The biggest picture only exists because it’s made up of infinitely many smaller pictures. On our trip we’ve been learning how to balance seeing as much as possible and still appreciating the little actions that make being alive so special.
Today Kim, a writer with Downtown Project and an awesome woman, remarked that our mission to ‘evolve ourselves and evolve culture’ was a really big-picture concept that many people don’t often make part of their consciousness. She asked whether I woke up one day and started thinking like that or whether it’s something that’s always been part of the way I see things. I said the latter.
It made me think about the benefits and drawbacks of achieving a universal perspective. It allows you to see how you fit into the rest of the world, to better predict the real consequences of actions, and to choose what parts of life are worthy of focus. This can lead to incredible success and real fulfillment. It can also lead to feeling overwhelmed and helpless to make a difference in a world so much bigger than any one person.
I think the key is to be able to keep the big picture in mind but stay present and focused on whatever’s at hand. This avoids the trap of being too caught up with thinking and designing and forgetting to experience being alive.
On the other side of things, I think it’s extremely important especially right now for people to take some time to realize how they fit into the bigger picture of society. As more and more people are willing to look outside ourselves and really see what effects we have on society, we’re realizing that we collectively have the potential to do incredible things. We could eliminate poverty and hunger no problem, for example.
Time to balance out this big-picture thinking with some good ol’ fashioned exploring of Las Vegas!
I think Las Vegas is the perfect place to find a way to eliminate poverty and hunger because it is the ‘freeist’ place I know. Right on! Namaste, Soju!
this idea that we can eliminate hunger and poverty, comes from a generation of overly protected and praised children who somehow believe that they have the power to change the most complicated issue on our planet, and that they know how poor people think! Actually most poor people are happier than wealthy people because they are well connected to their friends and neighborhoods. Why don’t you find a way to help wealthy people -who are the highest per cent of binge drinkers in our society (hence vegas). The big picture as you say doesn’t matter, until each person has the integrity to view their world with honesty, right now your in denial- honestly you should take off your fancy sunglasses and take a close look at your own – you’ll find more problems with white educated people than you will in the poorest neighborhoods of America! It’s America’s wealthy kids who keep the drugs flowing! Whose mommies fill the medicine cabinet. I’m tired of this help the poor attitude- we need to help the wealthy, cause they are draggy us down!
Hey lipzip, thanks for giving me a reason to clarify this.
I should have pointed out a larger variety of problems such as depression or disease which are prevalent in richer communities as well. By ‘poverty’ I didn’t mean ‘poor,’ I meant lacking opportunity to be healthy and empowered, which has way more to do with community than money as you point out.
I didn’t say ‘help the poor,’ because like you said ‘the poor’ don’t need help. People who aren’t able to find peace and happiness in their lives are those who could use guidance and end up hindering society. As you stated this certainly includes the rich, the poor and anyone in between, since money has little to do with loving life. That said, I had great friends who grew up hungry and yes they were still happy much of the time, but let me tell you they’d rather have known where their next meal was coming from so they could enjoy their time instead of constantly worrying about how to eat. Hunger IS a problem that’s worth eliminating.
What I was trying to talk about was that people, regardless of wealth or status, should realize how they treat the people around them so we can give each other inspiration and support to be our best. Not in the sense of earning money or getting educated, but in the more universal sense of loving ourselves and others. This is what I believe is occurring more and more across the country (and probably the globe, though I don’t have much experience with that).
Whether or not you want to see it, this shift (which coincides with modern technology) DOES give us the power to eliminate or at least drastically reduce problems such as hunger or depression. If ‘protected’ kids are helping make that happen, awesome**. If toughened kids are, awesome. Doesn’t matter who, the point is that it applies to everyone which is what makes its potential so powerful.
By the way, I don’t own sunglasses lol and I have been working on taking a good look at my own. Hopefully it’s apparent that that’s what I was suggesting for everyone to do in the post. Thanks for your views and helping me and our readers to better understand what I was trying to say- let me know if you have more thoughts.
Cheers, Mike
** side note **
If our generation is over-protected and praised it’s because as a species humans have surpassed our limits of natural evolution and now we’re pretty much able to shape our environment however we want. So our parents had the chance to do that with us, which isn’t something to deny and call ‘over-protected,’ it’s something to accept and realize that now we have some incredible opportunities to adapt and we should take them.
I want to see more Black people on this tour fellas.
haha whatup Ray, you know there’s always room for you to come diversify us.