That path is not clear

Defining things

If you do a Google search for the word 'path' you will find definitions from various dictionaries across the web. In Google's new overview area that uses artificial intelligence to explain more:

 

Simply put, it's the way you go or the direction you head. That's the definition I'm focusing on as I venture into yet another adventure in writing.

But here's the thing: the 'path' isn't much of a path these days. There's no direction to go, no route to follow, no map that shows us the way. There are directions, routes and maps, but they don't show the definitive way in which we can make it through the world today. I purposefully crafted the title "Braving the Business" because the business is whatever we do, wherever we find ourselves. It's the trials of making enough money to live on. It's the burnout we face in doing jobs that feel uncertain amidst chaos. And there is certainly more we have to face day after day.

Feelings on the world 

In browsing Reddit, a question was posed in 2023 asking other Redditors how they feel about the world today and how they would change it. One response stood out to me:

 

The two points that make me think that can be expanded on in many directions are:

• we need a big reset
• our lives are becoming more vague

I truly believe there are many factors at play that cause this. One such factor is a growing amount of AI being thrust into the human experience. Did we ask for this? Somewhat. Are we prepared for this? I think not, especially not on the level that many of us 'feel.' I say feel, because we truly feel certain ways - in such a personal way. And I used an AI example in the first part of this post. Think what you want about that. It certainly takes away the rich complexities of critical thinking that make us human, that make our thoughts more than a thought. Vague could be seen as better than nothing, but clear and defined and rich in ideas is so much better.

As for big resets, I think the true reset is a long way off. I think we are in a cycle that has been driven by a certain larger-than-life character ever since he paraded down his own escalator in 2015 to run for the world's highest office, and by chance finds himself in a second term in that office. The disdain that people have for each other has grown more and more since that day, and the empathy that I felt lived in so many people is still there in many, but gone in more than you would expect.

Be brave

So now we hold our heads up and brave all this business, whatever it is to each of us. Trust in God or your higher power or guiding purpose that drives you -- maybe just you? Take time to reflect on where you are, what you are learning, what you see and how it makes you feel. That's what I'm doing here.

E.M. Forster said, "How do I know what I think until I see what I say?" When I wanted to be a language arts and literature teacher, I thought about that quote as the guiding thought that would drive all that we did in learning, growing, discovering, and, well... braving. 

See what you say. See how you think. And go.