Wedding receptions, anniversaries, reunions a club after some drinks are all places you are likely to find people dancing. Dancing is pretty interesting because other than the line dancing style songs there is really no wrong or right way to dance. There are just a bunch of partners or single folks out on the dance floor moving their bodies to the music. If you are dancing with a partner you get really close and do a lot of touching and avoid touching the other couples. If you are dancing alone you move without touching anyone to the music and maybe another person dancing alone will dance with you and maybe not.
As far as interactions are concerned dancing is kind of like life. There is music that drives all of us to move and we have to move together but not to close together and we all have to kind of agree on where and when we move.
You may not end the day with dancing and you may not dance at all today but listen for todays “music” and try to move with the rhythm of the world you live in.
In an earlier post of mine I mentioned that we need to take back our weekends. I am trying to do this and friends and family are too, however work is demanding and it does not always seem possible but, it is. We can have a healthy work life balance if we make the effort to do so.
Turn off the phone When you leave work today (I am typing this up on a Friday) turn off or put your work phone away. Stay as late as you need to get your work done for the week but, when your work for the week is done do not start on next weeks work, that will be there on Monday.
Understand the scope of your role When your work for the week is done… What is your work for the hour day week month year? We have entered into the age of generalists at work and as such the scope of many workers has grown so much so that employees are really not sure when their work is done or what exactly they are responsible for. Learning your place and scope at work will help you disconnect when you are done for the day week and month. If yoiu work for a good employer scope of work will be clear, most do not and scope of work is often muddy at best. A tactic that can and should be taken is a “Signing off” procedure everyday. You can sign off when you leave for the day or week through an email letting your manager know your accomplishments or through a verbal check out letting them know the accomplishments and giving them the chance to let you know if there is something you missed.
Set it and forget it You’ve signed off and turned off the phone and now it is time to set work off. Change your focus to what really matters you, family and friends. Its the weekend make plans and do something with loved ones, it can be as simple as a matinee or as elaborate as a short vacation. Stay in a hotel for one night and be a tourist in a neighboring city, take a train, plane or bus ride and explore an attraction you’ve seen on Tik Tok, go to the park and play some pickleball. Do something that is not work, you earned the weekend.
Once we have taken back the weekend we will work on taking back our evenings and eventually our lives. The pandemic and technology have blurred the lines between work and leisure time, let’s start a movement to make the lines clear and present.
…with all this taking back the weekend talk i had to post a music video of him for us to rock to…… You are welcome
There are videos every where you go, if you travel in public spaces. Most communities use surveillance videos to deter public crime however, the video itself does not deter crime it is the potential criminal knowing they are being recorded that deters the crime.
But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
Luke 12:2
When someone is recorded while in the action of a crime or violation they know the likelihood of being caught is much higher when they are recorded in the action and therefore chances are high that they will not commit the crime.
A camera with AI technology can spot people of interest or situations that look out of the normal but because real time surveillance is basically a myth stopping crime while it is happening without a security guard present is a tough ask. There is live surveillance or as close to live as you can get but even with live surveillance the action of stopping the criminal in the act requires boots on the ground at the right time.
Technically the speed of light is 300 000 kilometers per second so no one is really seeing something as it happens. We are all processing things after the fact. Time is funny. Time is almost impossible to define and yet we all use it everyday. The best definition I have seen for time was: Time is the observation of the degradation of matter.
The past, present and future are only illusions, even if stubborn ones
I could go on and on about how time is a kind of silly human construct however today I am more interested in how the subjective nature of time. I see some people live full robust lives that affect everyone and their lives are short. I think about Jesus of Nazareth being under 40 and making such huge waves with a message of love and compassion, then there is Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Martin Luther King Jr., Keats, Mellvill and Orwell. This list is long of folks that lived short lives but made huge contributions to society. The “time” they had was used well. Time is at best a persistent illusion that when not considered or used correctly doesn’t really matter. We should all be less concerned with when and more concerned with what.
The United Nations has 193 countries in it and among the countries 7 of them do not mandate paid maternity leave for parents. The United States of America finds itself among the 7 countries. Child care in the United States for working parents costs the parents more than 20 % of their income again among developed nations the United States is last, most nations offer heavily subsidized or free child care. In June of 2022 the United States quit protecting women’s right to health care for abortions. Health care costs for families in the United States are almost twice as much as all other United Nation countries.
The election season will start soon and the politicians will lean heavy on the family and the importance of the family. However if that politician is not addressing the families needs through policies their words are nothing more than lip service and the family doesn’t matter enough for the them to do work.
When something matters and is a priority we will find ways to make that something work.
My mom took me and my three sisters to church at young ages. In church we went to service Sunday school and bible study. Our church like many churches in the United States taught me and my sister dogma using the scriptures. As I grew up I mistook dogma for data and faith for fact. Later in life with other perspectives I was able to tease out some of the data and definitely understood that all of my Christian belief is faith not fact.
I have been down somewhat of a rabbit hole with consideration in Christian data versus dogma and wondered how did the dogma for the Christian religion become part of the Christian religion.
The rabbit hole lead me to a profession I never knew existed and that is a Christian ethicist. I stole this exert from the Wikipedia page concerning Christian Ethicists “Christian ethicists use reason, philosophy, natural law, the social sciences, and the Bible to formulate modern interpretations of those principles; Christian ethics applies to all areas of personal and societal ethics.”
So at the churches build a doctrine for their believers to live by and to a certain extent each induvial builds a doctrine to live by. We build our doctrine by learning, listening and should include loving family, friends and living sentient beings.
