us to ever claim we have arrived or have complete understanding of all things. Otherwise he wouldn’t have made such an insanely complex universe. I think that the day we are able to see the bigger picture we will all be in awe of all that we did NOT know. We have only scratched the surface of understanding. A true sign of intelligence is being able to change your mind when presented with differing information (factual information that is). We should adjust our views when we are presented with new discoveries, while at the same time being humble enough to know that we will never have COMPLETE knowledge. So, my takeaway from all of this is to stay humble, love others, be kind, and realize that you will never know all things so don’t even pretend to have all the answers. Take time to listen – I mean really listen – and empathize with others. I guarantee you will find so many hidden blessings you never even realized were there had you been closed minded. This is love.
-Partially revised repost from July 2023