Let the thunder rumble

Volcanoes shake the earth, spew out molten rock in lava form, fill the air with glass-like particles that keep planes from flying into the jet stream path, cover the countryside with pyroplastic flow, and rumble with thunder to let scared countrymen know that the world around them is about to change.

Most of the volcanoes on the earth are in one spot. They form a horseshoe around the Pacific Ocean. The spot is known as the Ring of Fire. It is comprised of both volcanoes above and below the ocean. Those on the ocean floor end up forming islands like the Hawaiian chain. So, even though volcanoes are gripping in their appearance and behavior, they also give life that goes on after they finish erupting.

I love that Ring of Fire... active, erupting volcanoes... beautiful, fascinating to watch... and soooo caliente! They are a gripping adventure to follow. They change your world. They shake your world completely with awesome power. They give life for eons past their rumble of thunder (love that part). Long live the Ring of Fire.

Touched... profoundly

One of the best movies I have watched in recent times is the movie The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock. Bullock's character was strong, compassionate, vivacious, loyal, independent, and determined. Her character was such a good mix and portrayed so well in a number of different circumstatnces that it was emotionally touching. I was moved by watching this movie more than by any other movie in recent times.

During a lifetime we all experience dozens of moving events. But, there are a few events that stand above others, like The Blind Side when compared to other movies. We cull them for our minds to further review and reflect on. Reflecting on these event makes them better because they have been allowed to enter the sacred psyche where we mull events and people, interpret them, and allow them to become a part of who we are. Those kinds of events and the people in them touch us, then become us.

But even among those elevated touching experiences, there come those once-in-a-lifetime periods that profoundly affect our behavior. We internalize them. They stay with us. They define who we are. And these times involve special people, who cause the event to have lasting significance, because events don't happen outside of those who cause them.

I have been through dozens of memorable, moving events. I have even experienced a few elevated, touching events - the kind that stand out. And I can also say that I have seen that pinnacle, once-in-a-lifetime period. I have been profoundly touched... in fabric and psyche... and I am forever grateful.

Seeing the surface

I had a friend from early college days contact me about 6 months ago. We had not spoken or seen each other from those days until he contacted me just last May. I am not sure why exactly that he made contact, but he seemed to want to share his life that was filled with disappointment. He wanted to compare situations at one point, probably around last August, I guess to give himself a frame of reference for situations with education, religion, accomplishments, children, and career moves.

The comparisons he saw made him think that my life had been one of relative success. I think it was a matter of the grass being greener on the other side. He had a number of successes. But, he only looked on the surface. He didn't ask about what may lie behind the scenes except in the area of religion. I know what lies behind the scenes, and I know how to make the facade in front look polished and shiny.

I could act perfectly satisfied with all that has transpired, but that would not be reality. Reality is that I have satisfaction for some facets of my life and a void to fill in other areas. The satisfying parts add to my happiness quotient. But, the void is all about working hard to fill it with accomplishments that are still attainable and about maintaining hope for a dream I have to be realized. I really think my friend's life is not too different from that no matter what he wants to make of the comparisons.

Thanksgiving Tribute

The day after Thanksgiving, the headline in the local newspaper showed a large picture of some volunteers feeding a number of indigent people a Thanksgiving meal at a downtown location. I am always impressed with this, and I know that the same program exists in towns all over the US. I think of the ones that need the meal and some of their dire situations, and I think of the ones who give up part of their Thanksgiving day to serve the ones who need the meal. For those in need, I am grateful that they see a few moments of kindness in an otherwise bleak life.

My tribute is to a young man about to turn 8 years old who wants to go for a second year to serve those in need. He has such an indomitable, kind, and generous spirit. What a champion!

Love that teddy bear

On the arm of one of the easy chairs in my house sits a teddy bear. It's a small one, about 15 inches in length. It sits there daily as a reminder that a beautiful daughter once ran through this house, bringing charm, laughter, and hope for tomorrow. The bear is old, probably a decade or so. But, it does its job; it reminds me of my beautiful daughter.

Inside my mind there are bears that sit where I can see them. They are pictures that represent events and people that bring about charm, laughter, and hope for tomorrow. Unlike the bear, though, the pictures are ageless. They bring vibrance and happiness to everyday life. They allow me a glimpse of raw beauty daily. And I am eternally grateful for them, not just at this season of Thanksgiving.

At rest with knowing

Home is where the heart is. ET (The Extraterrestrial) is a classic movie of this principle. The little, endearing creature from another star world visits Earth, makes the best of his time here by befriending the children of an Earth family, but never forgets his home, where his heart is. In the end his heart leads him back home.

