What is Left
As I continue to work my way through The Good Doctor, the episode I’m watching right now involves an artist—a painter—who must choose a brain surgery that will destroy her creative ability, but it’s the only way to save her life. And because being an artist is her identity, she would rather die.
That’s making me think about the whole subject of identity, because I recently lost a huge part of mine.
We all see ourselves in a particular way: as an artist, a writer, a doctor, a pastor, a mechanic, a police officer, or whatever. And the thing that we do so often becomes the thing that we are.
But as long as we think of ourselves as being defined by the superficial aspects of our lives, we can never truly understand who we are.
We must make a conscious effort to let go of those things that we think define us and explore what is left.
Because what is left, when everything else is gone, is who we really are.
Consequences
Choices have consequences. But I would rather suffer the consequences of my own choices than the consequences of someone else’s.
Maybe that makes me an independent thinker.
And being an independent thinker has consequences.
🫤(Shrug)
Offers Matter
They say, “You don’t know till you ask.”
But I say, “You don’t know till you offer.”
The world is full of needs. And often, those needs aren’t evident. You have no idea how many times you cross paths with someone who is hungry, or sad, or carrying a burden quietly. Someone who could really use some help.
Why do we put the burden on them to ask? Shouldn’t the burden be on us to offer?
What if we made a habit of asking people, “Is there anything I can do for you?”
The act of offering unsolicited help — of demonstrating kindness, of showing compassion and love — is something we really need right now.
Agency More than Aid
Is agency more important than aid?
For decades, many nonprofits and charitable organizations have focused primarily on providing aid. And sometimes, that’s necessary. Immediate needs matter.
But as funding pools tighten and demand continues to grow, it’s more important than ever to move beyond relief alone and begin promoting agency.
When organizations prioritize agency, they’re not just helping clients survive — they’re equipping them to stand. To decide. To build. To move forward on their own terms.
Promoting agency doesn’t just strengthen individuals; it relieves strain on an already underfunded and overextended system.
Aid addresses the moment. Agency transforms the future.
Agency is the aid of the future.
Greed
The mass production of goods is grossly unnatural. Nature is always looking to maintain balance. The mass production of goods is unbalanced. Therefore it is unnatural. And this unnatural behavior is stimulated entirely by greed.
The greed motivating mass production isn’t even a greed for money. It goes far beyond the reasonable need for money. It isn’t even a greed for power. It goes far beyond necessary amounts of power. It’s more a feedback loop of destruction. Greed begets greed. Love of money begets love of money. Love of power begets love of power.
It’s like the 1000 pound person eating themselves to death. It goes beyond sustenance and becomes a death spiral of obsession.
There’s a sickness at play here. A mental imbalance. And this mental imbalance is creating systemic imbalance.
And if all of this were happening in one individual person, we would institutionalize them against their will in order to save their life. But how do we stage an intervention for all of humanity?
I don’t know. Do You?
