Sunday, October 29, 2006
Sunday Oct. 29, 2006 - time & space near the edge
-7C/20F, Gusta loves it but the ducks & gulls on the pond look like they want to ream out their travel agents; windy, accumulation overnight & lots of damp snow coming down; our walk delayed while I cleaned out the storage closet in search of winter hiking shoes only to realize they were in the trunk of my car; my investment of time did not produce shoes, but it generated NEW space in the storage closet!
late night bite at Bonterra with SB was fun, as was the movie (you will never again think of the monarchy or cabbage without a chuckle once you see Queen)
time & space - do we really take up anything else?
whether we are living on the edge, over the top or hiding from life’s risks, time & space is all we have; I get to move around just about anywhere I want but the space that concerns me most is the space between me & those who matter to me; across town, across the continent, flying in a plane or parked in an alley, dining a la carte or making KD, reading or writing, walking fast or sleeping deep
time must have stopped, or maybe I was just drained - I forgot to adjust my clock last night; as a result I was up & working for an hour before I realized it was just about time to get up; all clocks reset now - I turned back time
turning back time is a silly notion, idle distraction, impossibility for certain because Jules Verne is long gone; there is no turning back, no retreat – only advances; we move forward, stand still or die but living, real living, is not about going back to retroactively reverse a decision or an occurrence from a long time ago if only in our mind
that is without point or purpose
old clichés about making our bed, then lying in it come to mind; so convenient I think to imagine there is truth of any kind to that cliché; there never was
we make our circumstances; we also get to change our circumstances, but only in the present & future tense; we get to pursue what interests us whether for a minute, two minutes or decades
to 'turn back the clock’' , more than clever pun or metaphor, is part of every day life; Madison Avenue tells us it is good; good for business at least because we are the ultimate conspicuous consumerism generation on a scale that will likely never be surpassed; nonetheless we dye hair, we buy sports cars, we buy spandex - we attempt to re-live our youth vicariously through consumer products, through our children, through many activities or at least in our conversations & quiet thoughts; everybody's doing it
it can feel good, but is it good?
if yes, why is it good?
perhaps not; I don't think it is about recapturing youth as much as it is giving us the delusion we are making change choices of any real significance while we clearly avoid change - that is far closer to typical behaviour in our enlightened society; perhaps we are not as enlightened as we would like to believe; we are creatures of habit far more than creatures of thought
buying a product or service does not change thoughts or attitudes; waxing this or trimming that, eating less or exercising more, driving this or wearing that, kissing her or pursuing him – each of these activities is quite easy because NONE of them involve a brain change of any kind
none of the things we conveniently call ‘change’ are; HOME DEPOT & Martha Stewart lead our generation to the cash register so we can create nice things, do a makeover in our kitchens & bathrooms but none of them makeover who we are & self help rarely helps self as much as it helps booksellers, publishers & writers
Halloween is nigh, a reminder of the many masks many of us wear; conveniently stored in our mental closet we portray what we wish was true, what we think would play well with others without examining very much very deeply
but, was the choice you made last evening a good one? why is the way you spent time the other day, the person you met last week or the way you spend this afternoon so important?
going through motions works, but inaction profoundly affecting us, or our world, is rare
to affect change requires some form of deliberate action, however small
but, does it matter?
only if we care about the result more than we care about talking wistfully about a result without actually changing anything
inaction is a great word; a space inserted in the right place produces 'in action'; a profound meaning shift with one touch of the space bar
the smallest of things alter the course of human history, changing the world
just changing one little element of our own life is mind candy worth tasting; someone wrote me asking how much space I need in a relationship; a good question but how to answer?
I’ve met people where the distance from here to the moon is not enough space, I’ve met someone where the thickness of a single chest hair or the scantiest scanty panty seemed too much
we can all do the mental exercise of 'what would have happened if I had been in a different era?', or in a different family, a different country, met a different mate, had some experience somewhere else, with someone else or done something a little radical, something a little out of character; all these could have changed little, or altered the course of human history
none of us can retreat in our lives to tweak those things; we CAN tweak what we do today, this evening, tomorrow & next week
we make changes by deliberate as opposed to passive activity; lots of things will happen around us which affect us, but, then we are only reactive
proactive is a different story; think about it - whether riding a bus, an elevator, a plane or a chair left, a chance meeting may profoundly affect your life
some things change nothing, some things change everything; better said, our experiences with someone we meet, however innocuously, can change our lives – or maybe just the course of a single day
how do we determine who will impact our life, or who won't?
