306. "KNOW THYSELF" - Socrates

Know thyself

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Greekaphorism"know thyself" .

"The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates was born circa 470 BC, in Athens, Greece. We know of his life through the writings of his students, including Plato and Xenophon. His "Socratic method," laid the groundwork for Western systems of logic and philosophy.
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For most of us, life is a continuing quandary about trying to interpret who we think we are, or want to end up 'being.' Who do you know to be at peace with the world and themselves? Who do you know to be at perfect ease and seemingly in charge of the pressures of their surroundings? 

Go check it out. Likely very few, if any. 

For most, the pressures and demands of their surroundings way so heavily upon them that tendencies toward any individual expression ends up being stifled, often for mere fear of rejection. If you don't tow the line of 'acceptability' - by daring to voice opinions not towing the line of local acceptances, you are likely to pay the price; and it won't be pretty. So most don't even dare.

For those of us fortunate enough to live in a less oppressed environment, though the allowances to discover ourselves may be broader, every phase of growth brings its own and additional questions. 

What's it all about and what am I actually doing here? 

The 'meaning of life' remains a constant at any stage of self-development.   

So, in your assessments between subjectivity and objectivity, you encounter the continued challenge of WHAT to DO, or NOT to do! What would happen if I did 'such 'n such?' Would it be a positive, or could I end up paying for it? 

What is weakness? What is strength of character? To pick up a gun and lash out..... we see it globally happening on a daily basis, is clearly not the answer.  It merely indicates frustration and a lack of understanding of how those who have had greater 'wits' about them, have manipulated their societies to suit themselves.  

You either find peace from within your status quo existing environment,  or move away - if you are able to do so. 

Life's a trip, a voyage at best. For many borne in unfortunate circumstances, to Know Thyself is not even on the agenda. Day to day survival is the only objective.  

Surely it is up to those of us fortunate enough to be allowed the time of day to even entertain the self-indulgent opportunity to delve in the realms of self-discovery to find more meaningful alternative answers to the present mayhem that is presently running rampant amongst the species?     

305. Is 'Quitting' synonymous with 'Dying'?

VIEWS @ 20,934

'THEY' say that only those who do not quit - succeed. But here's the rub! Who are ......'THEY'?
and what is 'to succeed' anyway?

Babies sleep a lot ..... to digest all the things they see and hear that are new to them.
At the end of digesting their daily humdrum stuff, elders sleep a lot, preparing for their final sleep.
For most, there's nothing's new to them, since they are no longer asking questions.
Curiosity has killed the Cat inside them. This is just the way life is.

So in your trajectory towards the end, how do you know when it is time to quit rather than continuing to beat what is more and more becoming apparent to be - a clearly dead horse? When the dead horse is becoming the realization your ongoing problem to FIND,' then WORK with a suitable PHP Coder continues to feel like walking legless through a giant anthill.

Though you darn-well KNOW the present world is run by Left Brainers, your RIGHT brain, old age and lack of capital combined - to bribe the very best in to creating the vehicle you are so clearly envisioning - are simply not enough to get it done. You keep spinning your wheels swimming with the small fry.

Sorry Dude, nice try, but no cigar..... It was not to be YOU! At 43% your Timing was good this time, but at 24% your Team is plainly MISSING in someone else's action...!
Throw in the Towel... Acknowledge defeat.... It was not to be YOU!

How does anyone really know when enough is Enuff?

Is quitting synonymous with dying?

304. The vicious loop of various roles in humanity.

VIEWS@ 16114

'GOD' versus 'No Comments.' 

 Brilliant Article!  https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2018/06/29/Abolish-Political-Parties/


For many there is a 'God', that inexplicably undefined higher essence, needed for most to somehow make sense of who we are and what we are meant to be doing on earth, especially these times, when barraged by information,  inundated, we question our purpose and very reason for being.

Defined by their various religions, complimenting the embodiments of those higher beings, are interpretations of the highest, earthly, human representations.  Over the millennia these have taken on many differing forms. Identified by title and special costume-like robed garment, vocal tonality and role-positioning identify these greater-than-life individuals; their Pulpits creating added effect of angle and height. ...They literally look down their noses at us plebeians !

Whether in the fields of religion, justice, or other, they function at the zenith of our organized systems. In the legal system they happen to be the well-educated, Titled, Honourable Lords and Ladies who, while functioning their trade as immune judges, interpret and pronounce their verdict as they see fit. Right or wrong, there is little opportunity for success questioning them - as I have sadly discovered.

