It feels like the world is falling apart.

I am growing up in a world that is falling apart I used to be in denial about it but we all know it's happening just look around we all see it every day there's all this talk of economic growth and technological advancements which would suggest the world is running just fine we're actually making progress so why do things not feel okay I'm clearly not the only one that feels this way I come from the generation with the highest rate of anxiety and depression in the history of psychology. I am afraid about what the future holds. It weighs on me. The suffering happening around the world. I want to live a rich and full life, but it is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. So what am I to do? Maybe the reason so many of us fill our lives with so much distraction is because this question has no easy answer. the answer. We're becoming so disconnected and distrustful of one another. How the fuck do you find real connection again? We're living through a crisis on many levels, but I'd like to believe that when something falls apart, something new can take its place. This is why the word crisis fascinates me. It feels like the defining term of our times, the world that I've grown up in. So if you're feeling crisis, here's a bit of food for thought, a new perspective you might not have considered. For the moments that I feel completely overwhelmed. A couple of months ago, I picked up a book that really made me think. It's called The Fourth Turning. The basic thesis of the book is that society operates in cycles, also called secular. Cycles are roughly 80 years. Why 80 years? Well, because that's the average human lifespan. Within a human life, you've got four stages, also called turnings, kind of like four seasons. Childhood, young adulthood, midlife, and elderhood. The first stage of the cycle is called a high, which is the ushering in of a new era. The last time this happened was after World War II, which saw the previous world crumble. The second stage is an awakening, like what we saw in the 60s and 70s. The third stage is an unraveling, and the final stage, which we are currently in, is called crisis. Everything is falling apart again. It kind of feels sometimes like we're on this insane merry-go-round where things are built up and then fall apart over and over again. that cycle just never stops. And maybe that's just life and I'm just really late to this realization and I should have come to this realization sooner. I mean I see this pattern in my own personal life. The ups and downs that feel inevitable. History repeats itself. This book is very focused on the United States and I understand that that doesn't necessarily apply to everybody but what's difficult to dispute, maybe impossible, is the fact that across the whole world civilizations operate in cycles. Humans seem to have this incredible bias towards thinking that they're going to stay in the current stage of the process that they're currently in forever. But that never happens. That's sort of like expecting it to forever be spring. Do the seasons stop? No. It's been a big shift in perspective for me to choose to see that every stage of the process serves a purpose. It's not an accident, it's intentional. And that what comes with crisis are the cracks in the foundation of the old world which makes room for a new world. So maybe we're in a phase right now where we're deciding how we want to live our lives and what we want this world to look like. Throughout my entire childhood I felt like older people constantly told me that back in their day things were better back in the good old days and as a sassy little kid I'd respond when you know when you had polio which is not a very helpful response at all. My point is that I heard it so often that I didn't really take it seriously I just thought that's what older people say but as I've gotten older I've started to think maybe there is something to what they're saying. Maybe some things are in decay. And that's not to take away from the incredible technological advancements taking place in the world and economically and all that stuff. But that's not what I'm talking about. I don't know if things were better before honestly. It's just that there feels like there's so much mistrust in the world today. I want to believe that maybe our time to remake the world is coming or it's here now. I mean the book prophesizes if you will that the end of the crisis should happen within the next five years. It's just a theory, so I don't know if that's actually what's going to happen. But one thing I do believe is that life happens in seasons and I'm curious about what the next season will bring. You know, we can despair that things are falling apart or we can accept that change is inevitable and do something about it. While I am talking about the broader world, I find this metaphor for navigating life to be remarkably applicable to my personal life. Crisis comes from Latin, which comes from ancient Greek and meant to pick out, choose, decide, judge. Crisis is a time of decisions, important decisions. Whether you, like me, are trying to figure out what we should do as a collective, or if you, like me, have sometimes felt unhappy with your life and want to figure out what to do, making good decisions is so important. In a world that feels chaotic, stressful, uncertain, it is tempting to do what everyone else is doing, to be reactive to whatever is in front of you, to panic, to attack others for what they say online, to rush through our lives. There is a better way to make the important decisions in a time of crisis, to live in a way