When did it stop being OK to be square? When did being an independent thinker become passe'? Furthermore, just what is 'square'? Just because I do not agree with another's views does not make me 'square', nor conservative, nor uninformed, nor disinterested, nor apathetic, nor WRONG, it just means that I have a different viewpoint from YOU.
I was part of a lively discourse this past summer (how sad to have to say 'past') that circled around, and wove through, politics and political viewpoints. Part of the discussion revolved around whether one could have liberal political views and be a social conservative OR have conservative political views and be a social liberal. I enjoyed the conversation because everyone kept it civil, even humorous at times, and no one made another feel foolish or WRONG due to his or her opinion. However, I came away from the confab puzzled that the over-arching thought was that people must automatically fit into one position or another. To be sure, those assembled heartily agreed that a person could also be liberal/liberal or conservative/conservative, but no one expressed the viewpoint that a person could move between 'camps', depending on the issue at hand.
This puzzles me. Why can't a person have multiple positions, moving between conservative and liberal? Just because a person does not subscribe to a single set of views and mores does not make her or him a waffler, or weak, or timid, or cowardly or WRONG. It just means that, depending on the 'issue', I have a differing opinion from YOU.
It is said that the subject of politics does not make good dinner conversation. I'd like to add ethics and morals to that list. There are just too many items on the menu of life to choose from when discussing politics, ethics, and morals. 'Polite' conversation should stay with 'safe' topics like PC v.s Mac, Bears v.s. Packers, sailing v.s. powerboating, cats v.s.dogs, dark chocolate v.s. milk chocolate, crunchy cookies v.s. soft cookies, white popcorn v.s. yellow popcorn, full-day kindergarten v.s. half-day kindergarten, the Glass Ceiling, Margaritas with or without salt on the rim. You know, really important 'stuff'.
Agreeing to disagree is more fun, don't you think? We might even be able to talk about yellow mustard v.s. Grey Poupon!
Ancora imparo
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
The Best Tools
The internet, and, Facebook in particular, abounds with personality/leadership tests you can take to determine if you are like a certain breed of dog, a famous person, a fruit or some other kind of food. I have not seen a test that likens people to brands of cars but there probably is one such assessment out there somewhere. My personal favorite would be to compare people to egg-preparation types, which I did in a spring posting, but that idea has not yet caught on. I guess no one wants to be thought of as 'cracked', 'poached', or 'easy-over'.
To where I'm going......There are those humans who are natural 'fixers', people who either have learned or have an innate sense that a situation or person needs 'fixing'. 'Fixers' frequently get themselves into boxes with no way out if the person does not wish to be 'fixed'. Situational 'fixers' may be akin to, if not outright, leaders. Some situations can be 'fixed', others are hopeless or unworthy of the time and energy needed to 'fix' or 'meddle'. 'Fixing' and 'meddling' are first cousins, are they not?
Regarding human 'fixing'.....I know several people, very well, who are natural 'fixers'. They seem drawn to the personality-type that wears a sign that says, "I need fixing." I have observed some success between the 'fixer' and the 'fixee' but, more often than not, the 'fixer' becomes disillusioned, discouraged, and even deceived.
So what is the solution to wanting to alleviate someone else's pain, hurt, or sorrow? Well, prayer, for one. Praying for another is, perhaps, the most powerful antibiotic or pharmaceutical on the planet. Prayer is free and can be done anonymously. Prayer is calming to the person doing the praying and can be soothing and comforting to the one being prayed 'for'. Praying for another is not 'fixing', but rather asking for intercedence from God on behalf of someone else.
God gave us two of the best tools on earth for 'fixing': Our ears and our arms. Our ears are the perfect vehicle for listening, simply listening. By listening to other people, we allow them to hear their own thoughts and give them the knowledge that someone else cares. Our arms are the perfect vehicle for human touch. With our hands, we can convey a gentle 'touch' on the arm or shoulder that says, "I am with you." or, if the person is open to hugging, our arms can wrap around another and send an unspoken message of "I am here."
