July 13 | The Existing Order of Things

“The existing order of things can be improved” – Leo Tolstoy

Existing. Presently happening. As near as it is far, as personal as it is impersonal, the entire collective sum of stuff with whatever adjectives or perceptions you throw on top of it. 

Order. Slightly less broad—the parts of existing things that have been, at some point, by some person, shaped with intentionality, brought out of chaos into order. Many unintended consequences, yes, but different than it was before.

Things. Stuff. All of it. Everything—literally every thing—you can think of. 

Can be. Not certainly will. May or may not. A flip of the coin, that act of intentionality that created the order before.

Improved. A dangerous word. Hard to define, hard to live up to.

The existing order of things can be improved—a belief impossible to prove empirically, but awfully hard to live without.… Read the rest