My great-grandfather told my father: "Air conditioning can be a great thing when a man can get some sleep because of it. A man can do a lot of work if he gets a good night's sleep."
Yes indeed. My great-grandfather, who may have provided bloodline inspiration for much of this writer's own life paths, was on to something. I will leave aside for now the part about getting a good night's sleep, and that (and why) we don't do enough of that anymore.
My thought here is about the air conditioning.
When air conditioning brings true relief from deeply stifling heat and/or humidity, or offers some protection from adverse air quality of one sort or another, air conditioning is serving a clearly and demonstrably good purpose. When it is merely providing slight additional comfort, and in the process insulating us in an artificial environment that divorces us even further from nature (or even just prevents us from breathing fresh air), it is doing us a disservice.
Or rather we are doing ourselves a disservice. We not only wimpify ourselves, but we also disconnect ourselves from what is "out there" and that we need to be a part of physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
So unless there's a compelling reason not to, open a window. Or better yet, take a walk. You might inspire others to do the same. The long road back from this artifical bubble life begins with just that. A single action.
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