String Theory in Revue-- 2024
I’m not going to lie to you.
It’s been a long, wild year. Macro, micro, and everything in between. During the sailing ship times, sailors would resort to tying themselves to the mast in heavy weather to avoid being washed overboard. Yet another example of the utility of "strings", at least in theory. My own "strings" with which I tied myself to the mast in 2024 were sixteen essays posted on the blog.
Believe it or not, I rarely read anything I’ve written after the completion of editing and presentation of the essays to you, dear readers. The exception is at the end of every year. That's when I take another look and try to discern what the hell I’ve been blabbering on about all year.
Here are convenient links to each and every essay of 2024 in hopes that you too might wish to take another look, or perhaps read an essay that you might have missed before.
I started the year with Passing It Along, "an invitation to a departure from the scoresheet mentality, and an act of liberation from the constraints that bind us to a world of give and take."
Here are the rest of my essays, in sequential order, beginning in January 2024.
"In the midst of crafting our goals, let's not overlook the importance of preparing a place for what the New Year holds in store for us. Perhaps we only need to carve out a little space. There can be plenty if we remember to unpack the baggage of yesteryear, and bring along a wardrobe of fresh possibilities."
THE TYRANNY OF MY SOCK DRAWER,
"First, dig into that soulless sock drawer of yours and root out the causes of chaos.
You, and the universe, will be better for it."
ESCAPE FROM NOWHERE- self-discovery during Covid
"Nothing was open except the wide open spaces– parks, lakes, parts-of-self which hadn’t been visited for quite some time. As they traveled across America, just the two of them, plus two pet cats for company and a motorcycle for joy rides, spaces began to become even wider: their minds, hearts, desires, needs, new visions of who they were, and could become.
Turns out– the parts they went to were not so unknown, just forgotten."
EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY IN THE AGE OF AI
"To be human is to be uncertain. As much as we might hate it….it’s true.
AI will soon give us explanations with such certainty, that we must remember what it is to be uncertain to retain our humanity."
MY MOTHER'S WISHES- A tribute to my mother, on Mother's Day
“Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart."
-Vaclav Havel
WHAT FRANZ KLAMMER TAUGHT ME THAT DAY
"What did Franz Klammer teach me that day?
That despite expectations, you don’t always crash.
That even though winning seems next to impossible, you can sometimes defy the odds.
Occasionally, what you perceive as the out-of-bounds of your limits could be the best path forward, a foundation from which all else springs.
Klammer taught me that sometimes, you should be willing to change the geometry of your run, and perhaps you will discover that the far edges turn out to be right down the middle of where you want to go.
IF YOU FOUND A FORK IN THE ROAD, WOULD YOU TAKE IT?
It’s a romantic notion to weave through the zigs and zags of life, instinctively making the right choices. Each fork that’s meant to be taken, is the one you take, right?
Luchador rule número 130 :
You must exaggerate everything, but especially your own pain and suffering. You must let everyone know just how much it all hurts. But most importantly for this rule, you must never forget to remind yourself how much pain you endure and what a great fighter you are to take on any and all of your own personal luchas.
MY LIFE AS A TAROT CARD READER AND SEMI-PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER
When I was in my teens, I learned to read tarot cards, admittedly because it seemed to impress the girls.
To my surprise, I got pretty good at it.
I learned of Camp Logan in a rather strange way. Like most old houses, mine was creaky, but this one was downright spooky. I would hear noises– footsteps in the house, on the roof, doors closing– day and night.
THE BEST WORST IDEA IVE EVER HAD- POOPDECK
Some say being an entrepreneur is a neurological disorder.
I’m about to prove their point.
These are the most short-sighted of times. Our societies, tastes, and economies are not at all built to last, but to be disposed of and replaced. This era is defined by change, sculpting our viewpoints to accommodate what we see as an inevitable shift. Nothing lasts forever. A binary world pits tomorrow against forever, with a dash in between–“tomorrow-forever”. The problem with this is that there is a lot of space contained within that dash. Here’s where the need for long vision comes in.
WE ARE EVERYWHERE ... ALL AT ONCE
Recently, I had the opportunity to experience time differently on a trip to Page, AZ, a small, non-descript town at the edge of Navajo country on the Colorado River. There, within perhaps a five-mile circumference of planetary space, co-exists several different time zones.
YOUR STORY GOES (HERE): AUSTIN TOGETHER
Austin Together, whose purpose is to strengthen the nonprofit community in Central Texas by enabling sustained collaborations. Host Ray Brimble interviews the Executive Director of Austin Together, Karen LaShelle, and the Board Chair, Rich Smalling.
So, there you have it. What is the string that connects these essays? I admit to a lot of randomness in my choice of writings. And that's kinda the point– the tie that binds.
If we can just use a little of that rope to hogtie our expectations, rather than creating a noose for our imminent hanging, all kinds of things tend to pop up, go away, get real important, become completely irrelevant, make us happy, draw a little tear.
I can be okay with it all. It’s the uncertainty of placing your next order at a restaurant without a menu. What will they serve? Will I like it? Can I afford it? How did I get to this restaurant anyway?
Welcome to 2025– another danged restaurant with a menu we can’t read. Bon Appetit!
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