Home is definitely where the heart is. I'm like ET. I know where my heart is.

Message of the puppets

I love experiments like this one. Seven-month-old infants were placed in front of a couple of puppets. Then a screen was placed in front of the puppets. The infants could see a hand reach behind the screen. It either took a puppet or added a puppet. Then the screen was removed. If the infant saw the correct number of puppets the baby looked away fairly quickly. However, if the incorrect number of puppets appeared behind the screen, the baby's gaze lasted longer viewing the puppets. This experiment proved two ideas. First, the executive attention system is already in place; second, a baby has a number sense at seven months.

An experiment of this nature means little out of context to its purpose. But, if you knew the experimenters were tying this to the development of how and when the brain shows self-regulation versus risk-taking, which begins with attention given to something, then a person can appreciate what the brain shows in adults about self-regulation and risk-taking. And, if you knew that it can be taken also that babies can count at seven months, then it can show that the sense of count and the sense that develops sound correlation in language appear independently from each other. That has ramifications for language learning and math learning.

I admire researchers who are so innovative. Unfortunately, such experiments appear in places that people don't normally look. But, experiments like this inform our knowledge base so that we don't have to rely on notions about our executive attention system or about how math might be developed outside of learning how language is developed. People in marketing and advertising should be aware of the executive attention system. They might want to know how that is developed along the way to adulthood and even how adults at different ages exhibit tendencies of complete development or not. Educators should want to know about number sense versus language acquisition. It would affect how early childhood education is viewed or approached by those who run daycare centers and publishers who make books and learning manipulatives.

As it is, this experiment and those like it remain buried in the annals of research. So... unfounded notions will continue and the fact that babies can count at seven months will go unnoticed. The status quo is strong, which is why the term is used - "status is that" (that meaning what has gone before). Too bad. Society could be much farther down the road.

The one of gold

The Spanish had a term for a city of great wealth. Explorers from Spain, in their wanderings around South America had heard of a city that was so wealthy that all commerce in South America went through it. It became known to the Spanish as the city of gold, or just the one of gold, not because it had a golden tint at sunset nor because it was paved with golden streets, but because it traded in coins and accumumlated wealth. The Spanish equated wealth with gold.

Explorers asked many a person where this city was, this one of gold. Interpretations exist about why the Spanish never could find this city, ranging from the explorers' defitiniton of wealth differing from the natives' of South America definition to explorers not having enough supplies and men to go down the Amazon river and find it. I favor the one that says the natives didn't want the Spanish entourage in their midst, so they sent them on a wild goose chase. All the natives knew there was no city of gold. I have to admire the ability of the natives to throw off the Spanish and at the naivety of the Spanish explorers and company.

The North American natives also used the same ploy with the Spanish explorers in Mexico and the Southwestern US. They told the explorers of the one of gold. At least one conquistador took a route through southern California just to find the city or the gold, he didn't care which.

It's the famous story of El Dorado, the one of gold. I think in life people can sometimes get caught up in the pursuit of legendary gold. And, sometimes they let that search keep them from their goals. But not all golden pursuits are vain pursuits for money. Some pursuits are noble and worthy and not misguided at all. I would like to be rich in knowledge, for example, and richer still in legacy. But, for sure I want to be wealthy, wealthy... gaudily wealthy... in the pursuit of Dorado when it pertains to matters of the heart, happiness, and hope.

Learning from chimps

I love it when something is proven in animal tests. I rarely think about checking the literature of animal experimentation, but when I read about it sometimes when working with language, it usually proves a good point. I learned about critical learning windows, for example, when a researcher brought up what cats do during only a certain period of their upbringing.

So, yesterday when I was reading about the brain and its hemispheric differences and functions, up popped an animal experiment. It was very appropro because it showed that even chimpanzees who have no language can still use symbolic reasoning in establishing relational categories. That was important because I was trying to prove that symbolic reasoning is not tied to language necessarily. It's always a good moment when you happen onto something you have been hypothesizing, and it's ironic to me that the lesson comes from a chimp experiment.

It's a good reminder that sometimes pleasant surprises come along when you least expect them. Love it when that happens.

What's it worth?

Occasionally I watch Austin City Limits to catch the flavor of alternative music. I usually enjoy listening to the artists that play there. Brandi Carlile is one of the artists that plays there from time to time, and tonight she played several very meaningful tunes. She talked of playing with Elton John and of putting her life-changing events into lyrics. It made for good listening. At the end, she looked into the camera and spoke of the last several years being worth 100 years because of all the people that made her career possible.



Worth 100 years... that would be something extremely precious because it is saying that something is worth more time than a lifetime. That's one of those superlative comparisons, one that a person can say about the one event or the one person that it is life's apex experience. I guess eveyone has that apex event or individual.




