on impermanence.

I love the concept of the sand mandala. In short, they're very intricately created pieces of art made with sand that are dismantled soon after their creation. Symbolically, every single thing we have ever created is destined to be blown away like the grains of a sand mandala. Every engineering creation, every great work, every social media post, and every human that has ever lived will be forgotten given enough time.

There's a 2010 documentary, Into Eternity, that talks about the Herculean effort to create a store for nuclear waste that will be safe from being accidentally disturbed by humans far into the future. I highly recommend watching it if you can spare the time. As it turns out, it is almost impossible to fathom what humanity will look like in 10,000 years.

Keeping our impermanence in mind is, I feel, a salve against our hubris. We suffer a lot in the service of making a name for ourselves-- of being accepted and praised by our peers. If we were to let go of our desire for praise and instead focus on the very real connections in the here and now, how liberated can we become? How much better can we enjoy our time with those that we love?