This video did indeed give me "That Funny Feeling." Just beautifully done, Hank. Beautiful. -John p.s. We made coffee. It's really good: awesomecoffeeclub.com
Where did you get coffee, Hank? There are so many good places 🤗! Nice essay. I live in Queen Anne and my balcony view is of Elliot Bay looking towards Bainbridge Island and West Seattle. It is a view I vastly enjoy and I understand everything you mean about it. Elliot Bay is a working bay and so, yes, heavy use contributes towards damaging a beautiful stretch of landscape. Yet there is something magical about watching the everyday activities of human endeavour. I never get bored. Welcome to the bittersweet joys of middle age. I am in the last year of my fifties. I find myself reaching back more and more, wondering why I am no longer childlike in my views while glad that I no longer have that unquestioning acceptance of the world. I am angry at our sometimes mindless and shocking abuse of Earth's resources yet hopeful that we will find solutions for better management and maintenance. Keep feeling, Hank, keep thinking, keep producing beautiful essays like this (You and your brother are so talented!). I'll always read them. Thanks for the nice peek at my town. Cheers🙂👍!
Interestingly enough, there's a saying in portuguese: 'to end up watching ships'. It's a way of saying that you couldn't obtain what you wanted. Maybe you are seeing your ambitions frustrated and you can end up being desilusioned. I find it super interesting how this centuries old expression from another language fits so well with what triggered all of these thoughts within you.
This beautiful. I speak Portuguese as a native and I didn't see the connection to the saying. It takes more than knowledge to see these connections. It takes perception. the very theme of the video. You can look at one thing and see many things at the same time. thank you for this comment and the perception you've shown us.
Thoughts from Places is the most underrated format on the internet. I'm so glad you posted this extremely thoughtful video from one of my favorite places in the world. Made my Friday quite a bit better.
GAGAGAGAGA I just disliked my own face because I am unpretty. HOWEVER: I always like my GOOD videos however. No dislikes allowed where I come from. Don't be mean, dear jame
As a gentle reminder: your capacity for emotion is more than a tool for change. Joy and sorrow do not have to demand action-- sometimes, sitting with them is enough. Thank you for sharing Oren's wonder, which asks for nothing but our eyes.
What a beautifully honest human perspective. Reminds me of this from Rilke: “Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. / Just keep going. No feeling is final.”
The choice of "That Funny Feeling" as a background track is so on point for this. That song encapsulates an emotion that there should be a very long German word for.
Here are my suggestions for feelings I associate with this video: - Ambiguitätstoleranzbemühung (the striving for tolerating ambiguity) - Einfachheitssehnsucht (the yearning for simplicity) - Komplexitätserschöpfung (tiredness from complexity)
@@holzschwein0 , from another Laura, thank you for those -- especially the "tiredness from complexity" one, which I will now type into a language translator with the hope that I might learn how to pronounce it correctly (...or at all, because the complexity of the German spelling makes my tiny little American brain hurt.)
@@holzschwein0 each of those describes part of the feeling but none capture it fully. It needs a little bit of Nietzsche/absurdist flavor added; finding meaning in meaninglessness and looking for truth in absurdity.
I’ve lived in Seattle my whole life. I have spent hours and days and years watching those ships be pulled in and out of the port. When I was little I often dreamed of stowing away on a ship and finally finding out where they go. I have watched with fascination and awe and disgust and resignation. They have meant so many different things to me at different times. It is more meaningful than i can express in words to know that someone else sees all the things I see in them
@@iwontliveinfear I am sorry that you're in that place, my friend, or if it's not you, I am sorry that this situation exists. We know it does, and it sucks.
Being a Seattle native, when I first caught a glimpse of the video’s thumbnail, I instinctively recognized the place being depicted. However, what was most unexpected for me about this video was the profound impression that just one aspect of the city left upon you. Your overwhelming stream of thoughts here were simply beautiful. The human mind is a very interesting thing.
I’ve heard “John I’ll see you on Tuesday” hundreds of times, but something about this one hit harder. With the music and the message, it felt like a mic drop. Thanks for inspiring us to see both Hank
That was... highly effective. I find I often feel uncomfortable with mixed feelings, preferring to simply see the good or the bad in a situation rather than both. But my experience tells me that mixed feelings are not only important, but they are more realistic, more true than initial narrow perspectives.
This is one of the best things I've seen on RUclips in years. I spent years watching the sun set over San Francisco as the lights turned on and the cars drove over the Bay Bridge with the planes leaving glowing orange streaks across the sky and I would think about how the whole scene was a monument to human striving and human excess at the same time. It was the nearest thing I've had to church and this touched that part of me years after I left Oakland. Thanks, Hank.
This is such a I important Video. If you ever figure it out let me know. I find myself often paralysed and “on the fence” trying to absorb it all in and see every point of view
I think that’s healthy, though. To be all in on either side is to be blind to a completely different way of looking at reality. Life isn’t actually a duality, as we naturally assume. The more you are on the fence, the more you realize, there was never a fence to begin with.
If it helps, I like to look at "opposing views" from the start of "understand those arguments against my own"... BUT it often shifts to "pick up what helps and leave what's useless" on BOTH sides of a given "fence"... Extremes are the UNhealthy... Nothing is entirely to the better or entirely to the worse... AND baby-steps toward benefit are still STEPS... ;o)
@@LaceyMyriah There's this line I sang in choir by Sir Michael Tippett from a work called "A Child of Our Time. It is---- "I would know my shadow and my light, so shall I at last be whole." Seeing both helps us choose which to minimize and grow.
Hank, I don’t comment on RUclips videos, or anything really. This is worth commenting on. I’ll be thinking about it for years to come. Thanks for being an amazing human. Earnestly, thank you.