I do... yes, it is worth more than a lifetime... worth 100 years... X 100 more years... ad infinitum.

The last is better than the first

I have a filing cabinet in my study that has fallen into disuse. Oh, I still get bills and statements of all kinds, but they are electronically generated and stored. I used to have a system. I would keep a year's worth of bills, and then, every January, I would make all new folders, move the last year's to a file below the active bills drawer, move those bills to a box, and then store the oldest bills and statements in the garage. I can hear you laughing already.

This last year, by contrast, I paid all bills online through my bank's bill pay. The bank keeps the records of all bills and loans paid. I just have to enter a user name and password... no files. Even when I order something like K-cups for my hot chocolate, tea, and apple cider, I log in, order from a shopping cart, pay the bill online, and the record is kept on the company's server. I can call it up at any time if I ever get curious or need to print a record of it for some reason.

Computing in the cloud is beautiful, and that makes my filing cabinet defunct. I started with a lot of filing cabinets in life because keeping them was expected and was the most efficient way at the time. But a few years have passed, things have changed, they're now defunct. I have ended with the beauty of computing in the cloud, and how beautiful it truly is!

Fortunately... there are amazing people

Mommy Dearest was a classic movie in showing how mothers really don't care at all for their children, and in fact, emotionally abuse them. It is a response I relegate to the movies, however. I heard about it as an adult, and saw only rarely the effects of it in a young person or two that I ran across. So, when I see such indifference and cold-heartedness in my own back yard, I find it especially abhorrent. It's one of the saddest things to have to see. I can't even imagine the thinking process that prompts a mother to be so indifferent to a daughter. What dysfunction it creates, and that's an understatement!

Fortunately, I look around me and know that all is not lost. I see an amazing mother who cherishes her children and carefully molds them into confident, outstanding young people. She shares her life joyously with her children, and they will grow up knowing a true mother's love. I see a judge who reversed a Child Protective Services order to take twins from parents who love them. He saw their love, their deliberate actions of nurture and saw through the lies of an evil doctor who would distort the truth of caring actions.

I can sleep tonight, smiling for the parents who have been reunited with their twins and for the most amazing mother who knows how to give her all in raising strong children.

No cuts

Shows on TV nowadays leave out a lot of real life so that people don't have to see the humdrum of reality. They skip from one scene to the next allowing people to assume the action that happened in between. In NCIS LA tonight, for example, the two main detectives go to the director and tell her that she needs to send them to Afghanistan. In the very next scene, the two detectives are wearing middle eastern garb and are in Afghanistan - no preparation to go there, no flight to get there, no car ride from the airport to the house where the next scene is, and no unpacking and changing clothes in their hotel before going to the house of the next scene.

I would like for this to happen in real life sometimes. I would be nice to skip the mundane scenes in my life and just go from one substantive scene to the next. On trips, I would get to cut out the 5 1/2 hour drives to either Dallas or Austin. Every morning I would get to skip the routines to get ready for work. I would get to cut right to the parts that had meaning in my day.

But reality is not TV. I do have to go through every second of every day, good or bad. But, it makes a better person out of me because I get to learn from my failures in the bad moments and experience great happiness in the good moments. I get to watch others in how they operate their business and learn from them. I get to watch others have their worlds take turns in unexpected directions and see them make lemonade from lemons. And that gives me comfort, vicarious experience, and satisfaction. I would not be the person I am today if I got to skip the scenes in my life. I would end up with less happiness; I would make assumptions about the missing action that would not match what really happened; and I would have less understanding of the connectedness of life.

As it is I experience every second of every day and have great, great hope of how I want the future to be.

The world at your beck and call

A lot of life happens according to your view of it. My father was one who knew the power of positive thinking and used to tell the story of a man who traveled to a town in search of somewhere to settle. He was met at the gates of the city by a wise man who lived there. The traveler told the wise man that he was looking to settle and wanted to know if this was a good town. The wise man asked the traveler what his experience had been in the last town he lived. The man replied that it was a town of many disgruntled people and that nothing went right there. The wise man advised the man that he would find the same in his town, so he might want to look elsewhere. A second traveler arrived the next day and asked the wise man if this was a good town. The wise man asked the second traveler what his experience had been in the last town he lived. The traveler answered that he found the town to be friendly and active, and that he hated to leave it. The wise man welcomed the traveler and told him that he would find the same kind of people and activities in this town.

Yes, the positive view makes for a higher quality of life. And I know someone who lives that way every day. I am inspired by such a life, and my own view is better, clearer, more productive, and efficient as a result. In this season of thanks... thank you for such inspiration. You have the world at your beck and call every day you wake up.