That realized, it needs to be acknowledged that ultimately power does corrupt. Many individuals positioned in a superior role don't have, what should be an the innate human ability to retain their true sense of value, humility, and empathy.  It seems to be that given extra powers over one's fellow beings inevitably leads to corruption.  All indicates that greed and stature ultimately reign over truth, ethics and justice.

..... where will we end?

303."You have more friends on Facebook than you think!"

STAT - VIEWS @ 20,760

We are all interested in different things - Thank God! Or, since I do not know who that deity is (supreme being/ divine entity/ creator of all things), maybe to rephrase:  We are all interested in different things - 'WONDERFUL!' - may be more suitable.

As a morphing species, with our high-tech gadgetry creeping in to run our very souls (I'm certainly participating; after all what am I doing at this very moment?) I am sure it is becoming harder to manifest any clear identity of character, especially for the younger generations, all who are raised with the Online-Connector in their hot little palms. Big Brother and Sister too are running the present real and up to the minute show, at least in the West.

However, with a background and character shaped long ago, at my age I have a set foundation to work from; a foundation that informs me when enough is enough when poking around on the machines that try to take me hither and tither, further away from the tactile soil that is ultimately our grounding. Also, surrounded by Nature (I literally live amongst the trees and critters) I am constantly reminded of the tactility and essence of life, as the various species rush about to exist.

Having run this Blog for some years now, I was motivated to upload a video  - for your viewing pleasure.... But! I went in to Google Forum help and got stuck.... all is too confusing, nothing is obvious to me; i.e. user-friendliness, from at least my perspective, is missing.   SO, NO video.

That's my reality! ... and every GOD-given day, I receive: "you have more friends on Facebook than you think."

So here's my take on that super shallow statement, the kind of 'announcement / notification that is helping to skew our vision towards any depth of meaning!

friend |frend| noun1 a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations.So here is my today's objective! OUT OUT OUT! .....with the in my daily Face ....Facebook.
(Be right back) .....

"Right back" has been several weeks now.....No apologies needed I presume.
Facebook is out of my life, and it feels a little better...
It's positive and good to have choices, and act upon them....

I have my off-spring (3) and a few close friends. With them there is no need to constantly explain.
The 'Friends' on Facebook are a HYPE and CON-job to motivate you to keep connecting with strangers. I do not need it.

302. When We Fall Apart...

STAT-VIEWS @ 20,700

Do we know who we really are? If so, are we content with our inner selves? Or, are we vulnerable to others' input, at times questioning our choices, our behaviour?  

As an outspoken individual I am constantly challenged by others who fault me for being 'me'. They show this in a variety of ways. Either there is no response at all (mostly) or there are signs of awkward hesitation. The western world does its best to lean towards the 'considerate' - polite response, while often hiding its true identity.

As a bird lover, feeding Humming birds their sugar-water hit (no ill effects I'm told, it's energy, not food) and supplying other song birds mostly a staple of sunflower seeds + a mixture of smaller seeds,  I notice birds being mostly nasty little critters - not a lot of 'sharing' there. "I'm here - so - F - Off!"

This clearly suggests that in our 'developed' world, as humans, with our acquired religions to suit our bewildered wonderings, when it comes to the nitty gritty world of 'being' an individual, there are all the tell-taling signs of: Color, Status, Gender, Religion, Origin etc...to tell us apart and pigeonhole.

How does one reach the stage of total acceptance? Is there even such a stage? ... I thought I had come close, until my neighbourhood 'folk' posed an issue about one local who had applied for a permit to run a gravel pit, with trucks, empty uphill, then full scuttling downhill our already badly maintained pot-holed gravel roads. The sheer practical madness of it. Still, better connected, higher politics may well allow the permit. The 'person' apparently has government connections.

The point is, how much can we absorb, without freaking out and falling apart ? Where does the need for more - stop? When is enough enough?
We, here, are fortunate in that we, as individuals in a free world, managed to interpret our personal niches.

Still, while living as neighbours on our various properties, there continue to be boundaries of allowances. When the collective feels those boundaries are being crossed, the fight is on!
When all are ignited to respond to the common circumstances, individual idiosyncrasies of character are forced out of the closet, and not all is copacetic. (Israel v. Palestine > and the myriad rest of it....)

We realize (at least I do) that we are all hypocrites, even in the so-called FREE world. As long as each is allowed their own implementations of whatever they want, all is dandy. However, let someone suggest a wanted business that feels obnoxious by potentially affecting others negatively...  woe-NELLY, then, the buck stops there!

Then the 'gathering of the clan' sets in. For 'The Greater Good' you will 'give in' and seek to negotiate with your not so pleasant neighbour to achieve to STOP a greater dislike from becoming a reality.  And in the doing, in order to discover who is on board and comes from what angle, we are prepared to be swayed away from our former principles.

