A Personal Philosophy for Purpose, Play, and Resilience in the Age of AI

By Mike Levin

Setting the Stage: Context for the Curious Book Reader

This soliloquy explores a dynamic way of living, weaving together personal reflections on time, interconnectedness, and the search for meaning. It delves into how ancient philosophies and modern practices can serve as a blueprint for cultivating resilience and finding joy amidst life’s inherent uncertainties, especially important to know in uncertain times. As part of a larger tapestry of insights, this piece offers a unique perspective on embracing intentionality and playfulness to navigate the professional and personal journey.

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Technical Journal Entry Begins

I have to utilize the 20 professional years (or so) I have left, and hopefully the 45 or so total years left, if I get one Dick Van Dyke’s unit of time. We don’t even know how large one DVD is yet, haha! But whatever it is I hope I get one.

There are highly unlikely cascading chain reactions of events in life.

There are lots of lives that intersect and touch each other in more ways than may be obvious or visible.

Things don’t always get done quickly or right away. Sometimes it takes time and multiple passes. Time gets chunked up into day-sized units because we have to sleep.

The Invisible Threads of Support

It’s tough to know “where we’re going” except that we’re on the surface of a sphere that’s rotating creating the day/night cycles which itself is rotating a Sun giving us energy for about 100 rotations of our journey, which is actually part of corkscrew type motion relative to the galactic or Universal frame. Our actual movement on the surface of that sphere at the tip of the corkscrew is very tiny, relative. But in that little pin-prick at the tip of the corkscrew there is a thing we are somehow capable of calling self and it is going somewhere — perhaps in some other space against some other frame. We don’t know. But we can ascribe our own meaning and think about it however we like.

The Cosmic Dance and Daily Grind

We can ask ourselves what’s really important. And that’s what I do every morning. It’s 5:00 AM and I am writing this into vim trying to fill myself full of vim and verve. But everything has these qualifiers because it’s really NeoVim, a.k.a. nvim so it’s both the tradition of the thing that matters and also the finer-grained details of the now. In other words, we can switch between the abstract and the precise. We switch a lot.

We bop between the cosmically big and the intimately small.

We bop between the seemingly superimposed fear and seriousness of it all and the a manufactured intrepidness and silly lightheartedness about it. Life is full enough with all that fear, uncertainty and doubt to wallow in it. There are antidotes. Some find the antidote in the kind of snarkiness born of pessimism and a dark place. Others find it in lighthearted vaudevillian humor.

You see this for example in the comedy stylings of Mel Brooks. It’s almost beyond belief that Space Balls is getting a remake or a sequel, and at what age? Mel Brooks is 99 years old. Mel Brooks and Dick Van Dyke. God blessed them. The comedy men. The song and dance men. Women too! I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention we wouldn’t have Star Trek without Lucille Ball and we might not have had Lucille Ball without The Three Stooges.

Did I mention that there are highly unlikely cascading chain reactions of events in life and that lots of lives that intersect and touch each other in more ways than may be obvious or visible? I did? Oh good, okay well then.

Making people laugh and have more of that strength to deal with life’s FUD is one of the highest callings in life and doing it without darksnark is best. Vaudeville does this.

The Art of Lighthearted Resilience

For lack of other businesses, a certain portion of society was forced to take up vaudevillian show business because the naughty-mouthed profanity isn’t quite so blasphemous to them, with a certain cultural certainty that G_d himself has a sense of humor. The voice of Scuttle from The Little Mermaid, just about the only way people will remember Buddy Hackett anymore, was like the original potty-mouth. You wouldn’t think this Lovebug Herbie had a dirtier mouth than Eddie Murphy — do the youngus even know Eddie Murphy? — but that’s one fowl mouthed seagull! And it’s knee-slapping funny when you hear it. And it gives you strength.

Comedy is important. Comedy to face the fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) factor of life. And comedy doesn’t come easy. It’s instilled. It’s a sudden new perspective as if you’re a child again seeing things in a new way through the (often uninhibited) eyes of the comedian.