few will, unless we do something about it
once a year I turn back time, once a year I clean that storage closet
I live a complex life on simple terms; I am taking up a little space over here near the edge
if you can manage the time, come join me
it is not crowded & I have new space in my closet
Mark
late night bite at Bonterra with SB was fun, as was the movie (you will never again think of the monarchy or cabbage without a chuckle once you see Queen)
time & space - do we really take up anything else?
whether we are living on the edge, over the top or hiding from life’s risks, time & space is all we have; I get to move around just about anywhere I want but the space that concerns me most is the space between me & those who matter to me; across town, across the continent, flying in a plane or parked in an alley, dining a la carte or making KD, reading or writing, walking fast or sleeping deep
time must have stopped, or maybe I was just drained - I forgot to adjust my clock last night; as a result I was up & working for an hour before I realized it was just about time to get up; all clocks reset now - I turned back time
turning back time is a silly notion, idle distraction, impossibility for certain because Jules Verne is long gone; there is no turning back, no retreat – only advances; we move forward, stand still or die but living, real living, is not about going back to retroactively reverse a decision or an occurrence from a long time ago if only in our mind
that is without point or purpose
old clichés about making our bed, then lying in it come to mind; so convenient I think to imagine there is truth of any kind to that cliché; there never was
we make our circumstances; we also get to change our circumstances, but only in the present & future tense; we get to pursue what interests us whether for a minute, two minutes or decades
to 'turn back the clock’' , more than clever pun or metaphor, is part of every day life; Madison Avenue tells us it is good; good for business at least because we are the ultimate conspicuous consumerism generation on a scale that will likely never be surpassed; nonetheless we dye hair, we buy sports cars, we buy spandex - we attempt to re-live our youth vicariously through consumer products, through our children, through many activities or at least in our conversations & quiet thoughts; everybody's doing it
it can feel good, but is it good?
if yes, why is it good?
perhaps not; I don't think it is about recapturing youth as much as it is giving us the delusion we are making change choices of any real significance while we clearly avoid change - that is far closer to typical behaviour in our enlightened society; perhaps we are not as enlightened as we would like to believe; we are creatures of habit far more than creatures of thought
buying a product or service does not change thoughts or attitudes; waxing this or trimming that, eating less or exercising more, driving this or wearing that, kissing her or pursuing him – each of these activities is quite easy because NONE of them involve a brain change of any kind
none of the things we conveniently call ‘change’ are; HOME DEPOT & Martha Stewart lead our generation to the cash register so we can create nice things, do a makeover in our kitchens & bathrooms but none of them makeover who we are & self help rarely helps self as much as it helps booksellers, publishers & writers
Halloween is nigh, a reminder of the many masks many of us wear; conveniently stored in our mental closet we portray what we wish was true, what we think would play well with others without examining very much very deeply
but, was the choice you made last evening a good one? why is the way you spent time the other day, the person you met last week or the way you spend this afternoon so important?
going through motions works, but inaction profoundly affecting us, or our world, is rare
to affect change requires some form of deliberate action, however small
but, does it matter?
only if we care about the result more than we care about talking wistfully about a result without actually changing anything
inaction is a great word; a space inserted in the right place produces 'in action'; a profound meaning shift with one touch of the space bar
the smallest of things alter the course of human history, changing the world
just changing one little element of our own life is mind candy worth tasting; someone wrote me asking how much space I need in a relationship; a good question but how to answer?
I’ve met people where the distance from here to the moon is not enough space, I’ve met someone where the thickness of a single chest hair or the scantiest scanty panty seemed too much
we can all do the mental exercise of 'what would have happened if I had been in a different era?', or in a different family, a different country, met a different mate, had some experience somewhere else, with someone else or done something a little radical, something a little out of character; all these could have changed little, or altered the course of human history
none of us can retreat in our lives to tweak those things; we CAN tweak what we do today, this evening, tomorrow & next week
we make changes by deliberate as opposed to passive activity; lots of things will happen around us which affect us, but, then we are only reactive
proactive is a different story; think about it - whether riding a bus, an elevator, a plane or a chair left, a chance meeting may profoundly affect your life
some things change nothing, some things change everything; better said, our experiences with someone we meet, however innocuously, can change our lives – or maybe just the course of a single day
how do we determine who will impact our life, or who won't?
few will, unless we do something about it
once a year I turn back time, once a year I clean that storage closet
I live a complex life on simple terms; I am taking up a little space over here near the edge
if you can manage the time, come join me
it is not crowded & I have new space in my closet
Mark
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