A gift from Japan

Yesterday was an interesting day. The Ministry of Education in Japan commisioned 4 University professors (from 3 different universities in Japan) to visit some United States' online schools so that the Ministry could write new national standards specifically for online schooling. They would keep the current standards for their brick and mortar schools, but write new ones for online schools which they hope to establish in the near future. So, the delegation of four profs selected and came to visit three schools - two in California, publicly funded schools, and one in Texas, a private corporate school, Orion Online Learning. The delegation spent 4 1/2 hours getting acquainted with the Orion protocols for modules and operations in general, taking notes and asking questions. At the end of the visit, and in true Japanese fashion, the four professors gave an appreciation gift to Orion from Japan.

Working with that delegation was very interesting. It would be a nice opportunity to help in writing standards or curriculum for another country. The delegation's visit might lead to some cooperative work with Japan, but even if it doesn't, it helped in expanding my professional horizons.

The last 365

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler.
Long I stood and looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
But as for that, the passing there had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black...

(The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost)
______________________________

A year ago I struck a new path. I did have a choice to stay or go. But, going meant that I would be able to better my position financially. Normally, that is the only consideration I look at in making a decision.



In fact, it was financially better after a year than it would have been had I stayed. And, in fact, it led to opportunity that could not have happened if I had stayed. It continues to produce in the opportunity category. But there was another category. Money is not even in the same arena as this category, and opportunity can not lead to any destination worth it if it means missing the place this other category would lead to. A person can measure the amount of money (s)he makes or determine the value of the opportunities that may come along. But, this other category cannot be measured except in terms of what the heart can produce. 2010 in that regard has been one of great hope.

Still the same

This is election night. Decisons made in the election of 2008 are being turned on their heads. The Tea Party has really made an impact and is upsetting the power structure. Even Republicans are taking notice that the Tea Party element is going to dictate some of their future actions. The Democrats didn't know how much of a dent the Republicans were going to make, and even thought that they might hold onto the House of Representatives. But, it has not turned out that way, not even close.

But over the last two years in my life, there is nothing upsetting at all, no major impacts... no Tea Party push, no takeover from the opposite party. Friends of mine are still friends of mine. Progress is being made in my professional life.

And the one who adds the spring to my step, still adds spring to my step daily and gives me hope.

Affecting the outcome

Watching the world series was a contrast in talent level this year. It was portrayed best by the game's centerpiece, the amazing pitcher of this last game. San Francisco's starting pitcher threw for 8 innings and looked just as fresh then as when he started the game even though it was 101 pitches later. He helped the Giants win and inspired those around him to rise to the occasion also. The Giants won the game not because of luck but because of what they brought of themselves. And the outcome to the series was affected.

My life has always benefited from a talented supporting cast around it. But, of late it has benefited from an amazing pitcher in its center. And, 101 pitches later I am still inspired by this person to rise to the top of the occasions life places before me, to be better than I am. Truly I am fortunate!

Certainty

When I was growing up I played all kinds of board games... Life, Clue, King Oil, Chess, Checkers, Candyland, Risk, Chutes and Ladders, Spades, Hearts, Poker, Backgammon, and several, others. I won more than I lost, but many times I won with just good guesswork.

Skills from game playing carried over to education and life skills like judging character. I won most of the time there too, but it still included some guesswork.

Over time, life skills improve so that guesswork is at an absolute minimum. I am more and more certain of what makes me happy, for example. And I know, without guessing, who I can trust and who I want to surround me. And it is certainly not a guess who brings a smile to my lips and contentment to my heart.

In a few

It's really amazing how just a few words can turn clay into ceramic beauty or pewter to gold. On two occasions today, my day was transformed from normal to supernormal and from routine to extra special by just a few words. That makes this day a charmed day. And that ends this blog with just a few words, in honor of the few words that absolutely transformed this day!

What I wouldn't give!

The other day I had a friend mention a work situation that would be good for several parties involved. I remember commenting, "What I wouldn't give for that to happen." I don't say that very often. I might have said that when I was younger, I really don't remember. But, I have said that only twice in recent memory (probably the last 15 years). Both times it was about a wish I have. And I really would give everything in my world to live that reality, to live out my dream.

Someday!

Matters as a whole

Some days just go right. Not that every little event happened like I wanted. Just that matters as a whole ended on a hopeful, optimistic note. And there's nothing that will allow for life to go forward like hope. A lot like the sun which is about to break out from behind its shielding clouds at the break of day.

Positive pondering

The mind can't help but ponder events during a day's time.

