A letter from a man belonging to a generation of crisis
In a world crazy about AI, lead by people hungry for power and war, these are words of a man from a generation that has dealt with crisis created by such people craving for money or power or both.
hoping to make it through the noise
The tragedy of life is that it is best lived in the moments in between the waves of crisis, only to be held together by the kindness of those who drown alongside you.
I am a man, drifting along in the open sea of life with a distinct plank of wood, small enough to hang onto it and big enough to search for someone to hold the other end of it. There are highs, where I am surfing through the barrel to find sunshine at the end of it, and lows where the very thing I hold onto feels like it may cause the end of me. Such is life for me, in my almost forty years of eventful living, always so dull yet overwhelming at the same time.
I am writing this at the start of a new year that is filled with promises of war, deception, apathetic leadership, and a small glimmer of hope to keep me on my toes. Ironically, I am starting a new life down under in sunny Sydney, looking to enjoy the next phase of my life. I deserve this beam of sunlight I am feeling right now on my face, for the turbulent year I spent wishing for exactly this moment. This might be a valuable lesson in believing in your dreams and working towards achieving them. I know, I did, in my own pessimistic way. I have moved between countries before, rejuvenating my routine to fit my new environment. I am rediscovering my new routine here; so far, so good.
The coffee in Sydney is amazing. It is the best one I have had so far. It is strong and bitter enough to wake me up in the morning and flavored enough to let me savour every sip. It is just a delight. Australia has such a dreamy landscape that I understand why the locals need their coffee strong.
I love my morning ritual. Coffee with her, mixed with the doom and gloom of the world in the morning news. The world leaders want to turn us against each other while promising everyone a inter galactic future and a condo on mars. When I think about my job and the state of the technological world where I work in, that condo on mars sounds promising to the tired mind. The news is great fodder for my conversation with my partner. Her perspective is filled with optimism, while I sprinkle the necessary realism into it. It proves successful in pushing her to start her day and her job while I get along with mine, in a reluctant yet efficient manner.
The office is an interesting experiment at the moment. Some people truly believe their world is in a much better place than that advertised in the news. While others are non chalant about the ways of the world as long as the day passes through unbothered. I like to get a perspective from both sides. In doing so, I am invariably forced to take sides or compare my opinions with theirs.
I started my career to the backdrop of a recession caused by the housing crisis of the early 2000s, while I survived and thrived through it to make it to the social media age, I believe the real challenge now stands with the era of AI. As the social media age got us hooked to our devices, AI is making sure that our dumbed down brains never recover to gain control of our thoughts ever again. It is being successful in it as well. I know, as I confirmed it with AI on hand. With these lingering thoughts, I get through my day, being a productive citizen of the tech world.
I am not alone in this predicament of whether to be or not to be part of the technological advancement. I have an entire generation with me. A generation that understands the challenges of the current world and yet is brave enough to build a future in it. Only a generation that has become accustomed to living through one crisis after another can be so comfortable building a future under it. In building such a future, is where I believe we lose touch with reality and retreat into the survival mode that we all grew up in. The millennial curse.
The evenings here at the Opera house overlooking the Darling Harbour to the sound of waves are magical. There are good tunes in the background from the street musicians, tourists marvelling at the beauty, locals making their way through the crowds to their usual day, and then there is me, in between the spectrum of not a tourist yet too far to go to be a local. I sit and quietly observe, take notes, to learn to blend into the ecosystem. An ecosystem full of emotions, hopes, and dreams. A wonderful world. It'll be a shame for it to be destroyed for the eventual gain of an unimaginative few.
For a man who has learnt only to deal in tragedies, I want to extend the opportunity to trade in hopes and good wishes, to rebuild this broken world.
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