Swimming with Sharks
It’s a privilege to watch an ocean at work. Especially from a coral atoll.
I vividly recall learning coral reefs are a metaphor for pretty much all living systems. As the dynamics shift so do the fortunes of the coral and all the living beings it hosts.
Perpetual regeneration and atrophy defined.
Who knew?
An atoll takes millions of years. It starts out as a volcanic island. After a while a reef grows on its fringe.
Apparently volcanoes erode and sink. Luckily for us coral keeps growing forming a barrier reef within which sits a lagoon. Usually deliciously blue and full of incredible creatures.
Eventually the volcano disappears completely, only the ring-shaped coral reef and lagoon remains. It’s a beautiful thing.
Not surprising:
Watching thousands of creatures (including sharks) getting on with it (and mostly each other) made me wonder how we recover as a species. You know, how we return/move to a vibrant living colourful ecosystem that can cohabit.
Even the sharks in the lagoon are vegetarians.
Judged Dredged
Right now we are being trawled into extinction. Hoovered up by giant vessels dragging the entire ocean floor for everything and everything steered by - use your own words here.
We aren't facing extinction through catastrophe, but sinking like the volcano into irrelevance through erosion and dilution.
(I can't get over the fact that it’s deliberate. And no longer disguised or excused.)
Our attention fragmented, energy smeared thin, convictions exhausted before they can take shape.
Dazed and Confused
There's no ‘one aspect’ to concentrate on. So distracted are we. We cannot defend outselves. No help from those in positions of power.
Being this confused and disoriented we aren’t able to resist. Unwanted forces being hurled at us every hour of the day.
We’re so outraged about everything that we change nothing. We think being informed and pissed off is the same as doing something about it. (It isn't.)
This diabolical system loves our short attention span. That's its plan. It doesn't have to defeat us if it can just keep us this distracted.
Halt & Catch Fire
Please, please let’s stop.
Let’s stop trying to be everywhere. Pick a lane. Care about two things, not twenty. Let it burn. Ignore the breaking news of the day. It’s bait.
Be boring. We all know real change is slow, deep, and usually tedious. Shut up. Silence scares people more than shouting does.
Stop snacking on headlines and start digesting reality. Forget the scroll. This means refusing to be spread so thin that we become irrelevant to their system while getting the intelligence back in ours.
When we are scattered like this we’re just busy being loud and harmless to them. When we’re focused, we are quiet - and actually scary.
Please let’s be scary!
An evocative and timely piece, John, that analogy really resonates.
Our time and attention are our most valuable resource in a world where social media platforms that started out as innovative projects by cool university kids but have now morphed into international corporations run by Bond villains. Combined with a 24-hour ‘bad news’ cycle, all pumping out endless drivel and manufactured outrage so they can push ads to the gathered crowds.
To my mind, Substack is the place to be. Because we’ve got people on here who care about creating something meaningful, not just more ‘content’.
And, as we know, that takes time and effort.
Keep up the good work.
I’m with you here, John. I zoned in immediately on the comments about distraction - which I believe to be one of the biggest issues we face as a species but specifically in the workplace. I’m sure Cal Newport’s concept of Deep Work with hit home with you. And I’m even more certain you’ll have read Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. I think this issue makes facilitated workshops (where screens are not allowed) so refreshing and productive. Concentrating on one thing at a time, rather than pretending that we can multi-task.