First, Do No Harm

I am trying desperately to "First, do no harm." It's incredibly more difficult than you would think. Not murdering someone or kicking a puppy is fairly easy, don't get me wrong, but there's all this other things I've been thinking about. The meat industry. Sexism. Unfair trade. International aid that does way more bad than good. Composting. Underpaid labor. Institutional racism. I am so worried about these things. And more. There's always more. When I have tried to research how to do my part on a day-to-day level (or with my entire life and career) to help combat and improve these conditions, I found an argument for everything. For anything. You would be amazed. Worse, there are legitimate arguments out there for most things. Not just ridiculous, emotional crap, but facts and logic and evidence. On top of all of that, I found an interesting article about all of the ways human beings are inherently biased when arguing and picking sides. Did you know we are more likely to stand by the first perspective/side/argument we hear just because it's the first thing we heard? For no reason other than that. We are biologically programmed to be terrible at judging something objectively. So, what now. Where do we go from here?

foster kittens

foster kittens

Marfa, TX

Jax

McKinney Falls, TX

Cassie at Krause Springs, TX

probably these cookies

Sutro Baths, CA

San Francisco, CA

Alex from Wolf House

happythankyoumoreplease

So, as I sit here both away from my life but somehow still living it, I am thinking and reflecting. It's as if my life is a movie -- my Austin, "regular" life -- and I have pressed pause to talk it over with a good friend. As what usually happens, I was filled with immense gratitude. For the people I have found and the spaces we have created together. Spaces both literally and figuratively -- from Avalon to the intimacy born of trust and years and friendship.

I feel that I am a broken record. Every summer, I return here to talk about how thankful I am. But in this instance, I would choose that unoriginality over the absence of its conception any day.

So, we're not actually old now. We're just a little less young.