God sends the message of "I am here." every day. There are days when I can feel Him wrap his mighty arms around me and lift me over whatever morass that I am confronting. Let's give the gift of 'tools' to each other: Our hands, arms, and prayer.
Ancora imparo
To where I'm going......There are those humans who are natural 'fixers', people who either have learned or have an innate sense that a situation or person needs 'fixing'. 'Fixers' frequently get themselves into boxes with no way out if the person does not wish to be 'fixed'. Situational 'fixers' may be akin to, if not outright, leaders. Some situations can be 'fixed', others are hopeless or unworthy of the time and energy needed to 'fix' or 'meddle'. 'Fixing' and 'meddling' are first cousins, are they not?
Regarding human 'fixing'.....I know several people, very well, who are natural 'fixers'. They seem drawn to the personality-type that wears a sign that says, "I need fixing." I have observed some success between the 'fixer' and the 'fixee' but, more often than not, the 'fixer' becomes disillusioned, discouraged, and even deceived.
So what is the solution to wanting to alleviate someone else's pain, hurt, or sorrow? Well, prayer, for one. Praying for another is, perhaps, the most powerful antibiotic or pharmaceutical on the planet. Prayer is free and can be done anonymously. Prayer is calming to the person doing the praying and can be soothing and comforting to the one being prayed 'for'. Praying for another is not 'fixing', but rather asking for intercedence from God on behalf of someone else.
God gave us two of the best tools on earth for 'fixing': Our ears and our arms. Our ears are the perfect vehicle for listening, simply listening. By listening to other people, we allow them to hear their own thoughts and give them the knowledge that someone else cares. Our arms are the perfect vehicle for human touch. With our hands, we can convey a gentle 'touch' on the arm or shoulder that says, "I am with you." or, if the person is open to hugging, our arms can wrap around another and send an unspoken message of "I am here."
God sends the message of "I am here." every day. There are days when I can feel Him wrap his mighty arms around me and lift me over whatever morass that I am confronting. Let's give the gift of 'tools' to each other: Our hands, arms, and prayer.
Ancora imparo
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Baffled and Befuddled
I love etymology, which is "the history of a linguistic form of a word shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language". (Whew!) Merriam-Webster's CollegiateDictionary, Eleventh Edition
I'm certain anyone who reads this posting will think, to themselves, "Here she goes again.", and will have to stifle yet another yawn. However, this is the path my brain took today when I was musing about a number of life-vignettes that are currently playing in the theatre of my mind. I find it fascinating how one incident can lead to a thought-path that would have never occurred to me even moments before.
The 'Bic-lighter' of my thoughts, today, was a phone call, to me, from the corporate headquarters of the company who makes the car we drive. I had sent an email, rife with frustration, about the closing of my car-maker's local dealership. To the credit of 'corporate', the response was quick.....less than twenty-four hours from the time I pushed 'send'. The gist of the response was less than satisfying. Basically, I was told that any closing of a dealership, selling my make of car, is totally the decision of the franchisee, and out of the hands of corporate headquarters. My personal take on this is either that I was flat-out lied to or that it is the worst business model ever constructed. It is no wonder that the maker of my car is struggling in the global economy.
This, coupled with a perfect storm of a bevy of other minor frustrations, led me to think about self-incarceration in my office, just for the day. Of course, I immediately realized the common understanding of the word incarcerate and thought, perhaps, I should look up the origin of the word before writing about my own incarceration. What I discovered, led me to a state of confusion regarding incarcerate. The root of the word comes from the Latin word carcer, which means prison. OK, I'm onboard with that. But, were we not taught, ad nauseum in school, that the prefix in means not? I need someone to explain to me why the word incarcerate does not mean 'not in prison' and, if you are in prison, why are you not 'carcerated'?
For the time being, I will be in self-imposed 'Ostrich-mode' in my office, maintaining my state of befuddlement and bafflement. Care to join me?
Ancora imparo
I'm certain anyone who reads this posting will think, to themselves, "Here she goes again.", and will have to stifle yet another yawn. However, this is the path my brain took today when I was musing about a number of life-vignettes that are currently playing in the theatre of my mind. I find it fascinating how one incident can lead to a thought-path that would have never occurred to me even moments before.
