Perspective Powerslide
I’m reading Sapiens right now. It’s a good book, but dense. I probably won’t finish it. Anyway, the author does a great job at framing humanity through a clear lens. As in, we are small and insignificant. A blink of the evolutionary eye.
But reading it in lockdown has provided even more perspective. I can’t help but picture the human race as a group of teenagers who hopped in Mother Earth’s rental car around the Industrial Revolution and started speeding down the highway. Forty…60...80. They put the pedal down. One hundred…120…140. They giggle with the power beneath them. One sixty…180…200. We are in control.
Suddenly. Up ahead. An incomplete bridge leading to a deadly drop. The driver pulls the e-brake and the wheels lock and squeal and smoke and the passengers scream as they stop just before the cliff’s edge. First they’re silent. Then they breathe. Then they laugh. That was close.
This is us, right now. Forward momentum halted. A forced timeout from unbridled speed. They say that if you go half the speed you see twice as much. But here we are, at a dead stop, and wouldn’t you know it — there’s actually lots of cool shit to look at.
Slowly,
taylor
P.S. Having trouble slowing down and seeing what’s around you? Check out this meditation app. Our CEO gifted it to us. I’ve been doing it (almost) daily for a few weeks and it’s very helpful.
But reading it in lockdown has provided even more perspective. I can’t help but picture the human race as a group of teenagers who hopped in Mother Earth’s rental car around the Industrial Revolution and started speeding down the highway. Forty…60...80. They put the pedal down. One hundred…120…140. They giggle with the power beneath them. One sixty…180…200. We are in control.
Suddenly. Up ahead. An incomplete bridge leading to a deadly drop. The driver pulls the e-brake and the wheels lock and squeal and smoke and the passengers scream as they stop just before the cliff’s edge. First they’re silent. Then they breathe. Then they laugh. That was close.
This is us, right now. Forward momentum halted. A forced timeout from unbridled speed. They say that if you go half the speed you see twice as much. But here we are, at a dead stop, and wouldn’t you know it — there’s actually lots of cool shit to look at.
Slowly,
taylor
P.S. Having trouble slowing down and seeing what’s around you? Check out this meditation app. Our CEO gifted it to us. I’ve been doing it (almost) daily for a few weeks and it’s very helpful.