The Alive Privilege

The sun starts coming in through the French windows at around two o’clock in the afternoon. It begins on the floor, where it warms my feet, then rises up the back of the desk. At this point, my laptop’s fan starts to hum gently from the warmth. When the heat gets too intense, the fan whirs as if my laptop’s trying to take off. I prop an A4 notepad behind it to deflect the sun.

How privileged we are to have the ability to create, and to experience the creations of others. Even just to sit and observe our own awareness doing its thing. Those strange bubbles of thought that arise – the appetites, the worries, the wishes – and then drift by.

Terrence Malick’s The Way of the Wind (likely out this year, 2025)

We are so privileged both to create our own things and to consume those of others. American director Terrence Malick is releasing a film soon about the life of Christ, The Way of the Wind. How amazing this will be. Christopher Nolan is working on The Odyssey, to be released in 2026, I believe. These filmmakers are out there pushing boundaries, and we get to sit back, enjoy, and be inspired by the product of their labours.

We’re around in a time when the most dramatic changes in history will take place – when our species will begin to explore the universe.

Sometimes, you just have to sit back and think: wow.

In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius wrote:

“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.”