As the world seems to be collapsing around us, sometimes it helps to not just look at the future but to find insights that could help us focus on and try to understand what might be ahead.
And I got a fascinating insight while reading an excerpt from "Four lost cities: A secret history of the Urban age" by Annalee Newitz. Annalee digs into the history of our Urban past to give some insights into what the future might hold as we battle a pandemic, grapple with the changes technology is driving into us as a society and also try to understand how our connections with each other as humans may be changing beyond what we can truly understand. What I've read so far has been fascinating.
The most insightful part for me was a perspective that, while seemingly simple, holds so much weight for all of us to dig into. It's around the collapse of civilisations. We've all read about the fall of Rome and the decimation of many ancient cities and connected cultures. In all of these stories, the word "Fall" can be misleading. It insinuates that it's an endpoint or a complete stop. We don't take into account that it's never an end. It's a phase of transformation.
Every turning point in history has led to what can be termed as "Civilisational transformation". When we change our way of life while still remembering aspects of the before times but evolving for the future at hand, it never really is a reset or a fresh start. What defines the future is what we choose to take with us as traditions and memories to influence the future and what we choose to leave behind to get blown away in the dust of time.
What are you going to hold on to? And what are you going to let blow away as we look to a time after all of this moves past us? ( Let me know in the comments below or drop me an email)
Recommendations
I’ve been trying to get my writing back in a flow and have been pushing myself to get back on the wagon. This thread by Julian Shapiro did ring true in my mind.
Megha Rao has to be one of my favourite finds of 2020 ( I realised i was late in discovering her but couldn’t help sharing her fabulous podcast nonetheless)
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Quote of the week
“Pursue what’s in your heart and the universe will conspire to support you.”
- Rich Roll ( Finding Ultra)
What am i up to this week?
Next weekend I’m hosting my first 2 day workshop on how to bring out ones inner creator to help achieve ones professional & Creator goals. It’s something I’ve been working on for a while and if you fancy spending 5 hours over a weekend jamming with me on it click the link below, I promise it’ll be fun.
https://insider.in/unschooled-with-varun-duggi-be-more-interesting-as-a-professional-by-activating-the-creator-in-you-may-kommune-2021/event
✌🏽
What happens after the collapse of a Civilisation?