The 'Bic-lighter' of my thoughts, today, was a phone call, to me, from the corporate headquarters of the company who makes the car we drive. I had sent an email, rife with frustration, about the closing of my car-maker's local dealership. To the credit of 'corporate', the response was quick.....less than twenty-four hours from the time I pushed 'send'. The gist of the response was less than satisfying. Basically, I was told that any closing of a dealership, selling my make of car, is totally the decision of the franchisee, and out of the hands of corporate headquarters. My personal take on this is either that I was flat-out lied to or that it is the worst business model ever constructed. It is no wonder that the maker of my car is struggling in the global economy.
This, coupled with a perfect storm of a bevy of other minor frustrations, led me to think about self-incarceration in my office, just for the day. Of course, I immediately realized the common understanding of the word incarcerate and thought, perhaps, I should look up the origin of the word before writing about my own incarceration. What I discovered, led me to a state of confusion regarding incarcerate. The root of the word comes from the Latin word carcer, which means prison. OK, I'm onboard with that. But, were we not taught, ad nauseum in school, that the prefix in means not? I need someone to explain to me why the word incarcerate does not mean 'not in prison' and, if you are in prison, why are you not 'carcerated'?
For the time being, I will be in self-imposed 'Ostrich-mode' in my office, maintaining my state of befuddlement and bafflement. Care to join me?
Ancora imparo
Monday, October 4, 2010
Forced Flexibility
Forced flexibility. It can have two meanings, at least in my world and this morning is a good example of both. One scenario I am good at, or try to be - physical exercise that involves flexibility exercises. If I do not maintain a regular regimen of my self-prescribed combination of Pilates, yoga, and free weights, my body complains loudly.......more loudly than when it complains during exercise. I am finding that my muscles, ligaments and tendons are like pieces of leather that got wet and were then set out in the hot sun. Each time I exercise, it is akin to re-wetting the leather and stretching it back out to its original form. (I was going to use the word 'shape' but my original 'shape' is long gone. I'll just settle for maintaining some semblance of a human form!) I find it fascinating that my body's natural inclination, at this stage of life, is to shrink and shrivel, but not in important, outward ways. Keeping flexibility is a constant battle, one which I'm not sure I'm winning or can even claim to have achieved a stalemate.
The other form of 'forced flexibility', one that I struggle with daily, is dealing with the natural changes that can occur in one's schedule due to life, the world, commitments, health issues, over-sleeping, work......any number of occurances that are outside of our control. A good friend of mine regularly suggests that only control 'freaks' cannot 'go with the flow' and that if all of the world's control freaks would simply 'let go', the world would be a calmer place. I cannot ascribe to that philosophy simply because 'one size does not fit all'. Some days, life throws fastballs at us and we have a good, hardwood baseball bat at hand but, on other days, the bat is nowhere to be found and the fastballs strike from every angle. I, like millions of other humans, am a creature of planning, habit, and purposeful execution.
Can I 'roll with the punches'? Absolutely. Educating children teaches you that almost instantly. However, my preference is to move through the day in an orderly and organized manner. This day did not begin that way and my method of coping? Coffee, the newspaper and a piece of chocolate.
Bring on those fastballs. I've found my bat now I hope you have yours.
Ancora imparo
The other form of 'forced flexibility', one that I struggle with daily, is dealing with the natural changes that can occur in one's schedule due to life, the world, commitments, health issues, over-sleeping, work......any number of occurances that are outside of our control. A good friend of mine regularly suggests that only control 'freaks' cannot 'go with the flow' and that if all of the world's control freaks would simply 'let go', the world would be a calmer place. I cannot ascribe to that philosophy simply because 'one size does not fit all'. Some days, life throws fastballs at us and we have a good, hardwood baseball bat at hand but, on other days, the bat is nowhere to be found and the fastballs strike from every angle. I, like millions of other humans, am a creature of planning, habit, and purposeful execution.
Can I 'roll with the punches'? Absolutely. Educating children teaches you that almost instantly. However, my preference is to move through the day in an orderly and organized manner. This day did not begin that way and my method of coping? Coffee, the newspaper and a piece of chocolate.
