Nature

I remind myself that I am part of Nature, which means that I am inseparable from it. I do not have this "ego" or "I" that grants me the privilege of isolation from the world. Consequently, I am a being-in-space-time bounded by the interdependent causes/conditions (whether determinate or indeterminate) that circumscribes  my personal identity to the point that it constitutes it. To try to separate myself from Nature would be like pulling mass out of matter, both are inseparable as I am inseparable from Nature. This reminds me that since impermanence or change is ubiquitous in Nature as much as it is essential to Nature, my existence would be an ephemeral and contingent feature of Nature. I am a wave of the vast ocean, a dune on the surface of changing sands. My existence would be a moment from the point of view of eternity.

People (Rant)

I'm not much of a people's person, I either like to do things on my own or hang out with a few close friends. I never understand why people like to divide themselves and then see themselves as separate groups of people, because when I look at people all I see are people. People sleep, wake up, eat, work, shit, fuck, talk, laugh, fear, seek, grieve, hate, lie, steal, kill, heal, love, lust, dream, disappoint, believe, hope, and die. People are fairly intelligent, but involuntarily foolish due to self-deception, cognitive biases, misguided confidence, and intransigence. People often have very foolish and naive understanding of the world and themselves, sometimes they flatter themselves (and their beliefs) too much.* Yes, there are political, cultural, and religious boundaries among people but those differences are artificial (though not superficial by any means) differences that sometimes hides the underlying similarities among people. This is why  I have contempt for some people who emphasize too much on the differences among people, they often fail to see that underneath we are so profoundly and pathetically similar to each other. It's one thing to value one's identity (no matter how artificial it is), but it's another thing to make an exaggerating claim that one's identity really set one apart from the rest of humanity to create a gulf as wide as the universe itself.  However, I remind myself that I am among those same people, I share many of their follies as much as many of their virtues.

*I had many foolish and naive views about the world and myself, studying philosophy has made me realize this.