Shorts From Howard Kang

The Cults!

(Photo: Me + Life, Panasonic ZS-3)

Since I’ve graduated college college I’ve been struggling to figure out the motion of life. Control and chaos coexist, most of it can be pretty opaque, and sometime you just have to throw hail mary’s. I still have a lot to learn about life, but I’ve realized that there needs to be a balance between adapting and driving through the fluidity of life.

With that in mind, here are my words I’m using to approach 2012:

Dream - Last year I realized I stopped letting myself dream. I’m going to let myself dream. BIG. I’m thankful for people like Paul Farmer, Muhammad Yunus, Jacqueline Novogratz, and artists like David duChemin, Jeremy Cowart, Zack Arias, Chase Jarvis, Explosions in the Sky, Banksy, Shepard Fairey, etc. who inspire me to look deeper at what’s possible in the world.

 Let us dream the wildest possible dreams and then pursue them. - Muhammad Yunus

Pursue - Those who change the world are the ones that “dream the wildest possible dreams and then pursue them.” Little by little—every step, with the frame of my dreams in mind. I spent last year reacting until the final few months of the year. Never again (hopefully). JUST DO IT.

Relax - I want to remember to relax. Breathe. Do me. Taking time to really stop, reflect, and enjoy some quiet. Remembering that I am not on anyone’s clock, or restricted to other’s social standards or benchmarks. Acknowledging the necessity for balance with passion. Ensuring that I am refreshed, invigorated, and dreaming and pursuing for the right reasons. (Screw being busy for the sake of being busy. #hamletsblackberry)

Twist: I’m going to be creating a few specific actions around these themes this go. 2012, I’m PUMPED. :)

Kentucky Bourbon Trail, etc. w/ Nick.

Met up at a decent halfway point before both of us move across the country & gave Woodford Reserve, Buffalo Trace (home of my favorite bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle), Heaven Hill, and Maker’s Mark a visit. Enjoyed some nightlife in Lexington and finally got to go to Lynn’s Paradise Cafe in Louisville. 

Sometimes I like to play this game where if I see someone is having a rough day I try to get them to laugh or crack a smile. Sometimes (okay more than sometimes) I think I make people angrier. Today I won. Apparently my over-excessive celebration of the $0.10 sack credit Cassie remembered to give me did it over. :) I guess I’m good at giving people reasons to laugh at me?

Talked about Kenya today with Lori from Kumveka. Lisa, Courtney, and Emily are hanging in California right now. I miss my peeps!

Thinking about Kenya today…

P.S. India, hopefully I will visit you soon. 

Let Us Dream the Wildest Dreams Possible & Pursue Them

Today’s rapid pace of change makes it crucial that we, as individual citizens, have a clear idea as to where we want our world to go. If we hope to find and stay on the right course, we must agree on the basic features of the world we want to create. And we must think big as we dare to imagine—lest we waste the unprecedented opportunities that the world is offering us. Let us dream the wildest possible dreams and then pursue them.
- Muhammad Yunus

When I came across that quote in the last chapter of Creating a World Without Poverty my heart sank immediately. It succinctly sums up why I’ve been floundering without direction for the past several years; I have no anchor. (I have no idea why I’m making all these nautical metaphors either.)

I remember in grade school I started to notice what separated most adults from kids: a lack of boundless imagination defined by a pragmatic, “realistic” mentality masked as maturity. I made a promise to myself around then that I’d never outgrow my motto “DREAM BIG,“ hold onto my undying belief in limitless possibility, and continue to allow myself to imagine whatever I wanted. Dream Big resonated with me because I held a perpetual feeling of inadequacy while being constantly reminded of how “bright” I was and the amount of “potential” I had. As long as I could dream big I could escape to what could be. 

In the past six months I’ve considered careers ranging from marketing to medicine to art to economic development to education. In the past six years it’s been even crazier. While reading Muhammad Yunus’ book I felt inspired while simultaneously judgmental of his borderline-delusional idealism. It’s funny because I used to be on the other side. I used to share his inexhaustible sense of idealism and hope. Somewhere along the line, while facing multiple disappointments, learning, and living life, I must’ve lost my childlike belief in dreaming big.

It hurts to think about how lost I am and even more so to realize how much I’ve diverged from my hopeful past. While I can’t pinpoint what my dreams are these days and what I want to do with my life, Muhammad Yunus helped me see something pivotal. The value of dreaming big lies in the act of dreaming itself. It isn’t about THE DREAM necessarily. Think about it. When you allow yourself to dream you choose to imagine and therefore believe in possibility. As a result, you pursue it, and act. He didn’t start Grameen Bank and other social businesses because that was the end itself. They came out of his desire to “dream the wildest possible dreams and then pursue them.” Wow, what a dude.

I still don’t know what any of this means for me or my direction in life, but I’ve been sitting at my computer for a while and am running low on my philosophical juices so I’m going to hit Create Post and go sit outside and enjoy the weather. 

Peace, y’all.