that does not continue the cycle of hate and violence. And the way to do it is counter-cultural and requires bravery. It is by slowing down and engaging more deeply into whatever it is that you're doing. If that sounds like an overly simple answer to our wildly complex problems, let me first say that my brain completely agrees with you. This is a constant struggle for me to do. It's just so fucking hard not to get wound up, distracted, worried. To try to think my way out of all these impossible problems, whether it is the uncertainty in the broader world or the uncertainty in my own personal life. And yet some part of me knows there is a better way. Here's why. I have spent what feels like my entire life observing my parents, who are both artists. My parents have always sought to lead deeply engaged lives be it by creating a beautiful home or by being loving parents or any of the many projects they've done over the years. In this particular moment I'm annoying my mom with my camera but if my mom and dad have taught me anything it is that you capture and collect things in your life like ingredients so that you can then make things with those ingredients like telling stories that you care about. My My parents also struggle with worrying and not being present. They're not perfect, no one is, but through their actions, they've taught me that you can always find your way back by being engaged in your life. When I'm working on something that I believe in, something happens within me. My worries melt away, and for a while, it brings a sort of freedom and lightness. It's hard to describe it any other way than to say that I'm filled with love. When you're engaged in something you love, that love multiplies and fills a little more of this world. In life, you need the basics, food, water, a place to sleep, and a person to hug. There's one more thing, at least for me, and it's this last ingredient, something to pour your soul into. This is how I maintain my sanity. It doesn't matter what you make, what matters is how you devote yourself to what you're doing. It feels like a transformational act that turns anything into an act of meaning. The changes you want to see in the world have to come from within yourself. And that those two things are not so separate. We ask ourselves, where do I find meaning in my life? But maybe the actual question to ask is, how can I find meaning in the life that I have? How can I live my life in a way that brings meaning to whatever I do? This is of course something I'm having to learn over and over again. Choosing to live this way is to be more engaged in life. I make art to express and to bring to life the more beautiful world my heart knows is possible. I love Beethoven's words. To play a wrong note is insignificant. To play without passion is inexcusable. In a world where it is easier to be apathetic or cynical, this is the ultimate act of rebellion. To care about what you're doing and to enjoy it. Of course, this is only half of the answer. The way love works is that it is given, but it is also received. This is the journey I am on. As I am learning to open up my heart, to remember to breathe, to let it in. The world, when seen through this lens, looks like a very different kind of place. What I'm trying to say is that life is a gift. Forgetting that is easy, but remembering it is so important. I cannot help but feel that the light that will help me find my way through crisis is already here, and it was always here. I don't have the answers for the massive problems that we face in the world today, but my heart tells me that the first step is to look inwards, to engage more deeply in my life. And I have faith, and so long as I stay close to these truths, I'll see just far enough ahead of myself to know where next to step in this crazy world. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to spend my time working on films like this and still be able to financially support myself, and that is only possible thanks to your support and by extension the support of my sponsors on this channel. And so I want to take a brief moment to talk about the sponsor of this video, which is Skillshare. Skillshare is a wonderful online platform for learning, they have all kinds of different courses and it's been honestly fantastic to see them grow and expand over the years. launching a campaign they're calling Start Here, which was designed to answer the question, where do I begin or where do I start my learning journey when I have a goal that I want to achieve? Considering there is such a massive amount of information out there on the internet, it can be nice sometimes to have things a little bit more curated, if you will. And so on that point, I'd like to recommend the mindful art learning path. There's so much great information in there. I myself have found it to be incredibly powerful and useful to make art, to make things, to express myself as a way of making sense of this crazy world that we live in. I have also curated a learning path of my own, selecting several of the courses on Skillshare. I created this learning path under the theme of learning to express yourself creatively, but also to create a lifestyle that permits that and that promotes that, which is something that I've strived to accomplish and create in my own life. So if you are interested in checking it out, the first 500 people to use the link in my description can get a one-month free trial. Totally worth it in my opinion. Thank you Skillshare for sponsoring this video and thank you to all of you for watching. I will see you very soon.

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