Benign Joy

And so, I haven't posted in a while, but for good reason—I've been BUSY! HA! In fact, the grind has been incredible as I work toward the next stint of my professional and life journey. As I read the news today— drawn into the popular and tacit intrigue of new black hole images (thanks Katherine Bouman!!!)—I realized something in the background of my exploration. It's that I've been lucky enough to find slices of joy within the communities with which I engage—and not for some benefit or personal ambition, but entirely for the joy just engaging. That's sometimes hard to discern in fast-paced personal and professional spaces where novelty, strategy, and/or social capital garner heaps of life-easing benefits (in basically most spheres of life).

That's not to say my engagement is always fun and games, but instead to suggest that it's something I do out of something purer or more plain. I'm not sure this all makes sense, but on reflecting about what I do and why I do it, I recognize that there are very special moments when we engage for the sake of curiosity, interest, play or some other benign motivation. This type of engagement doesn't require a reciprocity and consumes time really fast!!! These moments are elusive and yet so satiating. And so, I'm going to work on realizing them more because they bring me such happiness and an unfamiliar sense of freedom!

Usually, I post a photo that sort of captures the essence of my post. I'm not sure I have anything that fits the script here. And so, I'll post my view out of a plane on a recent trip (we all have photos like these). It sort of reminds me of what I tried to describe here. That is, b

eing free and not tethered (Jordan Peele) by gravity so to speak!