John R. Miles

When the bond finally cures, something miraculous happens.

Unity replaces uniformity.

In a uniform world, we all have to be the same to fit together.

We have to follow the same scripts, chase the same trophies, and use the same metrics.

But in a unified structure, our differences are exactly what give the mortar room to work.

Your unique stone, your specific background, your specific failures, your specific talents is exactly what makes the wall strong, provided the mortar of shared meaning is there to hold it.

This is how we solve the existential cost of a life organized around winning.

We stop asking,

Did I outperform others?

And we start asking, is this structure worth inhabiting?

We stop looking for the next auction to win, and we start looking at the strength of our joins.

As you move into this week, I want you to look at the mortar in your life.

Don't just look at the trophies on the shelf.

Look at the spaces between the trophies.

Look at the quality of your connections.

Look at the grit of your convictions.

Are they curing into something that will last, or are they just drying into dust?

Meaning's mortar cures not to erase our differences, but to unify them, creating a structure where individual significance finds its fullest expression in the we.

Meaning's mortar cures not to erase our differences, but to unify them, creating a structure where individual significance finds its fullest expression in the we.

Pass the trial, my friends.