Essay on Hope

Where We currently Are

It goes without saying that we are in a unique time in history. Today, I invite you to take a holistic view of society with me. Did you know that it only takes 6 people to reach any person on Earth, with the internet probably even less. Now pivoting to a different point, it is from my experience that the greatest indicator of happiness is one's sense of community and purpose. Before diving deeper into this, let's come back to the idea of the internet for a second though. The internet in my opinion is at the heart of sky high depression and unhappiness rates. On the contrary though, the internet is quite possibly the most brilliant invention ever. At face value the internet has united nearly the whole world, something unprecedented in history. With so much going on I decided to share my thoughts on some ideas that I find offer us as a humanity hope in light of such turbulent times.

So its poison

When I was a child I could only gauge or compare myself to what I could really see. The media I most consumed was probably that of television as a child. Viewing television offered snapshots of false reality with much of the media I consumed being fantasy. As I have gotten older I have found beauty in tv versus the short form content today most of us consume today. I think films and television at times really portray the common human experience well despite their elaborate worlds. The longer form content I believe served me well as creative inspiration, even if I knew it was not real life. What was all too real were the comparisons to other humans especially when people had cooler things than me like phones, clothes etc. Now looking back at those times, none of that mattered then but it was real life. Well lets now blow up that "reality" of comparison with humans to the maximum extent because of the internet. With the internet you now have access to everyone anytime anywhere. You have access to anyone anytime anywhere. Let's take a quick step sideways to explore something that probably happens on a daily basis. On a common day you talk about things that you see with your family or friends. Memorable conversations on average tend to be things you see that are usually remarkable or out of the ordinary. Much of the subject of memorable conversation in the day to day now seems to stem at least from my experience from things seen online. Think about this: in history people probably saw memorable or remarkable things at only a fraction of what you or I see everyday. According to ourworldindata.org there are over 5 billion people on the internet. So if you are online like most people in the world, wow I am still stunned by this fact, you see the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately the poison that stems from this incredible internet is the bombardment of information and comparison it leads to.

Lets do some quick math suppose that 1% of the population is remarkable. That would roughly translate to over 80 million people worldwide. You have no idea how to even gauge what 80 million people together look like physically. So circling back to the point that you remember the remarkable or crazy, we intentionally through viewing information online set that standard for ourselves. That standard seems so common because so many people are doing crazy things and you are somehow left behind. In reality that group of remarkable people is such a small subset of the world. Additionally, the internet abstracts away the person behind the work so you have no idea who or what this person you are chasing is about. It becomes easy to just stop trying things because it seems like everything is built or done already. The internet lets you just observe what is going on. That's the issue you just stop and watch, cutting the line of doing. You don’t feel like chasing dreams because someone else might be chasing it better. Why go to Paris if you can traverse the streets in google maps and tons of other people have been to Paris. Why learn Physics or read the Brothers Karamazov if it's been studied for years and all the work is there for us to observe and just not do anything. If everything is done why leave our imprint on it and muddy the work of these brilliant artists. The lineage is done then, so there is no point to keep going, all jobs hopes and dreams will fade to obscurity. Well let me offer you a perspective on why we should have hope and that not all is lost. This generation was cursed with being able to see everything, this does not mean we experience everything. It is this experience that we get from doing things that is living. I guess the good thing is for you and me that there are still humans on this Earth to continue living. Just because we do common things does not mean we derive the same experience from them.

