I’ve been trying to come up with an explanation to my absence of writing this blog. I think I have one.
Last week my family and I walked through the Redwoods in Northern California. If you haven’t been, go. We stood next to trees that were thousands of years old. Some were here even before Jesus Christ himself, that’s a powerful moment. I really started to examine the human ego and why we think we are so important. I questioned myself and society equally. My conclusion: people are the most complex and confused species in the history of the universe. We make beautiful things, like this golden ale I’m currently sipping on. We revel in our accomplishments, like flying into space. We create communities. We have the ability to grow our own food. All of the wonderment of human creation is displayed for anyone to see and yet, these trees don’t care. They live on despite our plan to destroy them. They evolved and actually have three times the chromosomes of other trees to deal with us and environmental catastrophe. They adapt and we, well we devolve in many ways. The earth is more powerful than man will ever be. The minute she doesn’t want us here anymore, game over. The earth and her massive redwoods will likely survive us and we will just be a blip in the fossil record.
What I am saying is that in some ways I feel like these trees. I watch the plight of man. I read the condemnation of politics. I try to understand. Here’s the truth: we just make shit up. Sometimes the inventions that are created don’t mean anything, like American Idol. I know people that cry during contest shows like that. Why? We are amazingly confused about what is important. I watch as parents of a new generation are not guiding their kids to be much better versions of themselves, rather just than just being versions of themselves. When my kid eventually says, “daddy, I want to be like you…” a conversation will be had. I watch people, smart people argue that their way is the only way, even though there are 7 billion other people on the planet and thousands of years of history. I watch people die for no reason. People have forgotten where they come from. They forgot that we are all evolved from the same place and whether it is Africa or God is irrelevant. People are all the same, biologically we only evolved based off where we migrated to in relation to the sun. People near the equator remained dark to protect against harmful sun radiation and people that moved north evolved lighter skin to take in the suns good vitamin D. That’s pretty fucking amazing, yet we forget because we have small brains and we like to fight and measure of endowment. We fight because we think our way… you know the rest. Human Ego.
So, I grew tired of it. I don’t read mindless Facebook posts anymore. I exercise my right to think for myself and create children that will be able to think, not just regurgitate some idea I had once. ((yeah, yeah, every once in awhile I post or repost a point. And it’s always thrown back at me, like it’s my problem.)) Have we lost the ability to listen and only shout?
I am terrified at the lack of human empathy, the value of another’s life and disregard for another’s point of view. These three problems will destroy us, maybe not tomorrow or the next day but eventually it will catch up and those trees will still be blowing in the wind.
I’m not sure this ramble makes any sense to you but it does to my own “time to time” absence. I love people and hate people equally. Look around and find some good. Be kind to someone that you think could use it. Lose the Ego for just a second and feel how good it is to actually be allowed to live on this planet.
billygrant 