When profit-chasing becomes an open logic of great powers,

what is a crime for individuals is justified for nations by sheer strength.

Justice grows fragile—between countries, and between states and their people.

So at the very least,

let those close to us, and our pets, know this:

the world is not only calculation and power.

There is love that asks for nothing in return,

and we choose to keep it.

I’ve felt loved in moments that didn’t need words—

in small habits being remembered,

in quiet patience that chose to wait.

It wasn’t a love that tried to prove itself,

but one that stayed, steady and certain.

And more importantly, it’s still happening.

At 4:36 p.m., a Teams notification broke the calm.

“The task only takes three hours,” it said.

“You still have some slack, right?”

Slack looks like empty space on someone else’s calendar.

What they don’t see are the trades behind it—

asking others to cover,

pulling support just to protect a few hours of focus.

Those three hours aren’t just three hours.

They cost context, momentum, and people.

I still said yes.

That’s the part I could do differently.

Next time, instead of silently absorbing the cost,

I could make the trade visible—

not to resist the work,

but to remind us both that “slack” is rarely free.

If I had a freeway billboard, it would say:

Budha · Mahatma · Satnam · Wahe Guru

A quiet reminder on a fast road—

wake up, stay true, honor wisdom,

and keep moving with awareness.

Learning something new gives my gradually stiffening self a jolt.

Learning the violin has become my version of playtime.

Not for performance, but for attention—one sound, one bow stroke, one focused moment at a time.

Between getting stuck and making small progress,

I’m reminded that I can still learn, still struggle, and still grow.

By the way, I still play terribly—

often all over the place,

and I even get corrected by kids. 😆

But maybe that’s part of the playtime too:

being bad at something again,

and not needing to pretend otherwise.

In a time when AI accelerates everything, slowing down to think has become even harder.

Speed is abundant.

Attention is not.