I think we’re all feeling different kinds of “stuck” right now, and looking at the world complexly is both a boon and a cost to ourselves - but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying to improve the world, and trying to improve ourselves, too.
I'm so incredibly grateful that I found two people on the internet like John and Hank Green when I was 16 years old. The way you two talk about the world represents a lot of what I want the world to be. People can go a lot of ways at 16 and I'm glad I went the direction I did in part because of Vlogbrothers.
"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don’t always spoil the good things, or make them unimportant." Always love thoughts from places, thanks for this.
This is one of your best videos ever. I mean that in all sincerity. There is way too much black and white thinking but everything is endless varying shades of grey depending on what outcomes you are looking/preparing for.
Reminds me of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now: "I've looked at life from both sides now From win and lose and still somehow It's life's illusions I recall I really don't know life at all"
I had these thoughts when I first started working as a nurse. I started in pediatrics, and was so depressed by the struggles of the kids, and the pain of the families. But it also helped me get some perspective on my own perceived suffering (minimal compared to these families) and helped me be more positive. I didn't want to ignore the suffering in the world, and being aware of the suffering helped me be more appreciative of what I had and have.
When I see the containers coming and going from ports, I think of a man I stayed with in the Netherlands who truly loved his job driving a container truck. He took me with him to drop off his containers, hid me in the back where he often slept on the road, and let me watch as he finished the day's work. I'd never realized that that was the kind of job people could love and find joy in.
Hank, I really really enjoyed this video. I don't know how to say this without it sounding mean but this is definitely the kind of video I would expect from John, and it's a real delight to see it coming from you instead! I love the views and I love the lofi Bo Burnham and I love the pauses between words that you chose to leave in, it feels like it's giving me time to breathe and think and just be. And I really needed that today!! :)
This is so poetic, I love how, whatever the age, the little brain impulses and thoughts and emotions and mixed feelings and confusion stay with us, and, the beauty in the fact that anyone can relate. *"Nothing gets done if theres no room for joy"* Beautiful.
Hank, I’m facing a time where grief and sadness have overtaken my heart. I’m struggling to see the point in it all, but today you reminded me that there is also just…. so much joy to be had despite it all. Thank you for sharing this - it meant a lot to me.
When I used to have bad days, it helped me a lot to think about my brother, in the service, living in a shipping container in Afghanistan, getting shot at on the daily. Unless you are already lying in a hospital bed, waiting to die, it can always get worse. Buck up, my friend, you will have eternity to be at peace. Revel in the chaos while you can.
3:17 this is so relatable. I'm a person who spends too much time thinking about things and not enough time doing things, but even when I feel that my deep thoughts are super impactful, "that way of doing it doesn't seem to be helping me get anything done" is what I most often end up feeling. Beautiful video. Thank you for publishing it.
"Some people cultivate fear like it's a crop for them to harvest on Election Day." Damn, that's a great line, Hank! That is 100% going into my permanent lexicon of sayings!
I read this comment exactly as I was hearing it in the video. It is a great line! I had to pause and comment, because it really made me stop and think. Thank you for your comment.
This tapped so deeply into the existential melancholy I’ve been feeling but as much despair as I feel, I also feel so much gratitude and love and wonder for this world and humanity. Thank you for sharing this
I feel this way too. Seeing all the conflicting feelings of how it is the best time to be alive because of the advancement of society, and the worst because of them. The despair and gratitude and wonder are almost too much at times. Hank puts it very well.
Man the fact that I didn’t recognize “That funny feeling” playing in the background right away, but immediately felt That Way TM upon hearing it with the narration of this video. Wild.
I think the clarity that has come from middle age is that seemingly simple things are, in fact, quite complex. Younger Hank would likely only rage at the damage done to the natural environment caused by rampant consumerism. Mature Hank sees the beauty in the complexity of international trade and the joy of watching his son's wonder at the big ships and machines.
Some of the beauty of being a human is being able to feel several different things about a thing. We are able to hold opposing thoughts/feelings about things in our heads at the same time. Thanks for a lovely thoughts from places!
Damn- I'm so used to John making me cry lately... thank you Hank for articulating something that not only describes the biggest systems but also the relationships in my own life that contain so much unresolved sorrow while supplying boundless joy. I sit with them both.
What a wonderful use of that Bo Burnham song. I don't know if anybody else will see the brilliance in this one music choice, but I do. I appreciate it, Hank.
I think a lot of us appreciate the song choice. I'm a member of the Adult Nerdfighters Facebook group, and it seems the community has a large number of people who are neurodivergent and/or mentally ill.
When I first moved to Seattle in my 20s, my apartment had that same view of the ships coming in and out. Now I too am in my early 40s and watch them (now from my workplace) and think similar things. For me, it gives me hope. People keep moving and the trend is forward, and I have to believe that progress, over enough time, is the most resilient force.
As someone farther into middle age than you, Hank (I’m 53), and as a parent of complicated teenagers (the adjective there is for emphasis rather than actually adding information), and as someone who tries - so very imperfectly - to care & to do something positive in the world…. I feel this video very very much.
I think they have influenced each other deeply enough and for long enough that we can no longer declare anything to be a johnish or hankish sentiment. It's just a Green sentiment.
One of the simplest and most beautifully shot videos I’ve watch in a long time. That transition from watching the ferry load, to being on the boat, pulling away from the dock was genius. Thanks for this one, Hank!
How are you always so good at putting vague feelings I've had into words!! I don't have any answers, but it's good to know it's something other people are thinking about too
What brings me joy in the complicated emotions in this video is the thought that maybe one small reason there is a beautiful time lapse of the ships is so that Hank can watch them again with Orin and enjoy a little slice of vacation together again.
