January 8, 2026
To him who has had the experience, no explanation is necessary. To him who has not, none is possible.
Ram Dass
There’s a funny thing about living in this current time, where every answer you could dream of is a Google search, AI prompt, or YouTube query away. And still, despite this glut of ubiquitous, free, on-demand content, we still haven’t achieved a greater level of collective consciousness or wisdom. Why? I think the quote above by Ram Dass holds a clue.
We often confuse wisdom with information, but wisdom demands experience. Everything I write about is my lived experience. And so, I don’t expect you, the reader, to fully internalize any of it. Some things in life require first-hand experience. The kind of experience you don’t get from a library book or Wikipedia, or from a friend’s story or a stranger’s blog. This is why we still make mistakes. This is why we still fail to live up to our standards. This is why we still have room to grow, every day. Because when experience is mandatory, no amount of explanation can adequately substitute.
Still, we try. Partly because we have hope, as optimists, that this time may be different, and perhaps the student who is ready, finds their teacher at the precise right time and place. But also partly because our explanations are not necessarily for the reader. They are for us, to make sense, to chronicle, to leave behind. For one day, these words may shed light on a time that’s gone — but was absolutely perfect as it was.