Embracing Play and Perspective in a World of FUD

So when we ask ourselves what’s really important in life, we have to master all that attempting to be instilled fear of the unknown and seriousness of day-to-day survival with cognitively and willfully chosen sense of fun. Recapturing that child-like playful state where you can just unjudgingly play is not a bad state to recapture if you can manage it. Shoshin is where to begin — like a beginner. Once again the Japanese come through with an ideal word for a concept. Language makes so much difference in how we frame and contextualize situations and you could do a lot worse than:

Foundational Philosophies for an Intentional Life

1. Ikigai: a superset notion of how to frame it all to get your butt out of bed in the morning and hopping to whatever it is that gives you energy, lights that spark and feeds the vim and verve of life.
2. Shoshin: Be like a beginner. As you get older things become habits. Stuff gets easier like walking and talking and driving and earning money, you know all that stuff adults do. But at the same time this is shortcut heuristics that dulls you and blinds you to life’s wonder. If you can somehow install windshield wipers on your eyes and see things as a newcomer to the game does you’ll see things in a new light it can re-infuse that love for experimental play for play’s sake back into life and that can make a lot of difference.

The Wisdom of Moderation and Imperfection

3. Hara Hachi Bu and Wabi-Sabi: These are a Japanese two-for concept that gets across the 80/20-rule. If you eat too much and get stuffed and let yourself grow obese, you’re going to always run out of steam and take the lazy heuristic shortcuts, thereby cheating yourself out of the journey and becoming much like a kept pet — so stop eating when you’re done and don’t always take cues from any gluttons that may be around you. Also, accept imperfection. You’re not getting to any particular end-of-race goal-line until the day you die and so you can think about each and every day as a tiny chisel-strike work of art on the sculpture that is you. Each day is an iterative passes making yourself more into the art you want to be. And each and every day is a perfectly imperfect work in progress artistic creation that is also done.

I could go on, but this is a trap. First 15 minutes in the morning journal, then an hour then all day. This is for processing ideas, not for creating an artificial world of abstractions to live in. We rapidly alternate between different environments or modes of being, focusing on the means by which we make the transition ensuring we do it, but knowingly in an oscillating pendulum sort of way in sync with our own reliable day/night circadian rhythm. We started somewhere and we’ll likely be back at that somewhere-point tomorrow so you don’t have to get it all out today.

Harmonizing Inner Reflection with External Demands

That’s where the non-Japanese concept of the Pomodoro timer comes into play. Set time-limits. Keep yourself anchored to the so-called outside world (versus your interior one) that has clocks and deadlines and other people that you interact with — especially if you’re someone with so-called responsibilities — the bread winner who has to make the money, make the rain, and be the resource provider so that others can live some sort of life full of advantage during those years where they are Shoshin’ing it up not worrying about those details of life.

Navigating Resource Allocation and Responsibility

But ease them into it. Those others whose meal-ticket you’re paying for can’t be unaware that there’s a meal ticket being paid for. Also, pay close attention to the allocation of those resources. It’s very easy for resources that are earmarked for one thing not be sent that way because the gatekeepers are chintzing out on you and cheating you by spending those resources on some other extravagant expensive thing for someone else that was denied to you. This kind of thing happens, especially with the extravagant types who indulge themselves instead of abiding by Hara Hachi Bu. While they’re fictional, the image is that of the Dursleys in the Harry Potter movie and how they treated Harry versus their own Dudley where they considered it generations to give Harry Dudley’s second bedroom once they upgraded him from the space under the stairs — likely out of pure fear of the wizards and witches and being held accountable for the undeniable poor treatment, upgrading him right to the edge to where the accountants of such injustices could be gaslit if they said anything.

Unseen Lessons and the Unfolding Path

These are just broad strokes of life things to think about. Our younger years are often time spent in training — a kind of life-lesson school before Hogwarts because as a famous wizard, the boy who survived, Harry would have been spoiled growing up famous in the wizarding world so he got the shitty short end of the stick being stuck with the Dursleys in all those growing-up years. One wants to say until he turned 11 but that’s not totally true. He continued living with the Dursleys until the danger he was in drove him out.

