Stepping out into your own backyard.

The wind was up, the morning sky was clear and the flags that dotted the shoreline moved dramatically with the wind as it came off the bay. The wind, which my daughter says makes me sound old when I talk about it, really doesn’t have much to do with anything except it was part of a wonderful opportunity to sit on a dock and catch up with an old friend.

We talked about what we were doing at the moment and about what we were reading — Einstein came up because it was one of the current reads. We shifted our conversation to current events and our shared thoughts, as well as thoughts on those who share thoughts. One of us, and I am not sure who, suggested people need to step out into their own backyard. It struck us as something so profound that we joked that it would make a great title for a book. The conversation eventually faded into what was a great cottage weekend.

The conversation had been wide ranging and I can’t put my finger on what triggered the fledgling book title and I’m still trying to comprehend its meaning. I know there is something to it but I’m not entirely sure what, so I asked my friend iamGPT what he/she/it had to say —

Me: How would you figuratively interpret this sentence, Stepping out into your own backyard?

ChatGPT: The phrase "stepping out into your own backyard" can be figuratively interpreted in several ways, depending on the context. Here are a few possible interpretations:

1. Exploring Familiar Ground:

• It can symbolize exploring familiar or personal territory, suggesting taking a closer look at what you already have or know. It encourages discovering or appreciating the resources, opportunities, or beauty that are already available to you.

2. Starting with Small, Manageable Steps:

• It can imply beginning with something small and manageable before taking on bigger challenges. Just as stepping into your backyard is a modest step compared to venturing far from home, it suggests starting close to home or within your comfort zone.

3. Personal Growth and Reflection:

• The phrase can signify a journey of personal growth and self-reflection. Your "backyard" symbolizes your personal life or inner self, and stepping out into it suggests taking time to reflect on and nurture your own growth and well-being.

4. Taking Initiative and Ownership:

• It can also mean taking initiative and ownership of your life and circumstances. Just as you have control over your backyard, it implies taking charge of your environment, decisions, and actions.

5. Finding Joy in Simplicity:

• Lastly, it can represent finding joy and contentment in simple, everyday experiences. Your backyard is a place of familiarity and comfort, and stepping out into it can suggest appreciating the simple pleasures and moments in life.

Each of these interpretations offers a different perspective on the figurative meaning of the phrase, emphasizing aspects like familiarity, personal growth, initiative, and simplicity.

iamGTP offered very uplifting set of interpretations I admit, but it still didn’t feel right — maybe it was the context of our discussions that doesn’t have me piling on the self-improvement and wellbeing bandwagon. As I reflect on what we were talking about I kept coming back to the word “accountability”.

The metaphor of stepping out into your own backyard came about because we recognized much of what is being said and done today seems to lack any accountability in terms of taking responsibility or being held accountable — there seems to be a growing trend to relinquish any responsibility or accountability in many things and let it fall elsewhere. Opinion supersedes facts, language is misleading and sensationalized and more often than not, is allowed; what is said and done today is forgotten tomorrow. An easy example is listening to the weather forecast and the storm of the century that never materializes — start scratching and most places be it governments, institutions or the person in the grocery line complaining (pick a topic) and you will see a growing lack of accountability.

The idea of stepping out into your own backyard was to suggest more people need to reflect on themselves and take accountability, and metaphorically speaking, create a nice back yard — a back yard that is well kept, inviting, includes a biodiversity that is healthy. A retreat for yourself and others.

I should mention that ownership is not the same as accountability. You can own a backyard, but unless you are accountable for it, it will become the final resting spot for rusty appliances and broken bicycles. And figuratively speaking, that is not a nice place to spend your time (for that matter, it isn’t even a great place in the literal sense).

That day with the wind, on the dock, involving a pithy little quip illustrated a realization of a growing lack of character that’s happening all around us. Take the Canadian Women’s Olympic Soccer team for instance. They got caught cheating as they tried to spy on the other teams using a drone — and they appealed the consequences when they got caught. Sure, it was the coaching staff based on what we know so far, but by the nature of the game you are a team, so everyone owns it. We are Canadian for fuck’s sake, what exactly is going on? Let’s take some accountability and ask ourselves who we want to be?

Let’s leave whether character really matters another day to discuss — there’s definitely a solid camp for “the end justifies the means” so it’s not as clear cut as some would think. For the record, I believe character is crucial for long term success and happiness with accountability being a big one in that regard. Call me old fashioned (something that comes with talking about the wind I suppose).

Please let me know if I am ever falling short.

iamgpe

PS: Thanks to Miketopia and iamGPT for helping me collect my thoughts.

