20220506
Been a little off of my journaling routine as the semester wraps up and I’m making a note of this to remind myself to be more disciplined about ensuring I get to it each day.
I watched The Straight Story last night with a friend remotely. It’s probably the most normal David Lynch film that I have ever seen and I’m very curious how he got attached to it. The film was very subtle and I don’t want to say too much for those that would want to watch it, but I think I would mostly summarize the film as a mediation on aging. It also made me think about the collective traumas brought on after World War II that were collectively ignored and stuffed away. It is stranger now that almost all veterans of World War II are dead now and this collective trauma is now manifesting in second order ways through their descendants and how the trauma shaped their lives.
I’ve been thinking about how there are so many terrible things going on in the world that are literally just ignored in some fashion because it is so hard to think about. I don’t think it is healthy overall for the world to just ignore these things. For example, the war in Ukraine right now is often discussed from strategic levels, but the everyday effect this is having to the millions of people on the ground there will be largely ignored as all collective traumas seem to be. Ignoring these things seems to be subtly enabling them to persist and make those engaging in it perhaps justify it because it is a thing that is done and not talked about. Perhaps its also ignored because it seems like such an insurmountable problem to address. I’m not really sure.
I think the best that any individual can do is strive to be peaceful, patient, and generous with those who you interact with each day. I believe that small acts of kindness and selflessness lend themselves to greater order changes on a societal level. People engage with others in ways that they perceive is the right way to engage with others. When someone has a pleasant interaction with you that tends to brighten up your day and encourage you to have a pleasant interactions with others. Obviously it is tremendously difficult to measure anything like this, but based on my intuitions and interactions so far in life this seems to a simple and free thing that anyone can do to create a better culture.
Daily Listening
Classic Marcos Valle Bossa Nova
Daily Reading
Almost done with The Rings of Saturn. I started the Jim Morris memoir earlier this week too and am pretty surprised at the type of person he was growing up (pretty reckless teen and big boozer) so I’m curious to see how he transitioned in his life and what remained the same. I’ve come to find value in reading memoirs as you can see how others made their way through life which can help show you “oh I can do something like that”, which is a powerful idea.