Posts Tagged ‘Perceptions’
It’s Relative
Let me just point out that, upon reading about Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings (BLBT), also called Finely Textured Beef (FTB), ( article about trying to find ‘pink-slime’-free beef ) which the United States Department of Agriculture says is safe to eat, because it has been sprayed with ammonia gas to kill germs, but which comes mostly from connective tissue, not muscle meat, low-grade trimmings from the parts of the cow most susceptible to contamination, often close to the hide, which is highly exposed to fecal matter, I am pining for the good old days when life was simpler.
I would prefer we gain the technological advances like polio vaccines and penicillin, and knowledge about the hazards of things like lead, mercury, and asbestos, but leave out messing with food production to find ways to process it into less and less recognizable “conveniences.” Much as I love a bowl of cereal and milk for breakfast, I’m thinking a simple apple might be advisable (a nod to a friend there…). What do they do to the corn, oats, wheat, and rice to turn it into the shapes that ultimately end up in my bowl?
On the grand scale of things, I could be concerned about the attention going toward the viral campaign to arrest brutal Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, or I could become focused on the fact that it is not balanced with more pressing immediate needs of helping refugees. Or, I could fritter away my time, tending to the removal of old wallpaper in my home. Challenges are relative.
On that note, you really should take a look at the wonderful reference of scale provided by htwins.net. Scale of the Universe. It’s all relative.
Change Happening
I’m contemplating the relativity of fast, and slow. Change feels like it is picking up some momentum around my living quarters lately. At the same time, the process of preparing the house for actually showing to shoppers will take weeks that could turn into months. The process of selling the house could drag on for months. Actually closing on the purchase, when a buyer commits, will likely be another month or two. Who knows how long it might take to find a horse property that wins our hearts and fits our bank account?
Thinking like that helps drive me to get going! If I don’t get some progress in motion right away, those accumulated months will just keep landing farther and farther away.
Regardless, I feel like things are happening fast. I have a meeting at the house this afternoon with a friend whose company can do drywall finishing to finally clean up the holes punched in our ceilings during last fall’s insulating project. We also have some seams that need fixing, and a fair amount of nicks and dings in walls. After all the drywall is fixed, work moves on to the painting. The last step will be carpets, in any rooms where I am unable to convince Cyndie otherwise.
I’ve disassembled our electric piano for Elysa to pick up this weekend. I have removed an old television from the wall-hanger in our bedroom and will be passing that on to someone at work who offered to find it a good home.
Last night I was looking for manuals to put with the piano and television and was amazed to see how many manuals we still have in our files for items that are long gone. I should say, “still had” because they’re in the recycle bin now! It feels especially good to be making progress on de-cluttering.
Took some steps related to a name Cyndie and I are considering using for our new property.
Feels like things are happening fast! Sort of.
Meanwhile, we don’t know if Cyndie will be working in Boston for a short time, or a long time. She is due home for another visit in just a week and a half, so we’ll see if all the changes I accomplish by then have an impact that motivates her in any direction.
Some Thoughts
How about some spontaneous Sunday morning thoughts? A post of very little forethought.
I find myself a bit hesitant to go on and on about the impact of living alone. I am aware of people who have lived alone for much longer than me, and whose likelihood of that status changing is nothing like mine, and it gives me an impression that my perspectives on the topic might come across as disrespectful to them. I fully expect to be reunited with Cyndie, so my living alone is a temporary situation. Nonetheless, I am increasingly feeling the impact, the ambiance and nuances, of living alone. This will definitely provide me a deeper appreciation for the experience of others who live by themselves, which I hope I remember long after Cyndie returns back home again.
This weekend, I am getting a remote dose of family energy over FaceTime visits with Cyndie because Elysa is there in Boston for a weekend visit. I do get a beneficial buzz of connection, even though they are there together and I am here alone. It may be aided by my knowledge that Cyndie will be home to visit as soon as the end of this coming week. Just thinking about her being here in a matter of days is energizing. It doesn’t hurt that it also means I will only work a 4-day week, because I have taken Friday off to maximize our time together during this brief, 3-day visit.
With winter weather taking it easy on us this year, I’ve got no snow-related activities underway. Today is predicted to be sunny and warm. I plan to do a little bicycling. It just so happens to be one activity that I do without Cyndie, whether she is home or not. What will be missing is the part where I get home and tell her stories from my adventure and grovel for some comfort in the way of a meal or a massage of aching muscles.
I guess living alone is what’s on my mind this morning, don’t you think?
It’s not all bad! I’m enjoying the heck out of the good parts. Off to seize the solo day!
Food Fits
In my ongoing quest for optimal health, it is only logical that I need to choose a healthy diet. I have been lucky for most of my life to have had the freedom to make menu selections with reckless abandon. I’ve never reacted with any food allergies, and I’m not very persnickety about what goes into the food I eat. I have long practiced sparse usage of butter and salt at the table. I don’t like carbonated drinks, so I rarely drink soda pop. I don’t like coffee, so I don’t get much in the way of caffeine. That gives me a head start over plenty of Americans who have fallen into a pattern of poor choices in their daily diet.
My primary struggle, I thought, was with my penchant for sweet things.
