The Super Bowl Hangover, Feb 13

Dear Diary,

Lately, I've been thinking about how hard work is totally entangled with different forms of expectation and reward. Meaning the only reason to work hard is for a material pay-off.

We aren't told to work hard for the sake of working hard.

We are told to imagine all the good things that will manifest from hard work.

The victories and wins.

Wealth.

Fame.

Status.

Or at least those were the things I and others around me worked for when I was working in an eight-to-five. The kicker is that I still played the game and gave in to the illusion even when we knew none of these things would actually manifest.

It is because we are forced into these corners.

And we are full of hope and dreams. Dreams never die, but they can harm. And hope is powerful, but it can corrupt.

At my worst, Hope inside me dreams for the best. But in wanting the best, my Hope despairs. It looks into the future and sometimes can not see a way out. And sometimes all it can see is the material accomplishment found by winning the day.

Finding success and feeling accomplished is a good feeling. But maybe it is about rescripting where we find our sense of achievement?

Instead of focusing so much on the outcome, what if we saw winning as recognize when we show up for ourselves and others.

I try to concentrate my Hope on the step right in front of my face. The words right in front of me. I hope that the next breath will come, and that transition from breathing in to breathing out is the smoothest one I have ever felt.

No matter the outcome, I have already won by getting out of bed in the morning. I have already won by taking the breath. By picking up the pen.

Victory in the mundane and ordinary leads to experiencing love, joy, wonder, and the extraordinary.

Life is joy.

Life is hope.

Life is pretty cool.

More to come, promise

P.S. A note for those laboring in corporate and institutional eight-to-five service, retail, and corporate jobs, please don't give your hard work and labor away for free! These places do not care about your wins or your hard work unless it is related to their bottom line.

P.P.S. Tip your service folk!

P.P.P.S. This is composed with the hope that we can find a way to work together and support each other. Why can't we move away from a world based solely on debt and exploitation? This is not a direct call to action for any particular political platform. The platform does not exist yet.

But this is a call to imagine the potential if we stop letting fear, greed, and hate guide our policy-making and social engagement.

Life is hard. We have been taught and manipulated into acting as individuals forsaking the great community because of these injustices.

What happens when we stop chasing the bottom line to address the trauma and suffering in our communities?

What happens when we focus on healing and recovery?