The key to living

Many cite that you need to have a goal in life to truly be happy. This idea in my opinion is a half truth. Goals goals goals I am tired of hearing my goal is to be a millionaire or own 40,000 apartments. I mean to be fair at least these goals are tangible. These goals though suffer from the fact that even if you get there it will not be enough. Pursuit of materialistic things will never be enough, and it will be challenging to potentially even get what you want because there's possibly no enjoyment in the path there. Money cannot produce the things that make us feel truly alive, those things come in the form of genuine relationships and true passions. I want to make a point here, I have found it extremely beneficial in my life to have friends who are of no use to me. Many of my friends could not help me with many of the problems I face on a daily basis. For some reason though, in many cases my friends and I would die for each other. Truly I am blessed to be able to just have fun and enjoy the nature of being social beings with the people I surround myself with. More so than anything it relaxes life to a point of just being. I have found when we do have conversations about work or passions, the different domains tend to be beneficial to our lines of thinking. Funnily enough there are tons of patterns that are true across any walk of life. I could talk all day about these patterns but most of them boil down to being humble, working hard, and being honest. Truly I do believe if you are practicing all three of these you don't have to worry about much else. Those human connections make up one of the most wholesome parts of being alive. So how do you get this community if you are not blessed with it? First check out clubs or organizations that do things you are passionate or interested about. If you can think of nothing, join an organization that provides service to the community. Trust me when I say this giving feels so much better than receiving. Within these organizations you will most likely find other great individuals from all walks of life, so I would say it's a good start. Finally, I want to talk about a pivotal event in my life. In grade school I was fascinated by history ,partly thanks to the great educators I had. Specifically I was interested in all things Ancient World and what was cooler than Ancient Rome. I imagined myself there in all the glory and made it a goal in life to get there no matter what. So what if I told you what I remember the most from going to the Colosseum was not the magnificent stadium. It was goofing around taking pictures with people I loved having fun. Having people has been the most important thing in my life.

Another key to living is the concept of time. So I mentioned before that many strive for wealth because they think it will give them freedom. I too thought like this at one point of my life. Believe it or not I had once told my teacher I would probably be done with Software engineering after a few years, retire a millionaire, have financial freedom off my investments, and just take a chill bureau job to make easy money ha. Well first of all even if that was my goal it now seems very infeasible. The rise of so many things I did not expect in the world have happened between now and then. Takeaway: do not try to predict the future and don’t have utopian hopes riding on it you will only be disappointed. The thing about time is that we have less than we think. Since I have turned 18, time has flown by in the blink of an eye. From talking to people, life just speeds up even more the older you get. So if your dream is to get rich so you can have freedom to pursue what you want without worrying about money, just know you have a lot riding on the unknown. Death is the only thing certain in this life and many times it comes at unexpected times. Just know that chance may have it that you will meet your end or decline in health far sooner than you anticipated and what then. Yet, you can not live in fear of it and in the finite time we have I suggest going for it. The worst thing that can happen is that you end up exactly where you started, but without the what ifs. Best case is that you meet some people along the way who propel you to where you want to go. To those who have inspired or supported me ,who are too many to list, I'm often brought to tears by putting into thoughts or words how much you have all meant to my life and happiness on the journey in pursuit of my dreams. So, make the most of every day. Not everyday will be easy but do as much as you can in pursuit of your dream, and it just may come true. One thing I hear often is I want to do this or do that but can’t because of xyz. Only on rare occasions have I heard valid excuses for why you can't accomplish what you want to right now. Sacrifice is a choice and to truly maximize happiness I suggest if you start making some. The most important sacrifice we have to make for happiness is to keep on learning and doing hard things everyday. I promise even if you don't get to your dreams, you will end up exactly where you are supposed to be. I have written or will write another essay on time management, go check that out to see what I have done to make the most of my little time here on Earth.

This sounds awfully idealistic, you say. If time is the most valuable commodity on Earth ,and I pursue something that doesn’t make me lots of money, am I supposed to suffer in poverty? Well first of all yes I believe you should suffer but choose your hard. At the end of the day remember you do have time to work and follow your passions. Your passions are why you live. Along the way you may have to work an odd job or two before getting what you want but that's the point. If things were immediate or easy there would be no reward. Money also from my experience follows if you do brilliant work in your field. It is always worthwhile to get good at something. It is a lot easier to get good at something if you are passionate about it. Trust me I have worked as a landscaper and construction worker in my free time off school and university, but I knew it was all contributing to the bigger picture. I would much rather be tired from working towards my dreams then tired from all the mental pressure of the what ifs. I believe that type of tiring pressure is worse and as we get older we have less freedom depending on what you want from life. Everything can change today, you just have to do it. Also, I know tons of people with money who have tons of problems because they lost time chasing money. Viewing things you do as transactions of time will change how you think about life.