If you find yourself at a crossroads where your church’s doctrine demands you do something that is not loving (like condemn someone who is homosexual) perhaps it is time to rethink that doctrine.
The willingness to change one’s mind in the light of new evidence is a sign of rationality not weakness.
There is nothing wring with change. The big question for change, dogma. laws and actions, should be why.
Why do I believe this doctrine?
What good is this accomplishing?
Is it good?
One major ethical question is always how do I want to be in this world? That one is huge for me when it comes to religious doctrine. I never want to be someone who would hurt or harm or do anything but love others.
Most people, when directly confronted by evidence that they are wrong, do not change their point of view or course of action but justify it even more tenaciously. Even irrefutable evidence is rarely enough to pierce the mental armor of self-justification.
So my hope and prayer is this. I pray that me and all of humanity would be considerate of all life when they make moral and ethical decisions and doctrine.
Another day came with another conference and another speaker. This time the speaker was at the lectern promoting his office. He runs the organizations Project management office and when his organization completes a project there is not change but transformation.
The speaker wanted the listeners to be aware of this fact because, according to him change is different than transformation. If you are rolling your eyes right now then, we are kindred spirits.
The definition for the word transformation has the word change in it. I understand what the speaker was doing but, I think he could have used better words for this concept. The idea was that change can be fleeting but transformation is forever and all encompassing but see even this is not really true. The only reason transformation was all encompassing was that his office implemented procedures to make it that way.
The truth is we have to work at life and doing the best we can everyday. We cannot just make a few changes and transform into something wonderful or good
What’s tough is being good every day.
— Willie Mays
Knowing that change is not permanent brings with it good and bad news. Bad news is that you will always be an addict. People in recovery can attest to this fact. The idea of once an addict always an addict has little to do with science and more to do with a personality trait or an outlook on life.
Understanding that one can engage at anytime in addictive and destructive traits helps some people take some control of their day. For the one who believes they are always an addict everyday represents a choice and that is a pretty big source of power.
“Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful day of your life.”
There is very little that we can control however we can control us and our choices and when we do it will be hard (like everyday) but, with the right choices life can be and is beautiful
My feet are moving in a pattern that can best be described as the machine I am standing on and, that is elliptical. My feet are moving in an elliptical pattern. I am not moving through the earth but my imagination is soaring. In front of me on the elliptical I am looking at the kindle app on my Ipad.
One of my favorite things to do that I have made a habit is reading. I love to read books especially fiction ones. A good story can move us from where we are to an unknown world and I love that.
The idea of being sentient to me has become a barometer for life. If a form of life is sentient than I believe that is life worth protecting. It was this type of thinking that caused me to change my diet. Right now my family and I are eating plant based protein because of the fact that many of the animals used for protein are sentient beings.
There are strangely enough, many situations that you may find yourself in that require the need to define life and this definition I created for my self has helped me navigate.
“Do what you feel in your heart to be right — for you’ll be criticized anyway.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Cider House Rules, is a great movie and I watched the movie but did not read the book (I know shame on me, I do intend to read the book someday). The movie is a classic and should be watched by all. In the movie a young man learns that rules written by those in charge may work in theory but not application.
You are living your life and you should learn what is right and wrong for yourself and not really on others to tell you. Learning right from wrong for yourself is called ethics and it is confusing and hard sometimes and there is nothing wrong with seeking help, however at the end of the day you must decide what is right or wrong
I have started watching my new favorite tv show on DIsney +, Secret Invasion. I have to warn you now that, this post has one only one small spoiler. The tv show follows Nick Fury and Talos as they uncover a conspiracy plot to take over earth.
Talos is an alien and unbeknownst to Nick Fury allowed all Aliens from his home planet (which was destroyed) to come to earth. There is a great scene where Talos confesses to Nick Fury that he has requested his fellow refugees come to earth.
Nick Fury asks Talos what he was thinking. Talos confesses that he was hoping that the aliens and the humans could live in peace. Nick Fury let Talos know that this was probably not possible because humans could not even live in peace with each other.
This scene made me think about how humans have consistently chosen violence over peace.
There is a great article in the scientific journal concerning War and human nature. The major surprise from the article is that war or violence is not human nature. Basically complex societies seem to be the reason for the violence.
I always take issue when humans try to make themselves out to be more than they really are.
We ain’t nothing but mammals
Eminem
Humans are part of the animal kingdom. I was asked by someone why I choose to become a vegetarian and I answered them saying that I don’t see why a humans life should be considered more important than a cows or a chickens.
Society has tricked us into a hubris state bordering on solipsism. This selfish state has justified genocide lives and the destruction of our planet.
Lets start rejecting the lies of complex society today and embrace life.
My dad loves cars. I think that my dad loves driving fast in cars I mean who doesn’t. I have memories from growing, up of my dad working on cars and talking about cars. I remember my dad telling me that it was said that man could not go faster than 40 miles per hour. “People were afraid to go faster than 40, they wore goggles and they just knew that if they went faster than forty bad things would happen. then they went faster than forty and have broken the speed of sound. ” my dad.
So much has been accomplished and remains to be accomplished by humans and life throughout history that, I am inclined to believe nothing is impossible.
When someone tells you what they are going to do and it is big you can do a few things You can support that endeavor. You can ridicule the endeavor or you can watch the endeavor. Of the three options the first one provides the highest risk and teh most reward. The second is just mean and does nothing to make the world better and the third is literally nothing.
If you interact with anyone today try to remember that anything is possible.
So what is it going to be are you in? are you out? Are you just nothing?
“People who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it”
The Corrigan Encore 