Archive for May 2010
Fresh Perspective
It is such a plus to maintain an openness to new perspectives. Whatever the human inclination is that drives us to become closed-minded about the world we inhabit, we sacrifice a richness of experience when we allow limitations of thought to constrain us.
There are so many things that I don’t know about computing and navigating the cutting edge of technology, but that my son has knowledge and experience with. I learn something every time I watch him in action.
One vivid example that comes to mind is when I first got my MacBook Pro with its trackpad that featured two finger scroll navigation. Julian asked me why I wasn’t using the two finger scroll. Quite frankly, it was because I had never needed it before to navigate. I was using the new computer the same way I had navigated on my previous computer. It worked just fine., …until I was exposed to the convenient two finger scroll. With Julian’s simple query, I was prompted to give it a try, and I was immediately hooked by two finger scrolling.
Now I feel severely handicapped when I find myself computing on a machine that doesn’t have this feature to offer. Thank you, Julian, for continuing to enlighten me about everything you discover, especially since I only seem to retain a fraction of what you offer. I always consider myself in debt to you for the nudge, questioning me about my not taking full advantage of that trackpad.
Last night I enjoyed the pleasure of hanging out with 3 of my siblings at an impromptu pizza party –no, it wasn’t Brianno’s, they are closed on Mondays– and we did some computing on my sister’s laptop. Twice, Judy noticed something I did that was new to her. (Don’t forget, hold down the “alt” key and then press “tab” to navigate among the windows or applications that you have open concurrently.) Was she apathetic about the different ways I navigate? No! She became excited to see a new way to use her computer. What a wonderful thing it is to practice an open mind.
I experienced another new perspective yesterday, unrelated to computing. All the way back to when I was in about 9th grade in school and I decided I’d seen enough bad social behavior to never want to be a part of it anymore, I figured the trick I wanted to practice was, be the same person in every possible situation in life. I’ve tried to follow that guideline pretty much ever since, with varying levels of success. I’m not aware that I have managed to gain new insight when it wasn’t working out so well for me, but now I think I see some subtlety that I was overlooking before.
I read something about code switching that struck a chord with me. The term is used often in linguistics and refers to communicating in more than one language. In my case, it was making sense in more of a multi-cultural sense. Even if I desired to keep up a constant persona in all situations –as an attempt to diminish the opportunity for hypocrisy– it would not be right to communicate with others in the same way when I was at an informal event like a friendly party, as compared to a formal event like a funeral or legal hearing. My behavior and verbal communication will switch to a certain degree for different social situations.
The noble goal of always being the same person, no matter what, still involves mastering some level of nuance for best overall healthy participation with others. Between overhearing what I felt was some insensitive dialogue in a multi-cultural workplace and then my seeing the reference to code switching, I gained a fresh perspective on something I have tried to practice, but hadn’t been giving much thought toward for some time.
A couple of different examples of what I feel are both benefits of practicing an openness to new perspectives.
Monday, Monday
Another Monday arrives right on schedule. How come it feels like it has arrived too soon?
Today, it is quite possible that nothing dramatic will occur. It is also possible that something cataclysmic might happen. More likely, it will be a lot of mini-dramas that play out, just like most every day.
There is a little part of me that wants for something out of the ordinary to break up the routine, but there is a lot more of me that regrets every time that thought comes around. Be careful what you wish for. I try to be grateful for every normal day that I have the luxury of enjoying. It’s ironic that normal can engender it’s own sort of unrest, isn’t it?
Here’s hoping this Monday is wonderfully free of unwanted drama, and no less adventurous as a result.
Here’s to Mom
On this day of recognizing our mothers, my siblings and I do so by honoring the memory of our mother, Betty Hays. She was the main-mast of our family ship. 
She did the role of mom with humble, matter-of-fact mastery. I’m pretty sure that she liked me best, but she was very good at letting us each believe that about our standing, revealed in our ongoing ribbing to claim the title outright, publicly, even though she is no longer with us.
Just like so many others will on this day, I claim that my mother is the best mother of all! And the blessing is, we will all be right!
Happy Mother’s Day to all moms out there today, and to all those lucky souls who love them.
Exhibit A; Submited by my sister, Mary.
God Have Mercy
.
don’t, don’t
utter the phrase
that shrieks like fingernails
scratching the chalk board
don’t waste the energy
of hurting our ears
with unbelievable ideas
even ones you actually believe
…there’s no shame
in learning
how wrong you’ve been
since that time you were only 5
feeling free to be happy
with life
before discovering
the art of being hate-filled
claiming to know
who deserves to be alive
but look how far you’ve come
won’t all your ancestors be proud
you’ve taken on their secreted sickness
blithely blathering its venom
out loud
.
New Growth
New buds offer inspiration that feels a lot like hope. Green growth blossoms forth in effortless explosions of stored energy released to reach out for the sunshine, singing glorious greetings to the world. The momentum of changing seasons is revealed in the annual expanding branches of our glorious air scrubbing trees.
Never Mind the Odds
Saving the world from itself is thankless work. It is especially so when the world is entirely disinterested in being saved. Oh, there are people who prove to be exceptions. There always are. By definition, they are in the minority. That leaves the masses of woeful individuals that combine to become the rest of the disinterested world. It is a good thing that positive energy is just as contagious as negative. Amid the gloom and doom of the struggling souls of the world, there are special people who have chosen the brilliant path of hope. It is revealed in the sparkling gleam of their eyes and their ability to smile when everything around remains gray. They demonstrate good humor, a humble nature, and manners that exceed reasonable expectations. They are precious and as refreshing as cool water on a hot day. If only they understood the depth of blessings their choices shower on others, employing their remarkable energy as a means to save themselves from the grim realities that surround them, oblivious to the unintended benefit their attitude bestows on the people lucky to be in close enough proximity to feel the unexpected glow. They deserve to know.
