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building something meaningful requires you to let go of the obsession with perfection. It requires empowering others and trusting them to do their part, even if they do it differently than you might have. But trust is a two-way street. Autonomy means you’re held accountable.”
“Shankar Vedantam wrote that those who travel with the current will always feel they are good swimmers, while those who swim against the current may never realize they are better swimmers than they imagine,”
Happiness seemed a losing proposition to Dag. The fish would die. The victory would prove Pyrrhic. The tumbler would soon empty. Joy was nothing but a cursory peak on the sine wave of life.
When you’ve always had something to lose, you don’t know what true desperation feels like.
industry had thrived for nearly two centuries, not just on the strength of its product but on the largess of taxpayers. Operators drilled on federal lands leased for cheap. Massive subsidies supported their balance sheets like pylons. Thousands of tax loopholes guaranteed they needn’t contribute to the system they profited from. Meanwhile, their lobbyists ensured that such benefits were protected but prevented their extension to competing energy sources, slowing commercialization and adoption of renewables.
Those who travel with the current will always feel they are good swimmers, while those who swim against the current may never realize they are better swimmers than they imagine.
Critical thinking without hope was cynicism, while hope without critical thinking was naïveté.
Choosing not to care might mitigate the risk of pain, but in doing so it destroyed the capacity for joy, for finding meaning.
Make it to the next moment, and then the one after that.
If we are the stories we tell ourselves, what happens when someone else controls the narrative? What does it take for a cynic to rediscover authenticity? How is technology changing the structure and exercise of power?
The world is what we make it. If we throw up our hands when the going gets tough, we get what we deserve. So take a deep breath, do some gentle stretching, and make the world a better place. Do a favor for a stranger. Be kind when instinct calls for harshness. Question your assumptions. Make good art. Tell your loved ones how grateful you are to have them in your life. Lend a hand to those in need. Take real risks to do the right thing.