I bought some pottery in Maine last summer. They had to make it first and send it later. It arrived about two weeks ago. I unpacked it just the other day, and it caused me to ponder all the really serene sights and sounds of a magical day on Peak's Island where I ordered the pottery.



My partners and I have a growing business. We have expanded in office space and will expand in services offered in about 3 months. It makes me ponder where all this is headed, but at this end of things, it has much promise.



I ponder many things in a day's time. Those thoughts are not always positive like the two examples. But, mostly I ponder the positive matters. It helps me plan my time with great energy.

I have to say I ponder the year 2009 every day, more than anything I have ever mulled. It energizes me because it was the most positive year in my whole life.

Love to ponder such an energy-giving, life-giving year!

Splash me

Color in life is important. So, being around people who will splash the beauty of their color on us makes our lives just that much more enjoyable. I love the color of having my horizons stretched, for instance. The people who have done that in my life, have splashed me with their color.

There are other colors I enjoy too. So, splash away. Feel free.

Turns

Sometimes in writing people get stuck and seem not to be able to generate any more thought toward what they are writing. They experience "writer's block." It happens. They have to walk away for a while and then return to their work. In that "while" they will have their minds focused on other matters. When they return to their work, they have a fresh perspective on what they should generate to continue their writing. They had time to mull and blend ideas from what they saw during their time away from their writing, so that a fresh perspective can be brought when they sit back down to write. Their time away served as a catalyst to get past their stuck point.

In business sometimes, companies bog down in product development. Cars need a new shape or color, tennis shoes need to be lighter, oil needs to be brought out of the ground more cheaply. Any number of products need revamping. Employees are asked to think of new ways to do streamline processes sometimes. They are encouraged to "think outside the box." Usually it takes a catalyst of some sort like the accident that created Post-it Notes, or the experimentation in space to create lighter plastics, or paying attention to some detail of research that finally makes sense in curing lung cancer.

Stuck points come every so often. Life is great about throwing curves to foil plans, to bring the unexpected angle to a situaton, to twist events into what is dreaded or feared, or to lead people to the mundane, hum-drum, doldrums. Catalysts are needed to get past those points. Sometimes I'm good at spotting those catalysts. I can take a fresh perspective and see how to get through a situation. And sometimes I am not good at all at knowing what to do to affect change. Things are interconnected and convoluted and the way through seems messy.

One of the cruelist hammer blows of life is when I can see the catalyst clearly that will propel me past a blockage in my stream of personal events and I am ready to act, but life disagrees and takes a turn in the path. I hate it when that happens more than I can express.

But, Hope can overcome even this on occasion, smile with favor, and turn the path back.

An offering

A very special person in my life likes having and using quotes. So, I would like to offer a quote, since I have had the benefit of being around the beautiful life of this person who places noble and worthy quotes on desks, on blogs, on walls, and in this person's own heart and soul.

I offer it for your new job and for the continued higher education you seek. I offer it because you live by it and have taught me to trust what you live by.

___________________________________________________

When you come to the edge of all the light you have,

And are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown,

Faith is knowing that one of two things will happen:

There will be something to stand on,

Or you will be taught to fly.

(Patrick Overton)

I have all faith that when you step off into the unknown, you will be standing on top of Mt. Everest and soaring with the eagles!

Magnitude

There is a way to show that certain aspects of something mean more than other aspects. We weight things we like and slight things we dislike. If we like sitting by a fireplace rather than going to the grocery store, then we sit by the fireplace more than go to the grocery store. If we want to exercise by jogging rather than by weight lifting, then we jog instead of lift weights. If we like some people more than others, then we choose to show friendship to the ones we like more.

The idea of giving weight to show meaning shows up in more places than just our ordinary preferences in lifestyle. We show this in proportioning our spending, saving, and investing. And speaking of investing, inside investing there is a way to give weight to certain areas of investment. Whether trading stocks, real estate, metals, or currency, adding magnitude to some trades yields greater profits than if the normal trade was made.

So, when we find the ones along the way in life who would add magnitude to our own lives, we don't hesitate. We add the magnitude. And, it yields greater happiness, more productivity, more energy, and a higher level of fulfilled living.

Empty chambers - not for me

In my house I have three rooms that I rarely go in. The front room is stocked with a snooker table and couch, but they just sit there looking pretty for the people on the outside to see since curtains don't fully cover the windows. There's an extra bedroom for "guests" who might drop by once a year. The lady who cleans vacuums it twice a month, but she is the only guest to visit the room. And, there's a study with part of the room for pictures. When someone might want to use the printer, that part of the study gets used, but no one really ever goes to look at the pictures.

