Lith's Diary - August (Patreon)

Dear Diary,
Sorry about last month. Sometimes I just, uh... have these moods! You know? And I have a hard time really thinking about anything else when I'm like that. But I'm feeling better this month. Let's see... month before last, I... Oh. I was going to talk about some games and an anime, but it's kind of been a while now. I mostly covered the important stuff with those, anyway, I think. But there was one thing I mentioned that I think I'd like to talk some more on.

I think it's pretty common for a lot of us these days to feel like... what we're doing doesn't really matter. Like we're just lost in a sea of people, and anything we think or feel or do doesn't matter. Even if we have jobs, it kinda seems like something is missing, like there's no point to the work we're doing, we're not... accomplishing anything. It can vary some from person to person, but I think a lot of people feel that, one way or another. And the funny thing is, it's kinda the opposite of the truth.

A long time ago, it used to be a lot harder to survive. Any one person would basically throw all their efforts just into staying alive, and maybe helping others stay alive. Your family. The people in your village. If you were a farmer, you knew plain and simple that you have to do your best to grow lots of good food, because if you don't, people will starve and die. It's a scary thought, but it also very clearly meant something. Some people would hunt wild animals or even go fight other people because if they didn't, those animals or people would come and kill them, or their families. These were terrible times to live in, but you knew why you were doing what you did, and you could believe from the bottom of your heart that it mattered. That you were doing the right thing, and it needed to be done.

Today, we're very far removed from those concerns. It's still possible for us to screw up, to die, or for others to die because we screw up, but it tends to be much less likely, and much less direct a relationship between the work we do and the good it creates in the world. Everything is safer, and there's more slack, and there are many more jobs that are less about keeping people alive and more about influencing some nearly abstract part of this huge, complicated economy we're all part of. And the harder it is for us to feel like we're directly needed, the more we can feel like there's no point to anything we do.

I think that's where the feeling comes from. Not from any actual lack of worth on our parts, but just that our instincts are tuned to a different world, with much harsher stakes. Instead of working just to keep our family alive, or our village, we've all become involved in something much larger. In a way, we've all become aware of ourselves as a greater mass of sentients. We can have concern for great disasters on the other side of the world, and we can act to help those affected by them. When we develop new technology, billions of people benefit from it. Moreso now than in any point in our history, we are aware of all the other people out there, of our greater prosperity and the problems we all face, as a people.

We are living in what may be one of the most amazing points in history. Everything is changing rapidly around us. Rather than evolving through genetics, we're entering a phase where what we are and how we act, how we function, is evolving through technology, and at a pace that isn't just faster, it's... explosive. Generation to generation, everything is changing. In its own way, it's scary. And I think there are a lot of dangers to face in what's happening here. But it's not something we can fight by just working hard. I think that today, it's important that each of us takes the time to really pay attention to what's going on, to think, and to talk with others. There are decisions coming, and many that are already here, and others that have passed us by already-- big decisions about how the world should be, decisions that we may not be able to unmake. I don't think that, as a greater people, we're really ready for them yet just because many of them are so strange, forcing us to understand things that are so new and beyond our usual understanding of what is possible, that we might reject out of fear what we should embrace, or seize out of greed what we should be cautious about.

I guess what it comes down to is, today, I think it's important to be thinking and talking about what's going on. We have more voice now than ever before, even with so many of us on the planet. The internet gives us the ability to find others like ourselves and develop our ideas, improve ourselves, and work on ways to improve the world. This is a magical time to be alive, and we all need to be seizing this opportunity to make things better-- not for our family, or our village, but for all of us. For the whole world, and everyone on it. The future is coming, and we can hardly begin to imagine what it will be like-- because a lot of that is being decided right now. We should work to make sure those decisions are being made by the right people, with all the important factors getting weighed fairly.

I guess that comes off super vague. But it can mean a different thing to each of us. If there are things you're passionate about, then make sure you make your voice heard. Represent them, and don't let yourself be oppressed or brushed aside. If there are things you don't understand, especially things you might have the chance to influence, try and take the time to really get to know more about them. Read up on them, talk with people that are passionate about them, preferably multiple people that are passionate in different ways. We can all do good. More than ever before, we all have the chance, if we just seize it.

I could go on all day like this, but I think I'm just about talking in circles by this point. Thanks for listening, Diary. I get kinda worked up about this I guess. I just... I hope you and I can help make the world a better place, somehow. ...No, I know we can. We just have to be determined. And I know we've done that plenty. You've always been a source of strength for me, Diary. When it seems like it's impossible to keep going, when I don't even know where to go, it helps a lot to have you there, with me. So, thank you. Let's do awesome things together, okay?

Thank you for everything, Diary.
-Lith