"Watching the ships come in" is such a metaphorical sentence. I feel like you could use that in a book. I feel like it's been in a book. I'm glad you had a lovely vacation, Hank. Scars are from living. Always. "You can't choose if you get hurt in this world, old man, but you have some say in who hurts you."
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding. "Watching the ships roll in/ and then I watch 'em roll away again." Otis, a man who grew up in Macon, GA wrote that song after watching the ships in San Francisco.
Funny how someone could succinctly describe my hardest moments in the last couple years in just 4 minutes. Especially when I've been feeling it more and more as of recently
It's so important to remember that when you can't see the good intentions of the people around you, it's almost always because of the limits of your perception, not the limits of their good intentions.
Thanks, Hank. In a day and age where it seems like everyone is trying to collapse complex issues to one reaction or "proper" way of viewing things, this was refreshing. Hope you're well.
This is genuinely what I've been thinking recently. Here's how I think we may be able to look at both (which is also something that I learned from you!) - we are in the middle of a process, we are not at the destination. The entirety of human endeavor is a self correcting mechanism and there is no way to improve living without trying, facing unintended consequences, repairing, failing and trying again. So we can look at the good and the bad together as they are both natural parts of the process. Great video!
“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Yin and Yang.
This will be one of my favorites. Being 52 I can totally relate. Where is the clarity I believed I would have in middle age. But then there is this sweet notion of things being both, bad and good, dark and light, sweet and sour. And I think it can be, in time, the road for serenity
I completely agree, but being 70yo, I believe the clarity IS the realization that very few things really are all bad or all good, and accepting that there is merit in trying to mitigate the bad wherever you can. Loved this very thoughtful video.
why did this video make me cry? I often have to remind myself that life is about balance, and you captured that statement so beautifully. Thank you for this perspective of our world.
Sometimes I see the bright light of the world and sometimes I see all the color of the rainbow. And sometimes it isn’t as bright. But in the end - it’s all light.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. For sharing for been vulnerable, for thoughts from places returning, for the narrations returning, for your books, for all of it.
Thank you for posting this. My nephew shared this with me today, and it's exactly what I needed. Personally, I'd name it, "Discovering Emotional Maturity," which I understand is the ability to recognize and attune to all of your emotions (and why you're having them) in a purposeful and constructive way.
this might just be my favorite vlogbrothers video, this struggle between seeing the best and seeing the worst is what I've been feeling in my own life but in such a different context. thanks for reminding me to see both, to appreciate both, and to let myself feel both
I’m really excited that you made this a thought from places video! I saw it on your other channel and I really liked it but I love these kinds of videos! 🖤
This was incredibly affirming to watch! I feel mixed up on whether life is beautiful or painful, and as I become an adult I felt a need to "make up my mind". But it's okay to see both Thanks, Hank
I love how this video pops into my subscription feed right after coming across a research article that discusses a similar, but slightly different idea. It’s a notion termed "two-eyed seeing”, which was first introduced in 2004 by Mi’kmaq Elders, Albert, and Murdena Marshall, from Unama’ki (Cape Breton), Nova Scotia, Canada. Here’s a little snippet from the article (plus citations, cause we nerds 🤓): “Two-Eyed Seeing stresses the importance of viewing the world through one eye using the strengths of Indigenous worldviews and with the other eye using the strengths of Western worldviews, to see together with both eyes to benefit all (Bartlett et al., 2012). A weaving of perspectives is emphasized, with both having equal importance, but acknowledging that in some instances, one perspective may further our understanding of a specific concept or situation more than the other (Bartlett et al., 2012).” (Wright & Ballantyne, 2019) .
"But yield who will to their separation my object in living is to unite my avocation and my vocation as my two eyes make one in sight." - Robert Frost, _Two Tramps in Mud-Time_
I may be a bit younger by a decade, but I can still feel the feelings you talk about. Seeing both at the same time can feel like crossing our eyes sometimes, but it's truly how the world is. Beautiful video, both in the way it's shot and written, and I think the Bo Burnham song that was chosen couldn't be more precisely what this video is about.
This was incredibly deep and thoughtful. I feel like I've touched the surface of these questions myself at times, but never slowed down enough to allow myself to really let it sink in. Thank you for this, Hank. You are a treasure, and I appreciate you.
I know this is not what the video is about directly but I kind of love this video because it has the theory in it and I don't think anybody appreciates Washington's ferries for how fucking amazing they are. I fucking love those ferries and now they're embarking on a mega project that you electrify them?! Amazing
I remember saying that the original timelapse video was what i needed but it also had me struggling with what to see and what at all to do. I think This is the follow-up i really really needed. thank you Hank, may we all find a way to see it all at once. have a nice day
I love this video. I've been having similar thoughts lately. When I look at pictures of city skylines I feel the same way. Humanity is amazing. The things we have done border on completely incomprehensible. The amazing inventions that have bettered our lives, the free exchange of ideas and art, cities played a crucial role in those things. Yet they also tear us away from nature. They bulldoze the natural life that has been there millions of years in order to make a new set of apartment buildings. The factories in the cities pollute and warm the air. And similar things could be said about almost any defining human invention. It's both amazing and heartbreaking, and quite frankly, exhausting.
I saw the thumbnail and knew instantly it was my mountains. I love those mountains and water and the ferries and the tugs and that skyline. I feel the love mixed with the wistful sadness of it no longer being my home. I moved away 6 years ago and even though it was the right choice for many reasons, I think that corner of the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains will always be where my heart lives. It makes me feel mixed feelings and then I think that maybe all the best things come with mixed feelings. The depth and breadth and height of the biggest feelings require dimensions.
"That Funny Feeling" has always been such an immensely depressing and existentially terrifying song to me. To hear it's melody recontextualised in a sort of hopeful melancholy is strange, but I like it. Maybe that funny feeling isn't always a bad thing. Stellar song choice, perfectly complimented and reinforced the theme of the video. 10/10.
