Love and cherish our world. That’s the secret to remaining both (A) deeply happy and (B) well-informed about the dystopian abuses of the empire.
You don’t have to choose. You can have both.
I sometimes get called a Debbie Downer for my nonstop writing about all the evils that are being inflicted upon our world by powerful people every day, but readers who meet me or listen to my podcasts have often expressed surprise at how upbeat and cheerful I am in real life. They see me focusing on extremely dark subject matter day after day and expressing rage and revulsion at the horrors we are witnessing, so they expect me to show up as some kind of dour, jaded misanthrope.
But the truth is I am a very happy person. I don’t generally mention it because this writing project isn’t about me, but my overall experience of life from moment to moment is one of awe, wonder and delight. I experience the full range of emotions and I get my heart ripped out of my chest by Gaza just like anybody else, but after feeling my feelings all the way through I return to marveling at this astonishingly beautiful planet we get to walk around on.
And I only mention this now because I sense an urgent need for the message that you don’t actually have to choose between living a joyful, satisfying life and ferociously opposing the abuses of the machine. I can assure you from personal experience with one hundred percent confidence that you can do both.
I keep hearing people say they avoid news and politics because they find it too depressing. I often see replies to my posts talking about how it’s so hard to go on while knowing about all the war, starvation, tyranny and ecocide the empire is inflicting upon our world. People engaged in activism, real journalism and meaningful politics often look like they’re carrying the weight of the world in their faces, and exhaustion drips from every syllable they speak.
And I’m here to assure you that it really does not need to be this way. The idea that there’s some conflict between personal happiness and engagement with the harsh realities of our world is just empty mind fluff born of flawed perception. It does not deserve to be taken seriously. You can recognize this in your own direct experience with a simple adjustment in your thinking.
It’s actually easy to be both happy and well-informed, and the reason is very simple: because the source of both is the same. The same impulse which drives someone to learn about the abuses of the powerful so they can fight for a better future is also the gateway to joy and wonder. That impulse is called love.
Yes, love. That might land a little corny in an online space generally dedicated to discussing militarism and state tyranny, but it’s the truth. If you didn’t have some love for the world, you wouldn’t care that oligarchs and empire managers are destroying it, and you wouldn’t be in this online space reading this paragraph. You are reading this sentence right now because love for the world is already shining within you.
And if you have love for the world, you have the gateway to happiness right in front of you.
Love and cherish the world with all your heart, and happiness will inevitably follow. Make a practice of pulling your attention away from the grumbling narratives in your mental monologue, and place it instead on the wonders of this beautiful planet in each moment.
The sight of the sky. The scent of the air. The sound of birdsong and playing children. The human hubbub of a bustling city. The rich field of felt sensation in your body (which most adults are only dimly aware of). There is always something beautiful happening in your immediate sensory experience. Always. If you look hard enough, you will find it.
That’s what love is. Deeply appreciating what’s showing up here and now.
Relish your terrestrial human experience from moment to moment to moment, and with practice you will open up a joyful way of living that becomes exponentially better than anything you ever could have imagined. You will begin enjoying your time on this planet because you are actually present for it.
Do you see what I am pointing to here? Can you see how there is no difference between loving your experience of being in this world and loving the world so much that you want to help improve it? Between cherishing each moment on this earth and fighting to stop it from being destroyed?
It’s the same impulse. The same movement. There’s no separation and no contradiction between these two invitations. They are one.
Let your love grow and expand. Let it draw you into an intimate delight in your moment to moment experience of life on this planet, and let it compel you to action in the fight against the imperial machine. Fall in love with the world, and let it compel you to action. It’s all happening in the same motion.
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Highly recommend hugging a tree. With a beneficent attitude. A repeat tree partner if possible.
In a world where forces of industry and empire are destroying life, the act of loving life is itself resistance. And vice versa.