Bring on those fastballs. I've found my bat now I hope you have yours.
Ancora imparo
Sunday, October 3, 2010
As Evidenced By.......
In a recent post of Ancora imparo, I wrote about the beautiful countryside I rode past on my way to the central part of the state. During that trip, signs of autumn were everywhere. Now that I am back home for the winter months, I am attuned to the hints of change here, as well.
Ancora imparo
- The geese are in constant, pre-flight formation practice. Small groups form continually and seem to take short trips, only to land, lay about for a bit, then take off again, squawking noisily as if to alert any other sky-bound creature that they - the great Canadian Geese - are commanding the skies.
- My pallet is demanding.....well, maybe craving.....soups of all kinds. Two days ago I made a large, crockpot full of chili. Much of it has now been consumed but three meals worth have been frozen, waiting their turn to become a choir-night quick meal. Just like "Jiffy Lube", these meals serve a great purpose - quick in to the microwave and quick out to a waiting bowl for an even faster consumption. Today I felt like chicken/vegetable/barley soup and that is what is steaming away in the crockpot.
- My morning walks now require ear-muffs, long pants, and a heavier coat.
- Our tile floors are cold to the feet and now invite the wearing of slippers.
- Candy, left in the car, doesn't melt.
- There is one extra blanket on my bed.
- Brainless, fall television series have begun.
- The evening darkness comes waaaay too soon.
- Likewise, daylight takes its sweet time in arrival.
- It is hard to come out from under the covers in the morning.
- Our local newspaper has begun a "countdown to Halloween".
- Our church is in the midst of its stewardship campaign.
- Politicians are out in full force before the mid-term elections.
- The box elder bugs are everywhere.
- Fall road construction is in high gear, only to remain unfinished until next summer.
- The annual 'collision' of baseball and football season is upon us.
- Ice water is being replaced with hot tea.
Ancora imparo
Saturday, October 2, 2010
New Set Of Procedures
I was gone for a couple of days this week, and, the following morning after I returned, I wandered into my office to turn on my laptop and saw I strange light, glowing from a spot that, heretofore, (I love the word heretofore but I cannot use it very often!) never had anything glowing on top of it. After turning on the overhead light, I discovered that the source of the glowing light was something quite exciting. The table next to my desk that had been previously empty, now had a television setting atop of a big, black box.
Allow me to digress for a moment.
The latest and greatest gizmos and gadgets in the electronic world will never darken a room in our home. We are always about twenty-to-thirty electronic generations behind whatever Silicon Valley is promoting. Our 'main' television has a digital converter box attached to it so it can receive a signal from our cable company. The VCR just got disconnected last week and, thusly, my over-used, blank video cassette tapes will be retired as well. I have been methodically video taping missed television shows for years now and have been comfortable with the procedure necessary to program the VCR. "Quoth the Raven, 'Never more'".
Before I continue, keep in mind that our household will NEVER hold the latest and greatest, but, with my new 'glowing light', I have come from the Stone Age to the Industrial Age. The glowing light belongs to my early birthday present, a DVD recorder and re-writable disks. Plus, the television from the kitchen has been sent to my office to replace the Stone-Aged model that died in the spring and the kitchen counter now sports a new eighteen-inch television. While I was away, my SO was busy!
Yesterday I received a tutorial on the operation of the DVD recorder and I think I am ready for my newest electronic stage of life. Yes, I have a fresh set of procedures to follow but I am full of confidence and excitement. Industrial Age, here I come!
What can be next? In ten years I'm certain I'll have a subscription to TiVo!
Ancora imparo
Allow me to digress for a moment.
The latest and greatest gizmos and gadgets in the electronic world will never darken a room in our home. We are always about twenty-to-thirty electronic generations behind whatever Silicon Valley is promoting. Our 'main' television has a digital converter box attached to it so it can receive a signal from our cable company. The VCR just got disconnected last week and, thusly, my over-used, blank video cassette tapes will be retired as well. I have been methodically video taping missed television shows for years now and have been comfortable with the procedure necessary to program the VCR. "Quoth the Raven, 'Never more'".