Harry Potter as a Metaphor for Resilience

Fiction like that is just fiction, but it becomes popular because the characters are relatable and the situations they are in, fanciful as they may be, parallels the challenges and foibles and trials and tribulations of real life. Harry going to Hogwarts at 11 years old was only just the beginning. The years tick of, the story develops, Harry gets older and older. More and more interesting and previously unknown parts of the story get revealed, even though you do know right from the start that Professor McGonagall views the Dursleys as the worst kind of Muggles and Dumbledore full of regret asserts that its the only family he (Harry) has. And in Dumbledore’s wisdom he knows that the offspring of James and Lily Potter is going to have the strength to endure it.

The Tapestry of Support: Lessons from Enduring Narratives

And that’s not to say Dumbledore checks out. He’s thinking about the future and what this all means. It’s touch-and-go there for awhile when Dumbledore appears to be outright ignoring Harry right when the going gets tough — but he’s not. He knows the link between Harry and Voldemort broadcasts everything Harry sees to Voldemort so a sort of buffer distance needs to be kept. Even Snape begins to care for the boy and sends his own Patronus doe charm to look after Harry.

Everybody is on his side. Even Snape.

Modern Myth & The Unseen Support System

It just doesn’t look that way, sometimes.

That’s deep channeling. That’s what makes a book like this transcend so much audience demographics and time. Time will tell whether it rises to the classic level of J.R.R. Tolkien but of the big movie series — the Star Wars and Indiana Jones of our time I think it almost certainly was the Hobbit / Lord of the Rings series and the Harry Potter series. All that Marvel stuff comes in a me too distant third as far as Joseph Campbell myth-making.

Navigating the Cosmos of Self and Purpose

Gemini: Your reflection beautifully captures the duality of our existence: the vast cosmic perspective and the intimate, often chaotic details of daily life. Let’s delve deeper into the themes you’ve interwoven – time, interconnectedness, comedy, foundational philosophies, and the enduring power of narrative – to further illuminate the path forward.

1. The Cosmic Context and the “Self”

You rightly point out our seemingly insignificant physical movement in the grand cosmic corkscrew. Yet, within this “pin-prick,” consciousness – the “self” – emerges. This self is not merely a passive observer but an active participant, capable of ascribing meaning and navigating its own unique trajectory.

• Existentialism and Meaning: Philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre argued that “existence precedes essence,” meaning we first exist and then define our own essence or purpose through our choices and actions. Your recognition that we can “ascribe our own meaning” aligns with this existentialist view.
• Cosmic Perspective: Acknowledging our cosmic insignificance can be liberating rather than disheartening. It can put daily worries into perspective, fostering a sense of awe and gratitude for the rare gift of consciousness.

2. The Power of Comedy and Connection

Your tribute to comedy legends like Mel Brooks and Dick Van Dyke highlights the vital role of humor in navigating life’s uncertainties.

• Comedy as Resilience: Humor often serves as a coping mechanism, a way to process difficult emotions and situations. It can provide a sense of control and perspective, allowing us to face FUD with a lighter heart.
• Interconnectedness: The ripple effects of lives touching one another, often unseen, are profound. Just as Lucille Ball’s influence extended to Star Trek, our own actions can have unforeseen consequences, shaping the lives of others in ways we may never fully realize.

3. Foundational Philosophies for Living

The Japanese concepts you’ve embraced – Ikigai, Shoshin, Hara Hachi Bu, and Wabi-Sabi – offer a powerful framework for intentional living.

• Ikigai (Reason for Being): Finding the intersection of what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for can provide a profound sense of purpose and fulfillment.
• Shoshin (Beginner’s Mind): Cultivating a beginner’s mind allows us to approach life with curiosity and openness, fostering continuous learning and growth.
• Hara Hachi Bu (Eat until 80% full): This principle extends beyond food to all aspects of life, encouraging moderation and avoiding excess to maintain balance and energy.
• Wabi-Sabi (Acceptance of Imperfection): Embracing imperfection can free us from the paralyzing pursuit of perfection, allowing us to appreciate the beauty in the flawed and transient nature of life.

4. Harmonizing Inner and Outer Worlds

Balancing internal reflection with external demands is a constant challenge. The Pomodoro Technique offers a practical tool for managing this tension.