The chambers of our mind are like that. Many of them get used, but there are those areas that are rarely entered. Memories fade when that happens because the brain is going to use its capacity, so it begins using old paths for newly made information and all the connections that go with it. It overrides what was with what is happening now.

I think of life's rhythms sometimes, how they wax and wane. And, to avoid the empty room syndrome or the synaptic pruning in my brain during some of life's rhythms, I think of meaningful events that still push me to do things better or different. They keep my mind active and progressive rather than empty or stale. Or I think of the amazing person who makes my life colorful and happy. So, the rhythms in life don't leave behind empty rooms or withered dendrites, they leave behind traces of spectacular reflectons in rainbows.

Chagrined

Tomorrow I have to go to jury duty. It's like going to the fair. It's all very predictable. It's a place where games are being played, shows are going on, rides are taking people on a streak of giddiness. People spend a lot of money. It doesn't last very long, and people have to convince themselves that it is all worth it.

That's, of course, a cynical way of looking at it. I go to watch the backstage antics put on by the attorneys. I like to see them jockey for a favorable position with the jury pool. What actors they are. But, I like to also watch the defendant. No matter how dim or bright his prospects look, he puts on a sober face to act as if he doesn't care.

I'll show up, but all the legal activity is not about the truth. It's about foolery. I'll see who's better at it tomorrow - the defense or the prosecution. I hope to read about the case in the newspaper. I surely don't want to give an account from the inside after having been picked. I would be one of the attorneys worst nightmares if chosen. I would be counting words for the type-token ratio to know where the lies are. That's the most predictable part.

Next day beauty

Yesterday was a day of great negativity.

Today is different. It's amazing what a day later brings. Today I have health, a business that is growing, money in the bank that matches a decent lifestyle, success in trading on the exchange, a future that is not cut short by anything except my own limitations, and someone who illuminates my thoughts and makes me vibrant. I couldn't see that yesterday. But, today I can.

What a difference a day makes in perspective. The sun is shining on the beauty of this day.

Salve plus

I saw the word salve the other day. I hadn't seen that word in a long time. It always strikes a chord with me when I see it because it has a certain connotation with me. I know that it means any lotion or lubricant a person puts on skin, but to me it means that it is put on the skin if the skin needs healing in some way. Salve=healing is the first thought for me when I see or hear this word.

I can think of a number of things from the past that have made me well. I have been made well by pills, by liquids, by jobs, and by good will from others. I am grateful for them all. But, there is a category above what salve can do. It's the salve plus category. It can only be experienced when a person is made better by another. It's not something that makes one well, it's someone who makes well being an everyday matter... like smiling, laughing, enjoying, living fully, seeing new horizons, and feeling fully satisfied.

Salve plus might just be Nirvana! It most certainly is heaven on earth!

Life in the brain

The survival of the fittest idea from 180 years ago has undergone some scrutiny by the last 4 generations. Many just dismiss the idea out of hand. But, science seems to meet in coming and going, so it has to be given some credence. The latest brain book I have read uses it as its basis in order to arrive at some of the conclusions it draws.

One of the principles of this book is that humans have lived in a changing environment over time. The brain organizes itself according to what is needed in a human's environment. In that way, we become strong and dominant in our environment. It also means that our brains reorganize neural networks as we put ourselves in different environments. We can remain fit enough to see what is needed at every turn and remain strong and dominant. That means that change is natural, which goes against an adage in our society, "change comes hard." What is natural doesn't come hard. The adage, then, is not accurate according to science.

I know from experience over the last 8 years that change comes pretty naturally. Having a son, not having a son, jolts the emotions and changes the environment. The brain reorganized itself. From that point, the environment around me changed because it unraveled. But the brain kept up. It reorganized. Then my life encountered something bright, brilliant, vibrant, and joyous. It reorganized again. Change did not come hard. Change came naturally. And, I will vouch that because my needs changed, my brain reorganized. I am a joyous person, a better person as a result.

Dimensions illuminating us

Our lives have dimensions to them. We grow over time in different areas that add to our beings. We try to develop some interest of ours into something large and productive, so we pursue it as far as we can. We want to hone a skill we have, so we spend time making it better and better. We want to be the best in our jobs, so we learn all there is about it to enhance our performance of it. Our children force us to see life again from a really young perspective, through the eyes of someone we really love and cherish, so we don't forget the world we left behind. We love others, so we learn about the give and take of experiencing the world in an unselfish manner. We make it a point to place people in our lives who are head and shoulders above all others who surround us, who make us better. We have all kinds of dimensions to us.