Before I continue, keep in mind that our household will NEVER hold the latest and greatest, but, with my new 'glowing light', I have come from the Stone Age to the Industrial Age. The glowing light belongs to my early birthday present, a DVD recorder and re-writable disks. Plus, the television from the kitchen has been sent to my office to replace the Stone-Aged model that died in the spring and the kitchen counter now sports a new eighteen-inch television. While I was away, my SO was busy!
Yesterday I received a tutorial on the operation of the DVD recorder and I think I am ready for my newest electronic stage of life. Yes, I have a fresh set of procedures to follow but I am full of confidence and excitement. Industrial Age, here I come!
What can be next? In ten years I'm certain I'll have a subscription to TiVo!
Ancora imparo
Friday, October 1, 2010
Fall......ing
Fall has arrived and, as if we needed any further reminder than the calendar, Mother Nature is doing her best to alert our eyes, ears, and nostrils to the fact that autumn is really here.
While I had the recent pleasure of traveling three hours south in the state, evidence of the changing seasons was everywhere. The fall crop fields were stunningly beautiful while flaunting varying shades of yellow, gold, and brown along with an occasional green-ribbon thread added in for visual effect. Half-harvested fields of corn exhibited their beauty in the contrast of corn stalks waiting to be cut next to the foot-or-so stubble remaining. Likewise, the wheat fields gently blew in the wind, patiently waiting their turn to be harvested. The beauty of the agricultural landscape was interspersed with farm equipment, either moving in the fields amidst dust clouds or lumbering down the two-lane highway, chugging along with dogged determination to the next crop. Somewhere in this agrarian portrait, a large wind farm added a silent, silver elegance to the picturesque acres that we passed by with their mechanical arms methodically moving as if in a mute, synchronized ballet. Pumpkin stands were bursting at the seams with future jack-o-lanterns in all shapes and sizes, bales of hay and straw begged for purchase and sunflower stalks were banded together for October displays. As if additional cues were needed, the requisite apple cider and its tasty cousin, the apple-cider doughnut were in full supply with no shortage of buyers! Football schedules can be seen posted on bulletin boards in every small-town business and football teams can be seen and heard practicing through their plays with crunching and constant collisions. Summer shorts and halter tops are being traded for denim and hoodies and storefronts remind us that Halloween is not far away. The nights are cool and the days have moderate temperatures, often accompanied by diurnal sunshine and the Harvest Moon at night.
Does it get any better than this?
I think not!
Ancora imparo
While I had the recent pleasure of traveling three hours south in the state, evidence of the changing seasons was everywhere. The fall crop fields were stunningly beautiful while flaunting varying shades of yellow, gold, and brown along with an occasional green-ribbon thread added in for visual effect. Half-harvested fields of corn exhibited their beauty in the contrast of corn stalks waiting to be cut next to the foot-or-so stubble remaining. Likewise, the wheat fields gently blew in the wind, patiently waiting their turn to be harvested. The beauty of the agricultural landscape was interspersed with farm equipment, either moving in the fields amidst dust clouds or lumbering down the two-lane highway, chugging along with dogged determination to the next crop. Somewhere in this agrarian portrait, a large wind farm added a silent, silver elegance to the picturesque acres that we passed by with their mechanical arms methodically moving as if in a mute, synchronized ballet. Pumpkin stands were bursting at the seams with future jack-o-lanterns in all shapes and sizes, bales of hay and straw begged for purchase and sunflower stalks were banded together for October displays. As if additional cues were needed, the requisite apple cider and its tasty cousin, the apple-cider doughnut were in full supply with no shortage of buyers! Football schedules can be seen posted on bulletin boards in every small-town business and football teams can be seen and heard practicing through their plays with crunching and constant collisions. Summer shorts and halter tops are being traded for denim and hoodies and storefronts remind us that Halloween is not far away. The nights are cool and the days have moderate temperatures, often accompanied by diurnal sunshine and the Harvest Moon at night.
Does it get any better than this?
I think not!
Ancora imparo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)