A Note to Hope

Now I must admit I have stolen too much of these teachings from various things I have read, heard, and experienced. To be honest it would be impossible to cite where I learned what from but I have found that

"a good artist copies, a great artists steals"

I encourage everyone to go somewhere “secluded” in their lives. I have had such privilege in my parents homeland, which is situated in Michoacan, Mexico. I recommend going here as it's a wonderful place bursting with rich culture. Most of all I love how you can see the night sky in full clarity, with the moon illuminating the world. In this part of Mexico there is very little industry or development. One day reflecting I thought to myself how remarkable it was that as humanity we all started from some place like this with what seemed like nothing. Yet somehow humans have taken us to that very moon I was staring at. No chance people thought it would ever be possible in any point of history to get to the moon, I thought to myself. Luckily for us, someone believed we could and obviously it was not overnight but it happened. Things like these only happen because dreams of groups of people dared to dream and be curious. So I encourage everyone to take a moment and realize that change is possible. One can make a mark in what they are passionate about.

Dreaming is beautiful but I do suggest to people do not limit yourself to one thing. It is quite famous that it takes 10,000 hours to master something. So if you want to master something fast, dedicate crazy amounts of time right now to get there. I present this alternate perspective, which is not original but I think it's important to explore many things. This will develop your way of thinking and understanding of the true world and its people. From these experiences you can then bring those different perspectives to the table when pursuing your passion. More than anything it can help you realize your passion. Those different perspectives are what drive innovation and change. We will and have always needed good passionate people. Expertise is desirable in any field, but just know it can look in so many different ways. It may not happen today, tomorrow or in the next 5 years but maybe just maybe if you try you can make change. Vincent Van Gogh found painting at 28 and Fusajiro Yamauchi ,the founder of Nintendo, started at 29. Both of these two individuals held various jobs or experiences leading up to these endeavors unrelated to these respective crafts they embellished on which changed the world. Finally if I have not driven this point enough at this point, humans are the most valuable asset we have in this world. Treat all humans you come across with the highest level of respect and compassion. You have no idea how helping and being kind to someone can do for their lives. It may just empower them to do something great. So I do not think I am crazy in saying I have hope and more than anything believe that incredible things will continue to happen on this Earth. As long as people continue being curious and enjoying the common human experience the beacon of light that is hope will continue to shine.

How this is relevant to me

Well, well I think I should share a little bit about what drives me. Firstly, I would like to extend my gratitude to everyone who has ever helped me. I plan on paying forward everything given to me, as I believe all should. So this project is not my magnum opus but I found it fun making use of something I made. One of my dreams was to travel the world and be a journalist to document the beautiful cultures of the world. This dream has molded into that of making journalistic content but with more focus on general life specifically technology. Although this has been done before, I am actually inspired by creators in the space to pursue it. I believe maybe my unique value can come from my background of being raised in a household with rural roots and no lineage of higher education. Furthermore I am completely fascinated by philosophy, history, and psychology. Extending on this, I seek to pursue deep understanding in how interfacing with technology is changing society. Beyond this there's a bunch of things I will do like learn to play tennis, ski, to cook, to learn french (fingers crossed). Goals are goals and goals change but at least they give me something to live for. More than anything I really want to take my career in software engineering as far as possible, to eventually find fun ways to get the youth curious about something that seems so scary and hard to get into. I am hopeful that one day I can get other people dreaming and hopeful about this amazing world we live in!

-Cheers Rodrigo