All those dimensions work together to help us look forward to getting up every morning. They act as one to give us a reason for living. They strengthen us to do what we would otherwise not be inspired to do. They work as rays from the sun to illuminate our otherwise mundane lives. Heaven forbid that we should take the dimensions of our lives for granted. It would greatly weaken us.

He's got my full attention

There are just some things that shouldn't happen. A couple who has infant twins and loves them dearly shouldn't have an impersonal institution take the children from them in the name of protection. What will the institution do? Love the children? Hardly.

Somebody with credentials has to be behind such a move. Child Protective Services doesn't just act alone unless a very severe case presents itself. But, most of their cases are not severe requiring immediate attention. So, when the "somebody" decides to make a travesty of justice with the system in place, he needs to have to face a little travesty of his own.

The case of taking infants from their parents with bogus evidence to do so, should deserve misery in return. Some would say people should be better than to render an eye for an eye. The difference is that the "somebody" in this case has had time to reconsider his own position with evidence contrary to his own opinion. Still he is unchanging. But arrogance is a blinding disease. And it is a disease that allows me to do my work more effectively because the person can't see the lies he tells himself and spreads to others. But, I can see those lies. And, there are some things that just shouldn't happen.

Charades

I was listening to a teacher talk tonight. She was mentioning that she had had some kids "tested." That's code for getting an official designation to label the kids with so that everybody knows they are behind. The kids had come to her without any records of tests, and she thought they were low in skills for the grade level. The teacher went on to say that over 50% of the kids qualified for an intervention program. That speaks volumes. Not about the teacher necessarily, but about the educational system.

For one, what is being tested is not IQ (and there is not such thing as intelligence) because who really knows how to define and measure intelligence. It is not ability because the test was not an achievement test. It is not innate ability because the test was not an aptitude test. What is being tested is the average performance level a child is supposed to perform at given a certain grade level. And how is that average performance level determined? It's not the statistical part that is in question here, but the arbitrary performance level assigned to grade levels. Given that kids cognitively mature at different rates, it fails me that any grade level assignation could be made and called "average."

For two, what kind of system needs to have labels for some group of kids who are cognitively maturing at different rates according to the dictates of nature. Who is really in charge of some set of skills (call it curriculum) well enough to set parameters around something even nature has not settled on?

The educational system may be beyond repair in this country. I firmly believe the people in the year 2200 will refer to the way we do things presently as the failed educational experiment for the masses. It boils down to one thing. Education, which touted the scientific method as a way to discover knowledge, failed to heed its own advice. It pays very little attention to what science has to offer it, giving it lip service, offering bogus tests as a charade for deceiving the communites that have entrusted their kids to it. I implore the leaders and those who will lead in the future to pay attention to the science that really would inform the system on how to give kids something to help them with their futures.

Notional, flawed education

From time to time I get to have a theoretical discussion about critical learning windows regarding education. I usually find myself in a minority when such a discussion happens. I recently read a book about the brain that also addressed this idea although the authors called it sensitive learning windows (time-sensitive, that is). The authors of the book hesitated to completely agree with the idea, but they did give a couple of instances where the best explanation was the disappearance of the window. A critical learning window is the time period that exists during which learning takes place or some programmed events happens, such as puberty. Before the window, proper cognition is not in place to understand a concept fully, and after the window, the optimal conditions for learning a concept no longer exist and learning that concept becomes virtually impossible to enhance but more than a little.

The American school system ignores the idea of a critical learning window altogether. In second language acquisition, for example, nearly all offerings for language learning appear in high school a good 5-8 years after the critical window has closed. I guess it's no wonder that America remains mostly a monolingual country. Reading by teaching it phonetically also rejects the idea of a critical learning window. The child of 2-4 years of age learns that way, but not afterward much (only about 25% of children learn phonetically after that point). It's no wonder that many children grow into adulthood reading slowly and painfully. They were forced to "learn" reading through a method that yields limited results. And, horrendously, math from the time of kindergarten through 2nd grade gets roughly half the time dedicated to it that reading does. Mistakenly, the educational establishment thinks reading improves math skills. It's no wonder at all that children come away from the critical learning window during which math logic can best be instilled with only half or less of the time they need to do well. That certainly shows up in older children and young adults.

Surely, at some point, science will prevail and educating by notion will give way. When that happens, education will take a great leap forward. Learning will take place in more natural ways, according to natural rhythms, yielding naturally higher results. Knowledge will take a quantum leap. And, performance of individuals will correspondingly increase.

