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!