Dear Hank, I'm only 23 and I've been struggling with this a lot. Your words brought me to tears. The way you talk about this makes me feel seen and less alone in my confusion and helps me be compassionate about the instability of my worldview. So thank you.
I’ve been struggling with this too. I’ve recently graduated college and have finally had to engage with the capitalist and consumer driven nature of society seriously and continuously. Sometimes I dwell on how shallow and “fake” everything feels, other times I can look through it and find what really matters.
This is often how I find myself feeling, as I can see both sides of things at the same time. Very rarely can I solely settle on one opinion to have, which makes me feel like I have no opinions. I appreciate you spinning it in more of a positive light though. It's a confusing experience at times, but I do enjoy being able to understand how, for example, how both sides of an argument got to their conclusion. I don't know how to use this ability, however. If you ever figure it out, please let us know
I love this video so much, thank you for making this, Hank. it’s beautifully articulated, and really makes you rethink how to see the world in the best way possible. I also enjoyed the slower pace too - gives you time to really take in every word :) thank you for sharing such an optimistic and thought provoking perspective.
in my (albeit limited) experience, there is no “right amount.” you can’t maximize your experience like a stat point on a video game. we are human. we are messy.
Beautiful to hear and to watch! Thoughts from places cut deep like no other. The sequence of unloading, loading the ferry, then pulling away from the dock was amazing.
i see that you’re really seeing life for what it is-a culmination of good and bad, the harmony of yin and yang-that’s life; there is no good without bad, and there is no bad without good. the beauty of life is knowing it’s flawed and knowing that is okay. i’m glad you genuinely sat down and thought about it; that proves you’re human
Thank you Hank. I really needed this today. I too am struggling with being 41 in 2022 and with seeing both sides. It’s bittersweet, but it’s life. So thanks for reminding me of the balance I need.
One word for this is "dialectics" (it is a form of thinking I teach to my psychotherapy patients; part of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, an evidence-based approach that helps people to build more meaningful lives). Thank you for the lovely video.
I've come back and watched this video a few times since it was posted. It really get's me thinking about how complex all of these situations we find ourselves in really are. Beautiful video.
It is so nice to get vlogbrothers videos like this in 2022, and to know that people who I've turned to for years to help figure things out are they themselves still figuring things out. Thank you so much.
Well done! My mind went to the narration at the end of Forrest Gump: "I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floatin' around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happenin' at the same time."
Thank you, Hank, for being a voice of reason, concern, conscientiousness, and, perhaps above all, a voice advocating for joy and wonder even as we rage against the darkness. I hope you, Katherine, and Orin have many more boat watching adventures.
This is definitely a highlight on this channel and evokes a deep concern and at the same time a deep feeling of tranquility. Thank you for sharing these thoughts, Hank.
Swear my thought when clicking this was "if I get rick-rolled again 😡" Then my sigh of relief when I saw this was legit... Anyway, rewatching now, so I can pay attention
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
This video did indeed give me "That Funny Feeling." Just beautifully done, Hank. Beautiful. -John
p.s. We made coffee. It's really good: awesomecoffeeclub.com
❤️
It's like a gift shop at the gun range.
@@ax14pz107 or a mass shooting at the mall
We are tragic miracles.
Where did you get coffee, Hank? There are so many good places 🤗!
Nice essay. I live in Queen Anne and my balcony view is of Elliot Bay looking towards Bainbridge Island and West Seattle. It is a view I vastly enjoy and I understand everything you mean about it. Elliot Bay is a working bay and so, yes, heavy use contributes towards damaging a beautiful stretch of landscape. Yet there is something magical about watching the everyday activities of human endeavour. I never get bored.
Welcome to the bittersweet joys of middle age. I am in the last year of my fifties. I find myself reaching back more and more, wondering why I am no longer childlike in my views while glad that I no longer have that unquestioning acceptance of the world. I am angry at our sometimes mindless and shocking abuse of Earth's resources yet hopeful that we will find solutions for better management and maintenance.
Keep feeling, Hank, keep thinking, keep producing beautiful essays like this (You and your brother are so talented!). I'll always read them.
Thanks for the nice peek at my town. Cheers🙂👍!
Interestingly enough, there's a saying in portuguese: 'to end up watching ships'. It's a way of saying that you couldn't obtain what you wanted. Maybe you are seeing your ambitions frustrated and you can end up being desilusioned. I find it super interesting how this centuries old expression from another language fits so well with what triggered all of these thoughts within you.
A thumbs up does not do enough justice to this comment. That is beautiful, thank you.
+
+
+
This beautiful. I speak Portuguese as a native and I didn't see the connection to the saying. It takes more than knowledge to see these connections. It takes perception. the very theme of the video. You can look at one thing and see many things at the same time.
thank you for this comment and the perception you've shown us.
“Some people cultivate fear like it’s a crop for them to harvest on Election Day”
Wow, that’s a beautiful line!
It really is!
+++
If you’re a reader I definitely recommend hanks book !! it delves into this idea in a really interesting and somehow, fun way?!! Very cool!
honestly tho that's a bar right there
@@tim.a.k.mertensThat is why Biden won. Everyone was afraid of what Trump would do next. I held the same fear.
Thoughts from Places is the most underrated format on the internet. I'm so glad you posted this extremely thoughtful video from one of my favorite places in the world. Made my Friday quite a bit better.
@today was a good day stop spamming, loser. Do something better with your life.
GAGAGAGAGA I just disliked my own face because I am unpretty. HOWEVER: I always like my GOOD videos however. No dislikes allowed where I come from. Don't be mean, dear jame
+
+ + +
++++++
As a gentle reminder: your capacity for emotion is more than a tool for change. Joy and sorrow do not have to demand action-- sometimes, sitting with them is enough.
