In her victory speech, Kamala Harris channeled John Lewis – ‘Democracy is not a state. It is an act’.
Physical fitness is an act. I may have run a marathon under 4 hours a year ago. But if I don’t run for a month, my muscles will atrophy, my timing will deteriorate and my fitness will plunge.
Our personal values, just like that of a nation, are acts. They are to be sustained through initiative and action.
Mastery is an act. Mastery in any field requires us to keep up with the new while preserving and practicing the old. Resumes ought to come with expiry dates.
Several things we mistake for states are actually acts. Like living creatures, they need to be nourished, nurtured and sustained.