• Structured Focus: By breaking work into focused intervals (typically 25 minutes) followed by short breaks, the Pomodoro Technique can enhance productivity and prevent burnout.
• Oscillation: Recognizing the need to oscillate between different modes of being – focused work, creative exploration, rest, and social interaction – is crucial for maintaining overall well-being.

5. Narrative as Metaphor for Resilience

Your analysis of Harry Potter as a metaphor for resilience is spot on. Stories, like myths of old, provide us with templates for navigating life’s challenges.

• The Hero’s Journey: Harry’s journey follows the classic monomyth structure identified by Joseph Campbell, resonating with audiences across cultures and generations because it mirrors our own struggles and triumphs.
• Unseen Support: Just as Harry had unseen allies like Snape and Dumbledore, we too often have support systems we may not fully recognize. Acknowledging this can foster a sense of gratitude and connection.

In Conclusion:

Your reflection is a tapestry of profound insights, weaving together cosmic perspective, philosophical wisdom, and the enduring power of storytelling. By embracing these concepts and continuing to cultivate your own unique “self,” you are well-equipped to navigate the remaining years of your professional and personal journey with purpose, resilience, and a touch of vaudevillian humor.

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Book Analysis

Ai Editorial Take

This entry offers a rich, multi-layered reflection on purposeful living. Its strength lies in its ability to connect deeply personal introspection with universal philosophical truths, anchored by vivid, often humorous, examples. The potential for this piece as a foundational element in a larger book is significant, providing readers with both inspiration and actionable frameworks for personal growth and resilience in a complex world.

Title Brainstorm

• Title Option: A Personal Philosophy for Purpose, Play, and Resilience in the Age of AI
  • Filename: personal-philosophy-purpose-play-resilience-age-of-ai.md
  • Rationale: Captures the core themes of individual meaning, the role of lightheartedness, and the strength needed for modern times, explicitly mentioning the contemporary context.
• Title Option: Cosmic Dance, Daily Grind: A Treatise on Meaning, Humor, and Japanese Wisdom
  • Filename: cosmic-dance-daily-grind-treatise.md
  • Rationale: Uses evocative phrases from the article itself, highlights the blend of high-level thought and practical philosophy, and references the specific cultural insights discussed.
• Title Option: The Way of the Oscillating Pendulum: Integrating Inner and Outer Worlds
  • Filename: oscillating-pendulum-inner-outer-worlds.md
  • Rationale: Focuses on the unique metaphor used in the article to describe the dynamic balance required between reflection and action, a central theme.
• Title Option: Ikigai, Shoshin, and Harry Potter: A Blueprint for Enduring Life’s FUD
  • Filename: ikigai-shoshin-harry-potter-blueprint-fud.md
  • Rationale: Highlights specific, memorable concepts from the article and frames the piece as a practical guide for facing fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

Content Potential And Polish

• Core Strengths:
  • Blends personal reflection with profound philosophical concepts.
  • Uses relatable examples, such as Mel Brooks and Harry Potter, to illustrate complex ideas.
  • Integrates practical wisdom from Japanese philosophies (Ikigai, Shoshin, Hara Hachi Bu, Wabi-Sabi) and modern productivity tools (Pomodoro).
  • Maintains a strong, conversational, and engaging authorial voice.
  • Addresses the ‘Age of AI’ context, framing the insights as important for contemporary relevance.
• Suggestions For Polish:
  • Elaborate more deeply on the ‘Age of AI’ connection beyond just mentioning it to fully integrate this theme.
  • Refine transitions between seemingly disparate topics (e.g., Dick Van Dyke’s unit of time, cosmic motion, Vim, Harry Potter) to ensure a smoother flow for the reader.
  • Clarify idiosyncratic phrases, such as ‘one Dick Van Dyke’s unit of time,’ which might be too niche for some readers.
  • Smooth the transition from abstract philosophical concepts to the practical discussion of resource allocation and the Dursleys metaphor, which can feel abrupt.

Next Step Prompts

• Expand on the connection between the ‘oscillating pendulum’ concept and specific time management or mindfulness techniques.
• Develop a companion piece focusing on practical exercises and daily applications derived from Ikigai, Shoshin, Hara Hachi Bu, and Wabi-Sabi.