not what but who

While exploring interests and passions i often became entangled by conquest for knowledge and experiences. Learning new things increases my confidence in ability and independence. I wrote this as a reminder to the fact that every person has some piece of understanding that someone else doesn’t and to emphasize the importance of building/maintaining social relationships.

It’s great to be self-sufficient, and there’s many advantages that come with knowing how to do all the things that you want, but our knowings are limited by the fact that it’s impossible to experience everything. over 800 instagram posts go up every second. today we are able to access neuron firings that replicate experiences from most accessible parts of the physical world...which is becoming increasingly small by comparison to the constantly expanding virtual world. It’s wise to commit effort toward using such a tool, but I probably wouldn’t want to attempt everything anyway.

The biggest and most influential changes in my life have come with meeting a new person rather than learning a new piece of information. I always loved running, but i never knew I could fly until i left the country and met a pole vaulter. I made it to regionals my first year, but I wasn’t hungry to win state and national championships until Noah Lyles became a teammate and high schooler.

It’s not all about competitiveness though, I’ll never forget the first vegan I met who challenged my unsustainable lifestyle or the time i spent with my dad, learning to make the most of a bad situation that hits unsuspectedly.

I’ve become better at reaching out for help in some ways and am still learning the balance between independence and cooperation. no solution is always the only way to answer the question though. sometimes it’s frustrating to work with others to achieve a goal - it doesn’t always work out the best way possible - but cooperation has the potential to make whatever you do bigger than you could imagine.

+ocean