Thank you for sharing Oren's wonder, which asks for nothing but our eyes.
+++++++++
+
+
+
Just screenshotted this to save it bc it hit me so hard.
I see you with the lo-fi Bo Burnham songs Hank, they are so fire
It fits the theme of the video as well.. Both are focused on the irony of people and society.
I was humming along as Hank narrated. Fun way to get us involved, even if just for a little bit.
Man, good catch.
"That funny feeling" is quiet adapt for the video aswell
I was like....? Is that bo burnham???
What a beautifully honest human perspective. Reminds me of this from Rilke: “Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. / Just keep going. No feeling is final.”
"Life is in the right, always." Rilke was a little more optimistic than me, but I like knowing there are/have been people who believe this.
As in Rainer Maria Rilke?
@@AccidentalNinja That's right.
Which poem is this from? :)
@@fengjiang4920 It's not from a poem. It's from a letter.
The choice of "That Funny Feeling" as a background track is so on point for this. That song encapsulates an emotion that there should be a very long German word for.
Here are my suggestions for feelings I associate with this video:
- Ambiguitätstoleranzbemühung (the striving for tolerating ambiguity)
- Einfachheitssehnsucht (the yearning for simplicity)
- Komplexitätserschöpfung (tiredness from complexity)
@@holzschwein0 Also Ambiguitätstoleranzbemühung merk ich mir fürs nächste Bewerbungsgespräch, wenn ich nach meinen Stärken gefragt werde :))
@@holzschwein0 , from another Laura, thank you for those -- especially the "tiredness from complexity" one, which I will now type into a language translator with the hope that I might learn how to pronounce it correctly (...or at all, because the complexity of the German spelling makes my tiny little American brain hurt.)
@@nastber :D
@@holzschwein0 each of those describes part of the feeling but none capture it fully. It needs a little bit of Nietzsche/absurdist flavor added; finding meaning in meaninglessness and looking for truth in absurdity.
I’ve lived in Seattle my whole life. I have spent hours and days and years watching those ships be pulled in and out of the port. When I was little I often dreamed of stowing away on a ship and finally finding out where they go. I have watched with fascination and awe and disgust and resignation. They have meant so many different things to me at different times. It is more meaningful than i can express in words to know that someone else sees all the things I see in them
"Nothing gets done if there is no room for joy." This was the point at which I started weeping. Thanks Hank, I needed this video today.
I think i was already crying by then.
Yeah, but anyone who has worked two full time, dead end jobs just to barely get by knows that a whole lot gets done with absolutely no room for joy.
+
Yes! Me too!
@@iwontliveinfear I am sorry that you're in that place, my friend, or if it's not you, I am sorry that this situation exists. We know it does, and it sucks.
Being a Seattle native, when I first caught a glimpse of the video’s thumbnail, I instinctively recognized the place being depicted. However, what was most unexpected for me about this video was the profound impression that just one aspect of the city left upon you. Your overwhelming stream of thoughts here were simply beautiful. The human mind is a very interesting thing.
Same. I definitely feel the same about Seattles industrial spaces on a regular Basis tho
And the state ferries are going electric soon, right? I think I heard that on kuow.
Came here to say this much less eloquently. ❤️
I’ve heard “John I’ll see you on Tuesday” hundreds of times, but something about this one hit harder. With the music and the message, it felt like a mic drop. Thanks for inspiring us to see both Hank
That was... highly effective. I find I often feel uncomfortable with mixed feelings, preferring to simply see the good or the bad in a situation rather than both. But my experience tells me that mixed feelings are not only important, but they are more realistic, more true than initial narrow perspectives.
I second that, Ethan.
+
+
+
+
This is one of the best things I've seen on RUclips in years. I spent years watching the sun set over San Francisco as the lights turned on and the cars drove over the Bay Bridge with the planes leaving glowing orange streaks across the sky and I would think about how the whole scene was a monument to human striving and human excess at the same time. It was the nearest thing I've had to church and this touched that part of me years after I left Oakland. Thanks, Hank.
That was beautifully written
This is such a I important Video. If you ever figure it out let me know. I find myself often paralysed and “on the fence” trying to absorb it all in and see every point of view
I think that’s healthy, though. To be all in on either side is to be blind to a completely different way of looking at reality. Life isn’t actually a duality, as we naturally assume. The more you are on the fence, the more you realize, there was never a fence to begin with.
If it helps, I like to look at "opposing views" from the start of "understand those arguments against my own"... BUT it often shifts to "pick up what helps and leave what's useless" on BOTH sides of a given "fence"...
Extremes are the UNhealthy... Nothing is entirely to the better or entirely to the worse... AND baby-steps toward benefit are still STEPS... ;o)
It’s all about the middle way, my friends. I truly believe this! And that is the lifelong challenge.
@@LaceyMyriah There's this line I sang in choir by Sir Michael Tippett from a work called "A Child of Our Time. It is---- "I would know my shadow and my light, so shall I at last be whole." Seeing both helps us choose which to minimize and grow.
I have a playlist called important videos and this one is definitely going there!
Hank, I don’t comment on RUclips videos, or anything really. This is worth commenting on. I’ll be thinking about it for years to come. Thanks for being an amazing human. Earnestly, thank you.
I second this, a lot of feeling and not a lot of words other than - thank you Hank. Thank you ♥️
I think we’re all feeling different kinds of “stuck” right now, and looking at the world complexly is both a boon and a cost to ourselves - but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying to improve the world, and trying to improve ourselves, too.
+
+
I'm so incredibly grateful that I found two people on the internet like John and Hank Green when I was 16 years old. The way you two talk about the world represents a lot of what I want the world to be. People can go a lot of ways at 16 and I'm glad I went the direction I did in part because of Vlogbrothers.
