Together there is an "us"
Undiscovered behind screens
Each interaction is a taste
So we know of higher things
Dissolve borders and names
Add them to our identity
Of youth filled flames
It is interesting to think of ourselves first as individuals. Think of the things that make us who we are. The foods we crave... the stories we tell... the silence that falls on us when we are surrounded with nature. This identity is a seed. It is a concept that is meant to be built upon.
Now consider an 'us' that comprises our shared individual memories... our shared passions. That feeling when you have traveled to the same place as someone else. That level of connection that makes you forget about time.
It is only through conversation on and offline that we get a sense of two becoming one. We are still very much individuals, but to simultaneously feel individuality and camaraderie is magical.
A lot of people like to personify 2020 as being a harsh slam-you-with-a-lot-of-crazy-shit-at-once type of person. But there is always another equal and opposite perspective.
Imagine everyone who has been painted as enemies sitting together in a field having a picnic. Calm conversations and bursts of laughter rise among this peaceful gathering. The sounds of people sharing foods and stories accent the sounds of birds and distant vehicles. Imagine being in this field where people who have been presented as enemies have made peace.
Imagine driving by such a scene. You are going about your daily business and you see a park filled with folks just enjoying eachother's company. You pull over to an open parking spot and decide to ask one group what is going on.
They tell you to sit down and see for yourself. One woman asks if you like peanut butter and jelly or cucumber sandwiches. It is warm outside so you tell her you like the cool "cuke" sandwich. She hands it to you with a bottle of water and a cookie. Someone says:
"We were just talking about our favorite vacation. What place have you traveled to that made you want to change your current residence?"
You begin talking about your trip to Spain and nearly everyone sitting on the blanket eating with you has been to Spain or knows someone who has visited. While they had flown there different years than you, the time difference is melted into one giant jigsaw puzzle that helps you learn more about the place you love and what she looked like before you got there and after you left.
You are filled with a greater love for the thing you already loved thanks to these strangers who are now friends.
The sweetness of life is having places that are unknown and undiscovered. This is what is beautiful about the summer. The warmth of the summer almost has a spirit that draws people out from their homes and apartments to places where they will have their guards down. I used to think I needed something in common with someone else to talk to them.
But what more could I have in common with another human being? What could possibly be better than knowing that another person has traveled from where they are to where I am? The summer makes a voyage a rare gem, because who knows how long I will be at a place to enjoy your presence?
I know the summer is typically associated with travel and some people will travel. Others won't due to COVID19. But I think it is important to see any interaction as an opportunity to create a fruitful garden of experiences. Online and offline... At the supermarket or at a park... On a zoom call or on social media. Any of these experiences are rare gems because for a moment, your world has intersected someone else's world.
It is important to explore aspects of humanity that are non-human. Like how you can define something by what it is and what it is not. For example, when we enter a moment we have a linear sense of time. The weight of this concept is greater in a waiting room. This weight disappears when we are lovingly with someone or doing something creative.
How do you resolve this difference? Either time is linear or time is just a quantum dimension where decades are like boxes in a chalked out hopscotch map.
What about if time is both? It is a good exercise to consider non-linear time. Because it is very much non-linear after it has happened. As humans we can skip between memories of an experience like a child skipping a smoothed stone on a lake.
If time can be perceived as non-linear, then what other human experience can be revisited and viewed in a new light?
This is probably the most beautiful thing about cryptocurrencies and the least appreciated thing. The fact that people from around the world can - at the most basic level - send value around the world as easily as someone can share ideas. Where I can read a 
Or if I don't want people to see my business, I can choose an anonymous coin to keep my transactions private.
Or if I want to play Splinterlands, I can just use money I've earned from blogging to play a great strategy game. Or I could rent a card to someone on the other side of the world and they could pay me to use it in their battles.
Think about the tech and monetary borders and barriers that existed 10 years ago that you dance around and leap over now.
It is very true that if you inadvertently starve yourself, you will start to munch on anything that is nearby. The act of grabbing nearby snacks doesn't help with being hungry, it only prolongs the desire.
This is also true when we look at ourselves at this time. Don't just look at actions as islands floating in an ocean. See the connections. Observe the ecosystems.
What is something that you desire? Why do you desire it? What is your story as it relates to that desire?
For me, I can take a concrete example like apples, and I know that in our private school Autumn often meant we would take a field trip to a farm. It was my first time smelling hay, being in a wagon, and tasting fresh apples. The apples I tried from a farm were often Macintosh apples. I got bored with that flavor and tried imported apples like Red Delicious. Then as I got older, I tried Honey Crisp, Red Gala, Empire, but the apple that was right for me as an adult was Macintosh. I had traveled enough to have tasted in in a variety of salads and dishes. I knew how to make apple crisp and apple souffle. It seemed like Macintosh was the Mario of apples.
Now I don't touch apples because I am on a keto diet now but this restriction has given me a fonder appreciation for the smell of fresh apples!
The cool think is that identity of Macintosh apples being versatile and not too sour or not too sweet is something I desire for my life. I want to be versatile and have art based experiences and coding. I want to learn more about my town, but also travel to other towns. I want to remember good times with my family and plan on new trips while my kids are still home. In my identity I highly value versatility. If I starve myself of this, then I silently mute a part of who I am.
I don't believe someone becomes an adult and discards all parts of themselves. I think that we are more like onions or trees. Where each season we face creates a new layer of us. We are re-connecting to experiences and new challenges allow us to pass through all our old stages, but because we are older we just go through them faster.
This is hard to see when you see someone younger than you do something you think is foolish. But easy to see when you remember foolish things you did in your youth. The same goes when you see the brightness of a young person's countenance and remember moments where you reflected the seem cheer as your younger self.
I think Steve Jobs said, "Stay Foolish" quoting the Whole Earth Catalog, because stepping into new ventures allows us to become a child again. It allows us to tap into that infinite well within us to overcome any challenge and use our innate abilities to be valuable to ourselves and to our community.
Image sources:
https://unsplash.com/@belchev
https://unsplash.com/@georgepotter
https://unsplash.com/@ljr
https://unsplash.com/@jareddrice
https://unsplash.com/@bigkids
https://unsplash.com/@dhaya_edd_art
https://unsplash.com/@jordanfmcqueen