Thus we realize (at least I do) that we are all hypocrites....

301. To my 'ZERO' ('O') FOLLOWERS....

Stat-views @ 20,623

Hello Russia (Its many parts) ; Hello North America - both Upper (Canada and its provinces) and Lower (USA and its States) ; Hello Zero 'Followers:'
(see below stat)...



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follower |ˈfälōər| noun1 an adherent or devotee of a particular person, cause, or activity: a freethinker and follower of Voltaire.• someone who is tracking a particular person, group, organization, etc. on a social media website or application:she remains an immensely divisive figure, but she has a million followers on Facebook.====================================================================
 (Shakespeare)  Romeo and Juliet: Act II, scene 2:  "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet" 
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SO! To clearly understand - while my 'Mother-Tongue' was Dutch, not English, I constantly check the actual, given, definitions of many of the words I use; at times to realize I have a completely wrong idea of their actual meaning. Then, it's 'WHOOPS' good thing I caught myself, thank you Dictionary (or Google - 'GOD')

This then takes me to our general and Global world, of 'Communication'.

Watching the News of late, I am beginning to question?  Is freedom of 'Thought and Speech' leading us to chaos?
Present Statistics are showing democracies are failing; that it 'appears' there is a returning movement towards the 'acceptance' of what can only be interpreted as 'Dictatorship,' with its obliging 'Police State' controlling the masses. ..... You do the Math, Zero Follower!

Below is a scenario that's unfolding in our small Community. A neighbour is wanting to create an open pit sand and gravel mine (a Quarry) in our quiet neighbourhood. The 'person' (individual) feels to be communicating with us all in a most open, honest and caring way. The 'others' do not agree. So each of us feels entitled to our interpretations, holding the 'other' to be responsible.

At an earlier point I publicly commented (as did others) by responding to the text in a flyer the person had circulated through the community. The 'person' responded, indicating I had 'threatened' them. Though 'others' felt I had not. Today I was motivated to send out another response.  To retain personal safety, here's my somewhat 'adjusted text' between my own, and certain quotes from the other party.

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Hello Neighbours: 

Like most of us, I have spent a lot of TIME trying to digest, then interpret, then communicate the "different perspectives and different needs" by the many individuals who both live in the neighbourhood and our greater community. 

And 'YES' every individual digests information in their own inimitable way. Each of us INTERPRETS the same presented text in their own personally idiosyncratic manner. This then can either become 'a beautiful and differing way of viewing life,' or, as 'X' states below:  

Our (...) farm boundary was 100 feet from that active open pit mine at (...)  It was a living nightmare. 

Because I cared, I took pains to try and understand "X', and sojourned to interpret the very text in "X's' FLYER. I took pains to read and re-read my responses, wanting to make certain I was being FAIR in my assessments and comprehension of 'X's' very words. Like 'X's' words: "farm boundary" (versus our quiet, rural (...) neighbourhood); "100 feet from that active open pit mine at .(....)"; "a living nightmare."     

TIME has since indicated that ultimately, all is 'In the eye of the beholder.' Some agreed I was not accusing and or 'threatening,' while 'X' felt I had been. 

All goes to prove, that although we use the same words (and this language is called: English) being subjective by nature, each of us interprets the same text rendered - very differently. We use the same words, have the same concerns, the same realities, are in the the same circumstances, and YET, we are often not aware of what we are saying, or for that matter, maybe not even really know who we truly are, by failing to realize that in the end we might all be much the SAME?! .... 

This then is what creates the stalemate, and makes communication and TRUST 'neigh'- bourly impossible. :)

So! WHY this email?.... After I had indicated I was 'done' with my public input. 

I have become a big fan of the online TV series: TED.COM

Last night I watched the below entry (some 10 minutes long) and, hoping it can, and WILL do something positive, I am motivated to send us all its link:

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How to build (and rebuild) trust (Frances Frei | TED2018)

https://ted.com/talks/frances_frei_how_to_build_and_rebuild_trust?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tedspread

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So, again, dear 'Zero Followers' - from wherever you are? Or NOT are, being or not reading this. ...

Life is constantly unfolding: Here to-day/ GONE to-morrow. 

Once up-on-a-time a Dictatorship, Oligarchy, Police State or Capitalist Democracy, with some fairness but much hypocrisy and pretence, while being taken advantage of, or gassed, killed, or raped, burned at the stakes or plundered, what's REAL?  What is acceptable? What are we bothering to be? 

