Running the Same Path

I go for a run in the park every weekend.  It is amazing how many new things I see and new experiences I experience even though I am normally running on the same trails.  Except for perhaps today, when the trail was covered with ice and I had to concentrate on my footing!  Yet, the seasons change, there is different wildlife present, and different people are doing different things.  I find the variety exhilarating.  So it is in life - even if we walk the same path, if we pay attention to our surroundings, the experiences will be new, different and potentially exhilarating.

The First Snowfall

Eagerly anticipating the first winter snowfall

Watching the clouds cover the sky

Smell of winter in the air

And then the first snowflake flutters by

Then another, then two, then twenty

Then thousands as far as the eye can see

Dancing and frolicking in the air

Out of the millions and millions of sprites

Wonder if any two are a perfect match

Perhaps the beauty is there are no two the same

Mesmerized by the sparkling display

Out of the billions of scintillations

See one beautiful snowflake circle by

And yet another draw in from beyond

Although not perfect matches

They are perfect mirror images

Drawing closer and closer

And adjoining arm to arm

The pair even more beautiful together

Sailing among the other snowflakes

Finding completion

 

Photo credit: morguefile.com

Writer's Block

After an incredibly busy week, I finally found some time to relax.  One of my ways of relaxing is to write, so I start up my laptop…..and my mind goes completely blank.  Nothing.  No words.  No ideas.  No strong feelings to invoke writing ideas.  Mind you, I felt at peace and my surroundings were calm.  I was relaxed, well, at least as relaxed as I ever am.  But when trying to write, nothing means no words.  After staring at the screen for a few minutes, I realize I must be suffering from writer’s block, and attempting to write something would be a waste of time.

For a writer, writer’s block is a serious problem, especially for someone who makes a living writing.  Fortunately, my day job is as a research scientist.  Even so, it is disconcerting not to come up with an idea for a piece, an article, or a poem.  When thinking about the reasons why I might have writer’s block, I realize that I have been intensely focused on work.  I have put a lot of pressure on myself to help further our research and develop new products to counter a competitive threat.  Although exhilarating, it has been stressful.  A high degree of creativity is required to be successful in research.  And I have focused my mind on attempting to come up with new ideas, yet mining ideas is not something you can force your mind to do.  In fact, the best thing to do is to relax, keep your mind clear and open, and often the very idea you need pops into your head.  So how is this different from writing?  Well, it isn’t any different.  So could the fact that I am focusing my creative self on work be keeping me from coming up with writing ideas?  Or are the long hours and intensity at work requiring me to find different forms of relaxation?  I imagine both are true.  So besides potentially not having an original piece for my blog this week, my writer’s block is merely a minor annoyance, not a catastrophe.

Sometimes writing ideas can be really subtle.  Perhaps if I divert my mind off of work and the other demands on my life for just a short time and attempt to still my mind, those elusive writing ideas will come flooding through.  And my writer’s block will be cured.  Until then, I will attempt not to worry about it and enjoy some of the other things I enjoy doing.

 

photo credit: HurwiczRocks (Wikimedia Commons)

Man's Best Friend

Tens of thousands of years ago, the species Homo sapiens crossed paths with the species Canis lupus.  Man’s life would never the same again; in fact, it was to become much better, for man had made a lasting friend.  Dogs have great attributes.  They are loyal, playful, hard-working, and they love unconditionally.  They are happy just for us to be in their presence.  When we need a friend, they are there.  They will follow us wherever we go.  They join us in work, recreation, and relaxation.  There are countless stories of heroism where a dog through their intelligence and actions saved the life of a person or kept a person out of harm’s way.

Dogs provide a great role model for humanity.  Imagine if everyone adopted the behavior and emotional mindset of dogs what a force humanity could become.

 

Personal photo

A Deer in the Headlights - Epilogue

And the dear jumped out of the headlights of the oncoming car just in time…only to be surrounded by darkness.  Momentarily blinded, he stumbled around and became lost.  After wandering around aimlessly, he finally realized that he must regain his senses before trying to go anywhere or do anything.  He sought calm and slowly regained his composure.  That allowed him to use his keen nocturnal senses to find his direction and ultimately his way home.  As he walked home, he realized how thankful he was for the blessing of life.  When he arrived home, he realized how closely he came to losing that gift.  In gratitude, he promised to live his life fully, give of his talents unconditionally, and make a positive impact.  For life is a fragile, but amazing thing, and there is only one chance to live it.

