 Much of civilization's most profound wisdom actually lies in the past. Some of the most important philosophical teachings are thousands of years old. We in modernity need to be less hubristic in believing that we have all of the answers in the industrialized world. We need to identify these most fundamental spiritual teachings of the past and bring them into a union with modernity, making us more aware of our interconnectedness with nature and each other. One of these beautiful ancient teachings is understanding ashe and wu wei. It can be thought of as a yin and yang of action versus inaction. Ashe comes from the Yoruba people in Nigeria. It's the power to make things happen and produce change. Like this simple act of planting a seed, wu wei can be thought of as inaction, not forcing. With deep roots in Confucianism and Taoism, think about this as having a perfect economy of energy. By not acting, you actually gain more control of the situation. So we're going to balance between acting and not acting. Let's give some very simple examples. When someone finishes speaking, you have an arsenal of possibilities. Yet like clockwork, we almost always choose to react with our perspective of logic, emotion, a question. This can be viewed as ashe embodying the power to make a change. Much less we choose wu wei inaction in which we'd reply with a non-verbal head nod. Stay completely silent or even exit the conversation. How about when we feel hunger arise? Should we take action and go eat? Or should we stay focused on what we're doing and not act on that hunger? Should I take the action of exercising right now? Or should I not take that action? It's a critical perception system because we would not have some of the greatest achievements in the world if it wasn't for ashe. If Michelangelo did not summon the power to make things happen, we wouldn't have the Sistine Chapel or the Statue of David. If Elon Musk didn't have ashe, we wouldn't have SpaceX or Tesla. Now again that can be juxtaposed and balanced with wu wei inaction where almost everyone is forcing their perspective into left versus right politics in the US or geopolitics abroad by just staying silent and observing other people. By not forcing your perspective in, you can actually gain more control of human affairs. When people see your meditative inaction, not indicating if you agree, disagree, not blurting out your perspective or critique of other people, they eventually realize how this can lead to better discourse and less stressful conversation. This is one of many ancient philosophical teachings we must grasp and embed into our future. The balance between unleashing a power within us to produce change versus not forcing. The beautiful ashe and wu wei, the yin and yang of action versus inaction.