Inertia
The Motion We See Around Us—and the Momentum We Allow Within Us
Inertia is when an object in motion stays in motion.
It just so happens that inertia is the word I’ve kept coming back to over the last few years. If you’ve had an extended conversation with me during that time, it has inevitably come up. To me, it feels like there is a motion, a trajectory, in which we are collectively moving that cannot be stopped by any one of us.
After reading that last paragraph, some of you may have had moments in which you’ve felt it. Others may be asking what exactly it is.
It is creating the feeling that everything is out of control.
It is creating the feeling that we are all powerless.
It is creating the feeling that time is speeding up.
It is creating the feeling that we are moving into a future we are not ready for.
Do you feel it?
Trust in almost every institution is at an all-time low.
Our leaders are more corrupt than ever.
Our voices are not being heard, and no one is standing up for us.
We are struggling to make ends meet while politicians and big business get richer.
Lawlessness is rampant.
Civility is fragile and hanging by a thread.
Morality is, at best, optional. At worst, outdated.
We are turning inward and becoming lonelier and more isolated.
We are more anxious, depressed, and addicted than we’ve ever been.
We are giving away our creativity, our passions, and our autonomy to machines.
We are people walking the circumference, mistaking edges for essence, as Rohr says.
William Butler Yeats, in the first half of his prophetic poem The Second Coming, wrote:
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
This is the inertia. This is the motion that continues and cannot be stopped.
That is, unless something — or someone — disrupts it.
But I wonder if we are too far gone, if we have surrendered to it.
We all see it. We all feel it. We all intuitively know we are being consumed by it. But knowing is different from resisting.
And who among us is resisting?
We recognize it, yet we allow ourselves to be carried by it.
That is why I keep coming back to this word.
Inertia.
Not because it explains what is happening around us, but because it explains what we are allowing within ourselves.
While everything around us wants to mold, shape, and convince us that we must accept the trajectory, I would like to gently remind you that we are not powerless to its influence. One small rebellion in one’s life at a time disrupts the momentum.
Our future has not been decided.
History is filled with individuals who made one important decision to slow down — or stop — the prevailing inertia of their time.
The question is whether we believe we can still do the same. Let’s talk about it over the next few weeks and what it looks like to rebel against this seemingly unstoppable force.
Question
What trajectory in your life have you stopped questioning?
Peace,
Brandon