Observations — I really know so very little

As I may have mentioned I like to walk — many health benefits come with walking, including freeing up white space to think.

On one such walk, the white space helped me realize that any ol’ QR code reader wasn’t going to work to access a platform I needed to, well, access. I was going to need an authenticator*. As I basked in the light of my simple problem-solving abilities, later on I also faced the realization I really fucking know so very little.

I was making my way through the park when I noticed a small cordoned off area and a sign that said, Bunnies Nesting Please do not Disturb. Curious, I went over to look for the bunny hole, and all I saw was grass. Obviously, whoever went to all this trouble hadn’t watched Bugs Bunny as a kid, because everyone knows rabbits live in holes, and by extension, also make other bunnies there.

Walking away shaking my head at the idiocy of the world, I couldn’t help wonder why someone would go to all that trouble for a joke (or a delusion). It quickly dawned on me that maybe I should confirm what I think I know before I start getting up on some sort of pedestal with things to say. As per the internet, it turns out cotton-tail rabbits dig out a shallow depression, line it with fur and covers it with grass — it is there, they go about the business of raising their litter. These nests are called forms.

Well this is humiliating.

Good thing I was by myself because it was embarrassing to go from a position of arrogant conviction to one of humbling ignorance. The realization that I know so very little just hung over me. I likened what I know to a pin hole in a large piece of paper and what I think I know to something slightly larger; everything else on the paper (and beyond) was what I don’t know. After all these years, the realization that I know nothing was courtesy of a cute little animal with big ears.

I will admit I have recovered quickly because, somewhere in all of this, I think I may be reaching for wisdom. It made me think of what Socrates said, “all I know is that I know nothing”. If it is good enough for one of the greatest philosophers that ever lived, it is most definitely good enough for me. Knowledge is a curious thing, it appears out of nowhere, can be acquired or given to you, and will define you. But remember, it can be a trickster too — it can be independent of truth or accuracy, it can change over time and it is influenced by perspective.

I like the idea of wisdom. It is critical and challenges how smart we think we are (myself included). So it’s back into the breach with my fledgling wisdom and my curiosity, and we will see where that takes me.

As an aside, the neighbourhood is full of bunnies — they are literally everywhere.

iampe

*the authenticator did the trick and I was able to get to the data I needed — because data is everything

Observations — momentum

As a training ride goes, I was on my game— the saddle felt good; legs were getting stronger as I went; my wind was good, and I was enjoying a beautiful day. This momentum would carry the day until I had to come to a hard stop because of cars on a country road. It was all gone and I stood there watching them go by.

There was an audible grunt of exasperation as I got the pedals going again — I was nothing more than potential energy* at that point.

Figuratively speaking, I did get my momentum back and the training ride went as planned, but I couldn’t shake the figurative concept of momentum and worked it into my training out there on the trail. I would like to point out that a buddy of mine looks at training much differently; he’s all about data collection for optimal performance, focus, and the determination to ride the fastest time possible — he’s an engineer by trade so it comes honestly. I ride for the adventure, which for him, is a seat of the pants approach to training for a race. It will make him bat-shit crazy to learn half of my training focus was on figurative concepts of momentum.

Our momentum, figuratively speaking, is always being challenged — life trying to slow you down. We work through it and continue, much like my cycling example.

But sometimes, things happen that take you to a knee, or worse still, take you to the floor. The little events can add up but mostly this falls into the big event category: a death; the loss of the love of your life; a demotion that that strips you of your identity; an addiction that spirals out of control — there is a long list of horrors that can take you to the floor and destroy any and all momentum (figuratively speaking).

You are now on the floor, all momentum is gone, and it is all seemingly unfair — although the choices are easy: stay on the floor with all the rationalization at you command to justify staying where you are or get up and build your momentum again. I don’t think I mentioned building momentum is fucking hard, energy intense, needs willful intent, as well as time. Like anything worth achieving it is hard work.

You need to get up. Staying on the floor is no legacy, no matter how you try to rationalize the situation, it offers nothing but regrets, bitterness, and missing out on the potential of a lifetime.

How do you get up? Start at the beginning and build it back up. I will take the cheap way out and say you will know how that’s done when you have done it, and in fairness every situation will be different. But what I do know, is you have to fucking get up; you have to be willful, push through the pain, claw yourself to a knee, find a way to stand and put one foot in from of the other, and move. All figuratively speaking of course.

Can’t wait to continue my training — I can feel the momentum building.

iamgpe

* Potential energy is the stored energy in an object due to its position, properties, and forces acting on it.