Give me the theory, reality scares me
Years ago, I attended and received a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Regent University.
What’s funny is that I attended Regent online while living in Hawaii, Kentucky, Georgia, N. Carolina and Korea. And the actual campus is in Virginia Beach, which is my current city of residence and I pass by it all the time.
Funny how life works like that sometimes – especially in the online sphere.
Anyhow, my major was political science, and one particular course was on “political theory”. And in one of the discussions, a classmate and I were talking about how theory translates into reality. I remarked, halfway joking, that I prefer to just stick with the theory because reality scares me.
This got the 2012 equivalent of a LOL from the professor, which I found very gratifying.
I say I was half joking because it’s true. We all like to stick with our own theories on things, and the biases that come with it. We’re watching a huge clash of conflicting theories on Covid, vaccines and what not right now, and it’s creating a reality I think we’d all just as soon avoid.
In fact, I’m scheduled to travel to Florida this weekend to celebrate the 2000th episode of a podcast hosted by someone I admire and consider a friend. That might not happen if these flight cancellations continue.
But these conflicts force us to confront our own theories on things. Whether you’re 100% all in on vaccines, or if you’re 100% opposed, the very fact that someone else thinks differently from you forces you to consider your own biases and perhaps reconsider. Well, human nature is to dig in our heels when someone disagrees with us, which is why there seems to be a standstill on this debate about vaccines. Human beings are pretty difficult to sway to a different way of thought once they’re convinced they’re right.
But such is life.
One thing about my own reality that I love and find to be encouraging is my relationship with my wife, Sana. Our relationship has been rather interesting in its fledgling years, so much so that I would say most couples haven’t experienced in years of marriage what we’ve endured in just the first year and a half – going on 2 years this January.
Anyway, we used to record podcasts together while we were physically separated last fall, and we decided to get back on the horse and record another one while we await her visa to be approved. We’re currently making plans on some interesting topics to discuss, but we just wanted to get behind the mics again and run our mouths.
I think you’ll find the most recent episode and the one before it titled “Committed or Interested” to be particularly interesting.
Here’s the link to listen on your podcast player of choice – provided you use either Apple or Spotify: https://james-sana.captivate.fm/listen
James Newcomb