The Rules of Surfing, Part 1

The James Webb Space Telescope is fully operational and is sending us imagery from the literal dawn of time. And by "dawn," I mean that before Hydrogen and Helium atoms created in the Big Bang coalesced into spheres with adequate density to ignite as the nuclear infernos we call stars, there was no light. Nothing to see. No seeing. I could start a large book about this engineering miracle but instead consider just one single element: an image arrived a couple days ago showing a sprinkling of galaxies -- not stars, star systems -- a photo of a piece of the cosmos filled with billions of suns seething. Now consider the image is the size of a single grain of sand held at arms' length. That's it. One teeny tiny peephole looking out thataway. Feel small yet? If this is a single grain of sand-size view, where next? What do we look at? What do we study? What information is important?

This strikes me as the perfect analog of the internet. And daily life. There is an infinite amount of information: a movie, a track meet, a youtube about camping stoves or Kurt Cobain or chocolate in MesoAmerica or how a scallop sees or is there lightning on Saturn or life after death or magnetic navigation in birds or the poetic immediacy of William Finnegan's prose or is Tavarua the best wave ever? ... A tsunami comes to mind. Drinking from a firehose. Counting molecules.

Where to place one's attention can be a perilous choice -- FOMO vs wasting the finite precious time we are gifted everyday. So, the solution: let go. Follow your bones, your nose, your simplest impulse. Be an expert on the local mushrooms like John Cage, foraging and documenting his global travels based on edible fungi, or play that track you love on Spotify for the 400th time. When choice is infinite, there can be no judgement regarding value. "Do What You LIke" is a song by the band Blind Faith and blind faith is exactly the point. Surf, cook, nap, write, drink a beer, make beer, draw, stack firewood, plant flowers, cut back, coach, ride, boogie or just stroll around and be confident that this is the correct course of action. For those of you who know Sam Harris, he has a pretty watertight case for there being no such thing as free will. Therefore, whatever you are doing is the "right" thing. This is the way.

And now, the rule. (Here we go, messing with the freedom...) Be kind. Treat everyone gently. The world can be ornery. This headlong pitch through the chaos can be fraught with challenges, heartbreak and turmoil, and while you venture on your merry way, take care of everyone you possibly can. Shit happens, and even those who don't apparently need a handful of grace, may.

The JWST has already shown us an exoplanet with water and clouds, imperatives for life as we know it. If Life is there looking at us, what would you like them to witness? Be that today. Catch your wave but take turns. Get after it at just your own tempo, but teach others to surf. Infinity is big enough to be chilly. Share your long sleevers. Warm hugs matter. Stay close while you explore.

And as always, buy art. You need it, your friends need it. Strangers need it. It reminds us of the next wave you can't see yet, and that ride will be ....

High summer is upon us.

Peace out,

B Mac

P. S. Stay tuned. We are planning a "This" and a "That".

P. P. S. And this is just Part 1.

P. P. S. S. Social media less and socialize more. Put down your phone and pick up your phone.