Today I say goodbye to Apple. Some might call this retirement. I would call it v2.0.
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Life is a miracle. From the simple fact that we are here and alive, to the quiet assumption that we will wake up again tomorrow, it is a wonder. But the true miracle is our agency—the ability to realize that we have a rare opportunity to do something meaningful with our lives. The ability to choose and act intentionally, choosing a response rather than reacting to circumstances, fully aware that the outcome may not be as expected.
At the beginning of the film The Matrix (1999), Neo’s character has no agency. He is one of the many observed. As the story progresses, his agency grows. He transforms from being observed to an observer, becoming aware of things. This positive loopback of agency and awareness leads to character growth and progression, resulting in a great payoff for both the character and the audience.
In Groundhog Day (1993), Phill Conners’ character has agency, but it is buried under his arrogance and selfishness. Realizing he entered a time loop, he initially tries to control the world. However, as the story progresses, he attempts to make changes to his own agency—control himself and see how he could influence the events under his control. He becomes an observer. His agency develops further with each iteration of the time loop, culminating in a satisfying climax for both the character and the audience.
Whether in a film or a life story, a character’s agency is what propels the story forward on an exciting path with a potential payoff at the end. Without agency, the story would be like any of the template-based films - bland and ending with a thud.
Which climax do we want to write in our own stories?
The concept of Agency applies universally, whether it’s to a leader of a large corporation with thousands of employees or someone managing a smaller team, or an individual collaborating with others. Agency is the catalyst that transforms a manager into a leader. It’s important to recognize that not every manager possesses leadership qualities, and one doesn’t necessarily need to be a manager to be a leader. While corporate titles hold significance in many companies, it’s intriguing to observe that numerous managerial training programs often fail to enhance agency in many cases.
We spend our lives trying to create order out of chaos — and yet the universe keeps reminding us that entropy is the natural order. Walking away from a lucrative golden handcuff package is not easy. And walking towards entropy is certainly not easy.
We crave a safety net surrounding every aspect of our lives. In our quest for certainty amidst chaos, the universe reveals that entropy is the natural order.
How to cut ones losses and move on, particularly at this great inflection point in the history of mankind?
JK (Jiddu Krishnamurthi) would probably ask - “Why do you fear the void? What is it you’re running from? Is the void actually empty, or is it simply unfamiliar?”
The void isn’t the absence of meaning. It’s the absence of external validation of meaning. The meaning was always yours to create—you just had a structure that let you avoid confronting that directly. You can continue writing in the margins. But the question is: what happens when the margins become the whole page?
The fabric of our existence in this Cosmos is made of, waves and particles, a contradiction and a duet. At the fundamental level, the universe refuses to settle into one state until it is forced to choose—or rather, until it is measured.
The Wave represents the potentiality or the probability of the universe. The Particle represents the collapse of that potentiality into a single, concrete point.
The “duet” occurs because the wave directs the particle, and the particle manifests the wave.
Riding the wave, everything is possible and nothing is yet fixed.
“The challenge is to dance as a wave of infinite potential, then find the courage to collapse into the particle of action.”
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