I want to come up with a way to acknowledge people like this that inspire me. I want to remember to thank them. They are bucking the odds in an all too often thankless world. I want their gleam to be successfully contagious, especially in the face of opposition that is entirely disinterested. Never mind the odds.
Train of Thought
How would you know if today was your only chance to make a split-second decision, like the ones in a television drama, that would make some critical difference in another person’s life? It seems to happen every hour on TV. Have you ever stopped to ponder how often it happens in real life?
I wonder if anyone who reads this will remember a time when there was no such word as “television.” Think about how many things in our everyday lives are described by words that have been created in our lifetimes. Words for things become accepted as universal with very little fanfare. Each year there is a little tidbit in the news that announces new words officially added to one dictionary or another.
I’m pretty sure that the day I was born, my parents never could have pictured the gadgets that I would be using by the time I was 50. I doubt my father or mother would have imagined that when my children were born I would be in the delivery room with Cyndie to cut the umbilical cord. Imagine what the differences will be in 50 years for someone born today.
It is interesting, from the perspective of the year 2010, to see the once outlandish visions of the future that were broadcast on television programs like, “Lost in Space” or “The Jetsons” and that have yet to be achieved. Compare them to some of the devices like cell phones or GPS navigators that seem like they are right out of a “Star Trek” episode.
The first time some movie about the concept of ‘reality TV’ was released (EDtv or The Truman Show), it seemed like such far-fetched ridiculousness that the movies were almost laughable. Reality has really lived up to that fiction, hasn’t it? The odd thing is, as producers continually push to capture the next crazy thing that really happens in the world, the content turns out to be so extremely outrageous it appears unbelievable. We figure they are making it up. We find reality hard to believe. In order to seem credible, they need to create fictional situations that aren’t so extreme, in order for audiences to accept them as plausible.
How is it that we are supposed to believe that characters on ‘reality’ programming aren’t actors? Any regular person who is not acting would notice and look toward a guy standing next to them holding a big video camera. I’m looking forward to the next program in this sequence. One that focuses on the camera person who records activity for the ‘reality’ shows. We need a camera following around the camera person who follows the subjects of the ‘reality’ shows.
Watch out for your opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life today. This might be the day.
No Dodging the Dr.
As much as I’d like to focus on the positive of striving for optimal health, my attention of late is uncontrollably dominated by my suffering lungs. The other day at work, someone asked me if I would like a cough drop. My reply: “No, thank you. What I would like is another set of lungs.”
Over the weekend I decided to return to the twice daily dose of controller medication that I stopped using about a year ago. The inhaler comes in 1-month doses. Since I don’t know how much is left in the one I have from last year, Cyndie checked with the local pharmacy to see if the prescription still allowed automatic renewal, or whether I would need a new prescription from the doctor. First, we needed to wait till the weekend was over for an answer, then it took all day yesterday to learn the good news and the not as good news.
My Doc authorized a new prescription! But he only allowed this one dose, with no refill. Plus, he requires that I come in for a complete checkup since I never returned for a follow-up to my pre-trek physical in 2008. He requires that I come in today! Twelve-hour fast required and I need to arrive 30 minutes early to fill out an extensive 6-page survey. Oops. I guess that is what I get for neglecting to proactively schedule myself for that follow-up doctor appointment.
I failed to see the value at the time. I was back from my trip and I felt just fine. No need to take up his time when I have no needs. Plus, with my rogue decision to stop using the drugs that I’d been prescribed, I wasn’t being the best behaved patient, either. I’d already made a choice to take responsibility for my own treatment plan. Now that I’m again interested in a little support from my health care provider, I must play by their rules.
John: “Doc, it hurts when I do this.”
Doc: “Don’t do that.”
John: “Doc, my asthma is kickin’ my butt lately!”
Doc: “Take your meds, John.”
My goal is to get out of there without him finding something else wrong. Last time I saw him, he came up with several things to warn me about. I need to help him focus on all of my features that are still working the way they were designed to work.
The next trick will be finding where the heck the paperwork is for the warranty on my lungs. They definitely aren’t behaving properly.
Good Advice
Quite a dinner party last night. It kept me up way past bedtime and tossed my usual routine into disarray. Heard enough sorrowful stories about a sorry situation in someone else’s workplace to make mine seem much more appealing this Monday morning. As much fun as it was, I am left short on hours of sleep and words to write. Even though I think we solved a few of the world’s problems last night, I didn’t come away with any pithy statement to lay on you all here, and I’m not clear headed enough to create one of my own right now.
So, move along then. There’s nothing to see here. Just don’t lose sight of what’s important, avoid buying a pig in a poke, be careful out there and remember to smile, even when you aren’t aware of anything to be smiling about. For all we know, this moment could be the best one for the rest of our lives. Stop and notice how good the roses smell. Don’t take a wooden nickel and tell your family that you love them. Help out a stranger in need when you see one and start a chain of paying good deeds forward. Say a good word about someone you have been in conflict with and be proud enough to humbly apologize when it is the prudent thing to do.
Most important, make sure to get to sleep at a decent hour. It is the first key to having the fortitude the next day to heed all the advice offered above.
Eventually
.
why oh why
with all that I try
to see, be, say and do
must the peace that I seek
wander so far away
toward things I never listened for before
while the peace that I keep
and which dwells in me deep
knows too well
everything’s swell
until eventually someone gets hurt
.
Relative Something 