"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don’t always spoil the good things, or make them unimportant." Always love thoughts from places, thanks for this.
+
+
This is one of your best videos ever. I mean that in all sincerity. There is way too much black and white thinking but everything is endless varying shades of grey depending on what outcomes you are looking/preparing for.
Reminds me of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now:
"I've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all"
Excellent connection.
+
+
I had these thoughts when I first started working as a nurse. I started in pediatrics, and was so depressed by the struggles of the kids, and the pain of the families. But it also helped me get some perspective on my own perceived suffering (minimal compared to these families) and helped me be more positive. I didn't want to ignore the suffering in the world, and being aware of the suffering helped me be more appreciative of what I had and have.
When I see the containers coming and going from ports, I think of a man I stayed with in the Netherlands who truly loved his job driving a container truck. He took me with him to drop off his containers, hid me in the back where he often slept on the road, and let me watch as he finished the day's work. I'd never realized that that was the kind of job people could love and find joy in.
This was beautiful💙
Hank, I really really enjoyed this video. I don't know how to say this without it sounding mean but this is definitely the kind of video I would expect from John, and it's a real delight to see it coming from you instead! I love the views and I love the lofi Bo Burnham and I love the pauses between words that you chose to leave in, it feels like it's giving me time to breathe and think and just be. And I really needed that today!! :)
I agree and understand your sentiment. It's a delightful day that we got this kind of thoughts from Hank 🥰
I think it was one of Hanks best
Hank’s redux: The Anthropocene Viewed
This is so poetic, I love how, whatever the age, the little brain impulses and thoughts and emotions and mixed feelings and confusion stay with us, and, the beauty in the fact that anyone can relate.
*"Nothing gets done if theres no room for joy"*
Beautiful.
Hank, I’m facing a time where grief and sadness have overtaken my heart. I’m struggling to see the point in it all, but today you reminded me that there is also just…. so much joy to be had despite it all. Thank you for sharing this - it meant a lot to me.
I hope things will get easier for you soon, as far as that exists in grief. Wishing you comfort and love.
Grief takes time. Be gentle with yourself while it is visiting you.
@@untappedinkwell that is a paralysingly powerful perspective
When I used to have bad days, it helped me a lot to think about my brother, in the service, living in a shipping container in Afghanistan, getting shot at on the daily.
Unless you are already lying in a hospital bed, waiting to die, it can always get worse. Buck up, my friend, you will have eternity to be at peace. Revel in the chaos while you can.
3:17 this is so relatable. I'm a person who spends too much time thinking about things and not enough time doing things, but even when I feel that my deep thoughts are super impactful, "that way of doing it doesn't seem to be helping me get anything done" is what I most often end up feeling. Beautiful video. Thank you for publishing it.
I feel like this was almost poetry Hank. This is immediately going into my “Videos that matter” folder in my channel. Thanks hank.
Thanks for posting this. I'm going to start one of those folders now too.
It made me create a "Videos worth sharing" folder. Then I read your comment and also created "Videos that matter" folder. Thank you!
This a really great thing! I made one (: Thanks for the Idea
Yay I love that y’all are making folders too! It’s so great to be able to look back and all the videos.
"Some people cultivate fear like it's a crop for them to harvest on Election Day." Damn, that's a great line, Hank! That is 100% going into my permanent lexicon of sayings!
I read this comment exactly as I was hearing it in the video. It is a great line! I had to pause and comment, because it really made me stop and think. Thank you for your comment.
I'd like them to put it on a tee shirt. I'd buy it.
This tapped so deeply into the existential melancholy I’ve been feeling but as much despair as I feel, I also feel so much gratitude and love and wonder for this world and humanity. Thank you for sharing this
Me too. I've felt it almost all my life, but lately it's become deeper.
I feel this way too. Seeing all the conflicting feelings of how it is the best time to be alive because of the advancement of society, and the worst because of them. The despair and gratitude and wonder are almost too much at times. Hank puts it very well.
"both at the same time" has been my moto this year, accepting the good and bad as one cosmic entity is fantastically grounding
Man the fact that I didn’t recognize “That funny feeling” playing in the background right away, but immediately felt That Way TM upon hearing it with the narration of this video. Wild.
Hi 👋 Veronica, how are you doing?
Same! I had the feels immediately, and then realized the music was there was well.
I think the clarity that has come from middle age is that seemingly simple things are, in fact, quite complex. Younger Hank would likely only rage at the damage done to the natural environment caused by rampant consumerism. Mature Hank sees the beauty in the complexity of international trade and the joy of watching his son's wonder at the big ships and machines.
Some of the beauty of being a human is being able to feel several different things about a thing. We are able to hold opposing thoughts/feelings about things in our heads at the same time.
Thanks for a lovely thoughts from places!
Damn- I'm so used to John making me cry lately... thank you Hank for articulating something that not only describes the biggest systems but also the relationships in my own life that contain so much unresolved sorrow while supplying boundless joy. I sit with them both.
What a wonderful use of that Bo Burnham song. I don't know if anybody else will see the brilliance in this one music choice, but I do. I appreciate it, Hank.
+
I think a lot of us appreciate the song choice. I'm a member of the Adult Nerdfighters Facebook group, and it seems the community has a large number of people who are neurodivergent and/or mentally ill.
+
When I first moved to Seattle in my 20s, my apartment had that same view of the ships coming in and out. Now I too am in my early 40s and watch them (now from my workplace) and think similar things. For me, it gives me hope. People keep moving and the trend is forward, and I have to believe that progress, over enough time, is the most resilient force.
Nothing has helped with my fear and OCD more than this channel throughout the years. Thank you, gentlemen.
As someone farther into middle age than you, Hank (I’m 53), and as a parent of complicated teenagers (the adjective there is for emphasis rather than actually adding information), and as someone who tries - so very imperfectly - to care & to do something positive in the world…. I feel this video very very much.
