DOES THE SUN RISE TOMORROW?

i believe the sun will rise tomorrow.

why?

because it rose today. and yesterday. and the day before that.

a sunrise in mexico through my dji osmo

there are many things in my life that function so reliably, so predictably and on a regular cadence that it’s easy for me to assume they’ll always be there.

today, i’m young, have a healthy & functioning body that’s not in pain1. i have friends and family who care for and love me despite all my shortcomings as a human being. i wake up and do work that feels engaging and purposeful & experience many creature comforts like taking hot showers, warm blankets when outside gets a too cold, and the ability to make taco bell appear in front of me at a moment’s notice.

the reliability of comfort that i experience is a sort of invisible to me. usually until something breaks.

i think the last time this happened was around feburary of 2025 when i had the grand idea to travel around taiwan solo after becoming privy of some internet messaging that solo-trips were a necessary rite of passage for women in their early 20s. during my trip, i was really lonely2 and homesick & ran into many logistical issues along the way3. and because i was not having a great time, i became very aware of how much psychological energy i was conserving when i lived at home & i could get all my needs met just by the design of my environment.

i think lots of life events can give you these wake-up moments like getting sick or injured.

this post isn’t really a gesture at practicing more gratitude, though i think that’s important. the more interesting thing for me is the idea that the things we have today4 might not exist tomorrow, even if they’ve existed for a long time. this is especially true in a rapidly changing world

1

my benchmark for healthy body is the ability to do the rasputin dance. multiple deep russian squat kicks in a row.

2

taiwan doesn’t really have a very social hostel culture, which i was looking for at the time

3

this is NOT a knock on taiwan. it is a gorgeous country with gorgeous people and yummy food. i was just losing my marbles and emo and struggling to be present during this particular trip

4

as a person living in a wealthy western country in 2026, i get to benefit from many systems that didn’t miraculously appear out of thin air but exist because lots of people before me struggled and worked really hard to make them exist & that was a time not so long ago where chlorea epidemics killed thousands or women couldn’t vote or own property.