Beautiful script

One of my favorite TV shows is Flashpoint. Tonight was a particularly well written script. The episode contained a main plot and four subplots. All five fit together perfectly. Two of the plots dealt with children learning to trust in people they had been conditioned to distrust. One of the plots showed the vulnerability of parents in trying to work in the best interests of their child. One subplot depicted a woman who had lost a 3-year-old daughter getting to work through her grief by saving another small girl. The four parts were woven together in a seamless, delicate manner. By the end of the time slot, all the subplots had come to a noble resolution. It was simply beautiful - a good reminder of how life is orchestated sometimes in piecing together people's lives for happiness and satisfaction.

Some of life either doesn't work out or it works against you. But, sometimes it works together seamlessly, delicately. And for the portions that are still in the making, a person can work to make them turn out well or put them in the hope category. I look at the last three jobs I have had as an example of life working together in the same way as the Flashpoint episode I watched tonight. They worked together seamlessly, one building to the other, one being incorporated into parts of the other.

It's a good feeling when some of the important things in life, like a job, fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. My greatest hope and dream, however, has not yet been fit into that seamless, delicate puzzle of life. Should the script of life incorporate this episode into my experience, life would not have just been pieced together happily and satisfactorily, but ecstatically and totally enjoyably.

In the center

The downtown areas of major cities are distinctive. They have defining shapes in size of area, height and slope of skycrapers, and geographical features like harbors, lakes, plains, or mountains. They are considered the hub of the city because they have the meaningful activities going on in them, such as finiancial districts, business, industial, and government provenances, restaurant regions, and shopping stretches. They many times are the pulse of the suburbs around them, pumping life into those smaller towns. Show me the downtown areas of the top 10 US cities, and I would bet you money that I could recognize them because they have their particular characteristics.

We need the people in our lives that sit in the downtown of our hearts. The people that are distinctive. The ones that rise head and shoulders above anyone else because of their personalities and accomplishments. The special ones among us who thrive and provide others much of life's pleasure, cheer, and enjoyment. The ones who sit dead-center in our psyches. Our thoughts wander onto them so many of the minutes during a day.

I don't know that everyone has such people. Perhaps I am fortunate. I can easily draw the skyline in the center of my heart and thoughts.

Coming in handy

One of the forensic methods I learned in my formal training in sociolinguistics was how to chart the strength of social networks. I didn't think anything about it at the time, but it has really proved to be useful in the line of work that I have been in, including my current position. It helps in particular to know what to say to whom.

I think because of having this information, I have been able to say the right words at the right time to the right people. It may have just saved my bacon. I remember when I was in my 20s that I didn't always know what to say or who to say something to or what to keep silent until just the right person was available. While some of what to say at the right time to the right people is a matter of maturity over time, some of it is correctly judging the strength of a social network. Some people in the network will spread your words to many people, sometimes in a twisted form or in a twisted context, and some will not.

But, over the last 9 months, I had to make sure that I protected myself in my work with words that followed particular channels of networking with the right information reaching the right people at the right time in order for the result to turn out in my favor. It took some work, but last Saturday I had it verified to me that I had judged the social network just right. Whew!

There but not here

The other night I was watching dark clouds move into the area from the north. I could see a flash or two of lightning, hear thunder rumbling, and feel the rush of wind that often precedes a rain storm. I checked my phone for the radar on whether the storm would hit my house directly. I was not in the main path of the storm, but on the fringe. The brunt of the storm was headed a little west of my house, headed toward a place that I care a great deal about. That place did receive quite a bit of rain. My house? Only a trace. I had to laugh. Rain usually does elude my house. I could see all the signs of a storm, but it was virtually a dry run with all the visual, audio, and tactile effects of the real thing. If I compare the number of rain storms that happen to the place just to the west to the number I receive at my place, a pattern emerges. It nearly always gets the measurable amounts, and I nearly always get the trace amount. I have to laugh at the irony of that. I don't know why that happens.

Life is intermittent in what it brings. There is no doubt about that. Trying to understand why things happen the way they do drives me crazy. A pattern emerges there too. I don't understand why things happen. My way of dealing with things I don't understand is to shake my head, and laugh at my little understanding of the grand scheme of things. But I am really glad that things happen well or right just to the west of me.

The pool effect

Having a back yard pool does not add value to your house according to realtors. I guess that's right. At least, if you sell your house, realtors don't want you to depend on added value from having a pool. But, to me, a pool adds value, aesthetic value if nothing else. The water surface shimmers when the sun glints off of it. It ripples when the wind blows. It makes small little splashes all over when it rains. It adds blue to the color of the green yard surrounding it. It invites you to jump in and refresh your day!

A pool is a symbol of the quality certain people add to our lives. We need that person who makes our lives shimmer, ripple, make little splashes all over, add color, and invite us to refresh our day. A pool and the person it represents are sheer enjoyment. Life could be lived without that person, but what a hole that would leave!