This was the most "Johnish" sentiment, and it was absolutely beautiful.
I almost forgot this was Hank.
@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 I also felt this was such a John vibe video!
I think they have influenced each other deeply enough and for long enough that we can no longer declare anything to be a johnish or hankish sentiment. It's just a Green sentiment.
One of the simplest and most beautifully shot videos I’ve watch in a long time. That transition from watching the ferry load, to being on the boat, pulling away from the dock was genius. Thanks for this one, Hank!
I agree, very satisfying and calming to watch.
How are you always so good at putting vague feelings I've had into words!! I don't have any answers, but it's good to know it's something other people are thinking about too
exactly!!
What brings me joy in the complicated emotions in this video is the thought that maybe one small reason there is a beautiful time lapse of the ships is so that Hank can watch them again with Orin and enjoy a little slice of vacation together again.
"Watching the ships come in" is such a metaphorical sentence. I feel like you could use that in a book. I feel like it's been in a book. I'm glad you had a lovely vacation, Hank. Scars are from living. Always. "You can't choose if you get hurt in this world, old man, but you have some say in who hurts you."
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding. "Watching the ships roll in/ and then I watch 'em roll away again."
Otis, a man who grew up in Macon, GA wrote that song after watching the ships in San Francisco.
@@benpat100 That sounds lovely. Thank you.
Funny how someone could succinctly describe my hardest moments in the last couple years in just 4 minutes. Especially when I've been feeling it more and more as of recently
It's so important to remember that when you can't see the good intentions of the people around you, it's almost always because of the limits of your perception, not the limits of their good intentions.
Thanks, Hank.
In a day and age where it seems like everyone is trying to collapse complex issues to one reaction or "proper" way of viewing things, this was refreshing.
Hope you're well.
This is genuinely what I've been thinking recently. Here's how I think we may be able to look at both (which is also something that I learned from you!) - we are in the middle of a process, we are not at the destination. The entirety of human endeavor is a self correcting mechanism and there is no way to improve living without trying, facing unintended consequences, repairing, failing and trying again. So we can look at the good and the bad together as they are both natural parts of the process. Great video!
“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Yin and Yang.
This will be one of my favorites. Being 52 I can totally relate. Where is the clarity I believed I would have in middle age. But then there is this sweet notion of things being both, bad and good, dark and light, sweet and sour. And I think it can be, in time, the road for serenity
I completely agree, but being 70yo, I believe the clarity IS the realization that very few things really are all bad or all good, and accepting that there is merit in trying to mitigate the bad wherever you can. Loved this very thoughtful video.
why did this video make me cry?
I often have to remind myself that life is about balance, and you captured that statement so beautifully. Thank you for this perspective of our world.
I did not expect this on April fools day. Left me feeling hopeful and a little bit of "that funny feeling"
Sometimes I see the bright light of the world and sometimes I see all the color of the rainbow. And sometimes it isn’t as bright. But in the end - it’s all light.
"Nothing gets done where there is no room for joy" could not be truer. Thank you for bringing it to light this evening
Thank you, thank you, thank you. For sharing for been vulnerable, for thoughts from places returning, for the narrations returning, for your books, for all of it.
This is important, I also don't know with to see more, but we have too see both. There is bad and good in every single thing we do.
Thank you for posting this. My nephew shared this with me today, and it's exactly what I needed. Personally, I'd name it, "Discovering Emotional Maturity," which I understand is the ability to recognize and attune to all of your emotions (and why you're having them) in a purposeful and constructive way.
"I know that I have to see both" - This video was exactly what I needed today : ,)
this might just be my favorite vlogbrothers video, this struggle between seeing the best and seeing the worst is what I've been feeling in my own life but in such a different context. thanks for reminding me to see both, to appreciate both, and to let myself feel both
I’m really excited that you made this a thought from places video! I saw it on your other channel and I really liked it but I love these kinds of videos! 🖤
+
This was incredibly affirming to watch! I feel mixed up on whether life is beautiful or painful, and as I become an adult I felt a need to "make up my mind". But it's okay to see both
Thanks, Hank
I love how this video pops into my subscription feed right after coming across a research article that discusses a similar, but slightly different idea. It’s a notion termed "two-eyed seeing”, which was first introduced in 2004 by Mi’kmaq Elders, Albert, and Murdena Marshall, from Unama’ki (Cape Breton), Nova Scotia, Canada. Here’s a little snippet from the article (plus citations, cause we nerds 🤓):
“Two-Eyed Seeing stresses the importance of viewing the world through one eye using the strengths of Indigenous worldviews and with the other eye using the strengths of Western worldviews, to see together with both eyes to benefit all (Bartlett et al., 2012). A weaving of perspectives is emphasized, with both having equal importance, but acknowledging that in some instances, one perspective may further our understanding of a specific concept or situation more than the other (Bartlett et al., 2012).”
(Wright & Ballantyne, 2019)
.
"But yield who will to their separation
my object in living is to unite
my avocation and my vocation
as my two eyes make one in sight."
- Robert Frost, _Two Tramps in Mud-Time_
+
I may be a bit younger by a decade, but I can still feel the feelings you talk about. Seeing both at the same time can feel like crossing our eyes sometimes, but it's truly how the world is. Beautiful video, both in the way it's shot and written, and I think the Bo Burnham song that was chosen couldn't be more precisely what this video is about.
This was incredibly deep and thoughtful. I feel like I've touched the surface of these questions myself at times, but never slowed down enough to allow myself to really let it sink in. Thank you for this, Hank. You are a treasure, and I appreciate you.
