Being Human

Some friends and I have started a tradition (it’s been two years no - so that counts as a tradition, right?) of each choosing a “word for the year” at the start of a new year. The word we choose (we each get our own word) is meant to describe a feeling or intention we would like to permeate our year. “Flowing,” perhaps. Or “Boundaries.” Or “Energetic.” Things like that.

For myself, this year, I chose the word, “human.”

I know I’m not the only one who feels a dragging, icky sense of hollow dispiritedness from the algorithm-ification of the world. The AI-ification of discourse. The commercialization of everything. The rapid convergence toward cookie-cutter, lowest-common-denominator, dull content that is somehow at the same time so shiny! so relatable! so good at keeping us scrolling! A subtle, hard to pin down queasiness sets in.

Economists can debate all day long as to whether or not this is all killing jobs or creating economic opportunity, but that is beside the very obvious point: left unchecked, it is very, very clearly killing our souls.

I’m not big into telling other people what to do. And I’m not rejecting innovation. But, I will say for myself, based on lots and lots of real world observation, I’m making a commitment to intentionally, fill my life with the things that make me and my community human. That revive my creativity and lift my spirits*. The things that humans have been doing since before recorded history: to make and share food and drink. To sing. To dance. To make art. To be in the natural world. To be in community in the physical, three-dimensional, non-optimized, gorgeously imperfect real world.

*There is no coincidence in the fact that Latin word for breath came to be used to signify both someone’s essence as well the essence captured by the distillation of a fermented drink. :)