ephemeral people
I place that phrase at the top because it feels important. It is from a thought provoking piece by Halzelnut. It suggest a not so optimistic tone about the future of an American culture that values transience. I do not think that our recent awkward attempt to manage the pandemic is to blame for this, but it has not helped. If large numbers of our adult popluation are sick and might die, it is not odd to think we all view each day as unique and that planning ahead for more than a week is a fool's errand.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/VSRR10-508.pdf
"this is all we have now, just today and tomorrow- nothing else"
I am paraphrasing, but this is a sentiment I hear a lot from my peers. We have now. That is all we know, and we can't be promised more than that.
So if we prioritize Here and stop thinking of There, doesn't that limit so much of how we build a future? How do we work together- plan together, build together - as a group-- if we don't really believe there is a future to work on.
Not nihlism I suppose, but certainly not cooperation Looking out for ourselves is a very human thing to do- but
making the choice to exclude others- probably bad. Making the choice to ignore the environment, bad. Ignoring the rest of the world, the rest of this week, the rest of this year-- I can't think that is a healthy path forward.
My hope for this year is that we value each other- More. We value our time with each other-More. And, lastly- that we ignore little- that we notice and cherish more.
Let's all make our life Fuller- not smaller.