I know this is not what the video is about directly but I kind of love this video because it has the theory in it and I don't think anybody appreciates Washington's ferries for how fucking amazing they are. I fucking love those ferries and now they're embarking on a mega project that you electrify them?! Amazing
Even if getting older doesn't necessarily bring clarity, hopefully it can bring the perspective and awareness necessary for gratitude.
I remember saying that the original timelapse video was what i needed but it also had me struggling with what to see and what at all to do. I think This is the follow-up i really really needed. thank you Hank, may we all find a way to see it all at once. have a nice day
Somehow, this was the perfect video for me right at this instant. Thanks Hank?
What the hell is a Hank? a philosophical story-teller.
Hank is his name
One of those weird times where it feels like a video is speaking directly to/for me.
Needed this right now, thanks Hank.
I love this video. I've been having similar thoughts lately. When I look at pictures of city skylines I feel the same way. Humanity is amazing. The things we have done border on completely incomprehensible. The amazing inventions that have bettered our lives, the free exchange of ideas and art, cities played a crucial role in those things. Yet they also tear us away from nature. They bulldoze the natural life that has been there millions of years in order to make a new set of apartment buildings. The factories in the cities pollute and warm the air. And similar things could be said about almost any defining human invention. It's both amazing and heartbreaking, and quite frankly, exhausting.
I saw the thumbnail and knew instantly it was my mountains. I love those mountains and water and the ferries and the tugs and that skyline. I feel the love mixed with the wistful sadness of it no longer being my home. I moved away 6 years ago and even though it was the right choice for many reasons, I think that corner of the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains will always be where my heart lives. It makes me feel mixed feelings and then I think that maybe all the best things come with mixed feelings. The depth and breadth and height of the biggest feelings require dimensions.
"That Funny Feeling" has always been such an immensely depressing and existentially terrifying song to me. To hear it's melody recontextualised in a sort of hopeful melancholy is strange, but I like it. Maybe that funny feeling isn't always a bad thing. Stellar song choice, perfectly complimented and reinforced the theme of the video. 10/10.
Dear Hank, I'm only 23 and I've been struggling with this a lot. Your words brought me to tears. The way you talk about this makes me feel seen and less alone in my confusion and helps me be compassionate about the instability of my worldview. So thank you.
I love Vlogbrothers and I love the Olympic mountains and I love thoughts from places videos! This was fantastic
Pre pandemic I used to work at a building on Elliot Ave. I miss seeing the ships.
yep, this world is everything all at once. the pits of searing hell to the peaks of glittering heaven. it's all right here. and just here.
Thank you
It's not so much that I needed this right now as it is that I've always needed this. But I needed it right now in particular. Thank you.
I’ve been struggling with this too. I’ve recently graduated college and have finally had to engage with the capitalist and consumer driven nature of society seriously and continuously. Sometimes I dwell on how shallow and “fake” everything feels, other times I can look through it and find what really matters.
That was beautiful, absolutely beautiful.
This is often how I find myself feeling, as I can see both sides of things at the same time. Very rarely can I solely settle on one opinion to have, which makes me feel like I have no opinions. I appreciate you spinning it in more of a positive light though. It's a confusing experience at times, but I do enjoy being able to understand how, for example, how both sides of an argument got to their conclusion.
I don't know how to use this ability, however. If you ever figure it out, please let us know
I love this video so much, thank you for making this, Hank. it’s beautifully articulated, and really makes you rethink how to see the world in the best way possible. I also enjoyed the slower pace too - gives you time to really take in every word :) thank you for sharing such an optimistic and thought provoking perspective.
The human experience is something to observe. To quantify is up to the philosophers.
Hank the background music paired with this is perfect but also so emotionally stimulating. I'm sobbing
in my (albeit limited) experience, there is no “right amount.” you can’t maximize your experience like a stat point on a video game. we are human. we are messy.
Beautiful to hear and to watch! Thoughts from places cut deep like no other. The sequence of unloading, loading the ferry, then pulling away from the dock was amazing.
living for the lofi bo burnham
i see that you’re really seeing life for what it is-a culmination of good and bad, the harmony of yin and yang-that’s life; there is no good without bad, and there is no bad without good. the beauty of life is knowing it’s flawed and knowing that is okay. i’m glad you genuinely sat down and thought about it; that proves you’re human
This a John Green style video by Hank Green. Here for it. 👏👏👏
Thank you Hank. I really needed this today. I too am struggling with being 41 in 2022 and with seeing both sides. It’s bittersweet, but it’s life. So thanks for reminding me of the balance I need.
One word for this is "dialectics" (it is a form of thinking I teach to my psychotherapy patients; part of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, an evidence-based approach that helps people to build more meaningful lives). Thank you for the lovely video.
I've come back and watched this video a few times since it was posted. It really get's me thinking about how complex all of these situations we find ourselves in really are. Beautiful video.
Thanks for the very interesting thoughts and reflections. I love this community. I love this channel ❤️
It is so nice to get vlogbrothers videos like this in 2022, and to know that people who I've turned to for years to help figure things out are they themselves still figuring things out. Thank you so much.
Well done! My mind went to the narration at the end of Forrest Gump: "I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floatin' around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happenin' at the same time."
you sound EXACTLY like john at 1:26
this video is lovely hank. i appreciate everything of yours immensely.
Thank you, Hank, for being a voice of reason, concern, conscientiousness, and, perhaps above all, a voice advocating for joy and wonder even as we rage against the darkness. I hope you, Katherine, and Orin have many more boat watching adventures.
This is definitely a highlight on this channel and evokes a deep concern and at the same time a deep feeling of tranquility. Thank you for sharing these thoughts, Hank.
Swear my thought when clicking this was "if I get rick-rolled again 😡" Then my sigh of relief when I saw this was legit... Anyway, rewatching now, so I can pay attention
I think I've watched this video every week or so since it was posted. Always makes me cry. Thank you