The Calm Before the Storm

Tonight it is a beautiful clear moonlit night.  Yet there is a bit of an edge in the air everyone can feel.

Tonight our family and, I’m sure, many others up and down the East Coast are watching weather news and anxiously awaiting the coming of a monster hurricane.  There will likely be extensive damage and inconvenience from the storm.  People and business may not have power for weeks.  In these types of events, we are reminded that everything around us is transient.  Let’s look out for each other and help each other get through this storm.  Everything else can be rebuilt; what really matters is the people around us and making sure that everyone is safe and sound.

 

Photo credit: Johnson Space Center

We are Human; We Help Each Other

“‘Up in our country we are human!' said the hunter.” “‘And since we are human we help each other.  We don't like to hear anybody say thanks for that.  What I get today you may get tomorrow.  Up here we say that by gifts one makes slaves and by whips one makes dogs.’” ~Peter Freuchen

As we approach a critical national election, every time I turn on a media device and every time I empty the mailbox, I am bombarded with political advertisements.  Some tell me what the prospective candidate is going to do, but most tell me what the other candidate did or what they will do in the most negative light.  It has gotten to the point where I just blank it all out and hope that it does not bias my decision-making.  It seems to get worse every election cycle – the hatred, anger, scorn, and ridicule; the polarization that marks this country.  It seems over the last 30 years that we have lost our way, that we have forgotten that we are one people.

In past years, when faced with crisis, people would set aside their differences and band together to overcome it.  Today, we face a financial crisis in the United States.  The United States is adding enormous amounts of debt that will have profound effects on the livelihoods of our future generations.  We are printing currency at rates never seen before to keep the interest rates on government debt near 0%, threatening inflation as well as the means of those living on a fixed income.  As the country goes more deeply into debt and the dollar loses value, we run the risk of a large country like China calling in our debt, potentially damaging our economy or even our freedom.  Today, jobs are scarce and millions of people are out of work.  This squeezes the middle class - those who used to have professional or skilled manufacturing jobs that were lost in the latest recession have joined the ranks of the new poor.  They as a result are forced to compete with numerous others for low-paying jobs in the service industry, and often become chronically unemployed.

In response to this crisis, the average person in this country has entrenched in their polarized camps.  In one view, the Republican Party represents the top 1% who want to hoard what is theirs whereas the Democratic Party wants the rich to pay their fair share to continue to fund the necessary social programs to ensure our old, poor, sick, and young disadvantaged have food, clothing, shelter, a good education, and a chance for gainful employment.  In the other view, the Democrats squander money on pork-barrel projects and support deadbeats who feel entitled to have what others have without working for it, whereas the Republicans support low taxes and job growth by keeping government out of the way of growing businesses and allowing hard work to pave the way to The American Dream.  And that is just the economic question.  There are many other questions on social issues that add to the polarization.  What scares me the most is the fact that both parties and most of the candidates running for office have forgotten that in order to successfully face a crisis, everyone must make the sacrifices necessary and work together to face the crisis head-on.

Some cultures, for instance the Innuits and Eskimos, have not forgotten the essence of our humanity, which is to help each other unconditionally, raise each other up, and become collectively something much more powerful than a group of individuals.  Quoting David Graeber:

“Rather than seeing himself as human because he could make economic calculations, the hunter insisted that being truly human meant refusing to make such calculations, refusing to measure or remember who had given what to whom, for the precise reason that doing so would inevitably create a world where we began comparing power with power, measuring, calculating and reducing each other to slaves or dogs through debt.” [1]

I hope that as a people, we can all remember our basic humanity and when we enter the voting booth, we make our decision based on humanitarian reasons, not power, greed, and hate.  And once our decision is made, those whom we elect make their decisions in the same fashion.  More importantly, we need to remember our humanity on a daily basis, give without expectation of receiving, uplift those around us, and make the world a little better.  This will be one little step in the direction to dealing with the current crisis of confidence in this country.

[1]        David Graeber, Debt: The First 5,000 Years,  Melville House Publishing (2011)