Maybe a Benevolent Dictatorship? If ever just the RIGHT individual could be found? ... an ALIEN who's been there - DONE that maybe? .... Are you still out there E.T?'  

No matter how righteous and all-caring, WE the Earthlings are in trouble......we are messing up badly.......we need you.... Surely we are in need of SOMETHING!

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300. RE: The Theatre > Theater > of LIFE!

STATVIEWS @ 20, 566


Getting silly in my old age? ....

There are, to me, a number of intriguing 'THINGS' unfolding amongst this, our ....general....
Human  RACE!  .... I stop, to comprehend...   RIGHT there! The word "RACE"  ??
..... read its 'definition'......I get the 'competition' part of it.

race 1 |rās| noun1 a competition between runners, horses, vehicles, boats, etc., to see which is the fastest in covering a set course: I won the first 50-lap race.• (the races) a series of races for horses or dogs, held at a fixed time on a set course.• [ in sing. ] a situation in which individuals or groups compete to be first to achieve a particular objective: the race for nuclear power.• archaic the course of the sun or moon through the heavens.2 a strong or rapid current flowing through a narrow channel in the sea or a river: angling for tuna in turbulent tidal races.3 a groove, channel, or passage, in particular:• a water channel, especially one built to lead water to or from a point where its energy is utilized, as in a mill or mine. See also millrace.• a smooth, ring-shaped groove or guide in which a ball bearing or roller bearing runs.verb1 [ no obj. ] compete with another or others to see who is fastest at covering a set course or achieving an objective: the vet took blood samples from the horses before they raced | [ with obj. ] :  attorneys have to think twice before they race each other to the courthouse.====================================================================
human racenoun (the human race) human beings in general; humankind: trees are vital to the survival of the human race.====================================================================

OBSERVATIONS

Human beings in 'general?' Where's the bit about differentiating between the various 'RACES?'   QUESTION?  Somebody explain to me; PLEASE ?  WHO? firsts coined this word ?

'RACE'  

Perplexed, I look at several of the other definitions, like:

• archaic the course of the sun or moon through the heavens.- I did NOT know the "course of the sun or moon through the heavens" is called a 'RACE!'2 a strong or rapid current flowing through a narrow channel in the sea or a river: angling for tuna in turbulent tidal races.- "turbulent tidal races" ???  never heard of it before!3 a groove, channel, or passage, in particular:• a water channel, especially one built to lead water to or from a point where its energy is utilized, as in a mill or mine. See also millrace.• a smooth, ring-shaped groove or guide in which a ball bearing or roller bearing runs.

- None of the above derivative meanings / 'explanations'/ 'definitions'  I have EVER heard of! 
So, WAKE UP, my friend! ....I say to myself...:).
- Was it Aristotle? who said? "The more I know, the more I know how little I know?"


Aristotle |ˈerəstädl| (384–322 bc ), Greek philosopher and scientist. A student of Plato and tutor to Alexander the Great, he founded a school(the Lyceum) outside Athens. He is one of the most influentialthinkers in the history of Western thought. His surviving works cover a vast range of subjects, including logic, ethics, metaphysics, politics, natural science, and physics.

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....and then there is / (was?) the 107 year old man my friend met at a New York PARTY?!
107 years old and he's at a PARTY?.... I may have mentioned him in an earlier posting.
So the friend introduces himself to the fella, and asks him 'How do you do it?' and the fella responds:
"Well, ....good genes help (not 'jeans':)... BUT! .....When you wake up......You still got to be 'curious'..... "

Presently at 79, and still in pretty  good shape (says I) I actually do not think I've got another 20 + years in me. I discovered 'TED.com' a while back, and really enjoy many of their informative talks. One was about 'Cancer' .... and the speaker, opinioning on it, argues, quite sensibly, the word 'Cancer' should be used as a 'verb' instead of a 'noun'.

That whatever 'Cancer' you may be suffering from, is, in fact, an 'ongoing' process. You were fine before.... your immune system was keeping the runnings of your body under control. But then something went awry, and you began 'Cancering.'

I have just started working online with a friend and former film partner of mine. He is completing a musical while going through chemo, suffering from a nasty Cancer. For whatever TIME he has remaining in this life, working with him on this project at least allows for part of his existence to be somewhat of a positive diversion to his pains and stresses. ...

SPRING is doing its very best to kick in on the Wet-Coast...Today is another SUNNY Day, with the birds and the BEES (whatever's left of them) doing their crucial pollinating.

All the while. the 'Human Race' keeps multiplying, spreading their garbage hither and thither...
It ain't looking pretty's all I can say...

CU in a bit...