Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ How to Create Your Reason

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

You may have noticed in the past that I've dedicated myself to "a society where knowledge and learning are public goods, freely created and shared, not hoarded or withheld in order to extract wealth or influence." This is an example of what Umair Haque would call 'a reason' - "a radically simple statement of why your life matters enough to you to fully, dangerously live it... past the edge." And, writes Haque, "Here's the trick. The reason isn't found, or discovered. It is created. It is the great act of a life; the culminating act that joins our choices and decisions into a trajectory that resonates." It doesn't have to involve a Great Work - it can be anything from dedicating yourself to raising your family to serving your God to bringing art into hair styling. What matters is that it be something that matters enough to you to spend your life doing it. Because - really - what else are you going to do with your life? Kill time while you wait for it to end?

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 26, 2024 7:32 p.m.

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