Earlier this month, news reports revealed that scientists are suggesting sugar is toxic and should be taxed and regulated like tobacco and alcohol.
Americans consume on average more than 600 calories per day from added sugar, equivalent to a whopping 40 teaspoons.
Ouch.
But it got worse for me. That report was followed by another, this time from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released about a week later, revealing the top 10 hidden sources of sodium in the American diet.
About 90% of Americans eat more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet. …Americans eat on average about 3,300 mg of sodium a day. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend limiting sodium to less than 2,300 mg a day, and about 6 out of 10 adults should further limit sodium to 1,500 mg a day.
Guilty. I was aware that I probably was ingesting more salt than I should, in addition to the sweets. What I didn’t realize was that the primary source of sodium wasn’t coming from the salty snacks on which I love to munch. Check out the link to the hidden sources. Bread and rolls are the number 1 source for salt in the American diet! Potato chips, pretzels, and popcorn are way down at the bottom of the 10-worst list.
I have explained before that when I cut down on sweets, I tend to switch to eating more breads. It seems I’ve been moving from one ill to another.
Last week, I finally buckled down and actually read some food labels in an effort to witness this excess of sodium I’m eating. Shocking, I tell you. Shocking! First of all, I discovered that a serving size for bread is one slice. So with every sandwich I make, I’m eating a double serving? I guess my sandwiches are supposed to be open faced. If bread is so loaded with sodium, why the heck doesn’t it taste salty!?
Then I peeked at some cookies a friend gave me. Serving size: 2 cookies, sodium: 120mg. That’s 5% of the recommended daily allowance, right there. But these cookies are really, really good. Irresistibly good. I ate 6. That’s 360mg of sodium. They sure didn’t taste salty. Too bad that I was eating these as a chaser for my main course of pizza… number 3 on the evil list.
Next I looked at the boxes of cereal in my cupboard. They are all lined up so I can easily compare and most appear to be in a range from the best of 60mg (Shredded Wheat) up to 200mg. Then comes my long-time favorite, 100% natural, whole grain wheat with barley, Post Grape-Nuts at a whopping 12% of my daily sodium, 290mg.
I looked closer. The majority of those cereals define their serving size at 1 Cup, but a few switch to 3/4 Cup just to make it interesting. Then comes good ol’ Grape-Nuts. That heaviest dose of sodium is coming from the smallest serving size of 1/2 Cup! I’m pretty sure I’ve been getting about 25% of my daily sodium every time I eat those crunchy nuggets of goodness.
If I’m going to get that much sodium, I would prefer that it taste salty to fulfill that craving. Pass me the Cheez-Its. This healthy diet thing is going to be a struggle.
Random Thoughts
Can it be called stalking if you are married?
Funny or fantastic things are funnier or more fantastic when you have someone to share them with.
Why won’t she answer?
Jigsaw puzzles become incredibly more difficult to assemble after eyesight no longer focuses short distances.
Back in the 1800s, when February temperatures climbed 20° above freezing in this area, did people worry about global warming?
I wonder if Bradying will become the craze that Tebowing was.
How many text messages is too many when not receiving a reply?
How much can you tell about a person from what they wonder about?
Do drivers who don’t use turn signals to indicate their plan to turn ever get bugged by drivers in front of them who don’t use turn signals?
Is it possible to discern what the last thought is before falling asleep?
How do I know when its just a thought, and not the first dream of my night’s sleep?
Some men would love to have 4-days of the silent treatment from their wives.
Is there an age limit for having imaginary friends?
Was it possible to misspell things when taking dictation using “shorthand?”
What makes a person suddenly think of “shorthand” when they haven’t had a thought about it in decades?
If you don’t think about something, are you less inclined to miss it?
Random doesn’t mean there won’t be a theme.
If you don’t have anything nice to think, don’t think anything at all.
Two can play at this game.
If two are playing this game, how would you know they are both playing?
Why won’t she answer my calls?
Join Me
Now it is November. The world’s populations has reached 7 billion people strong, with probably too many of those people thinking we are all in a handbasket on the expressway to eternal doom and gloom. But a little skepticism about our situation would appear justified.
There is just no denying the importance of perspective, in reference to the outlook most folks have regarding the status of our growing population. Compare how two people would parse the milestone of earth’s population reaching 7 billion, if one were from the most densely populated cities of India or the Philippines, as compared to the least dense regions of remote Mongolia or Australia.
In my situation, I am aware there are more people than ever before, (even though my household is now made up of less people than ever before), most often, as a result of the amount of automobile traffic on my usual routes. However, I still enjoy the space of living that allows me to survive mostly oblivious to the long simmering, and continuously growing threat of over-population of our planet.
To me, the most extreme, yet obvious, way of presenting the reality of population growth is by a graph that depicts the number of people over time. If a person were to measure the precariousness of our situation based on the logic that we have adapted thus far, the graph is a great way to present the lunacy of assuming our brilliant adaptation over the last hundred years will apply to the next hundred.
Just like the exercise of repeatedly doubling a sum: 1 + 1 = 2; 2 + 2 = 4; then 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, etc. – …a line-graph of the results looks relatively flat for the first portion, but eventually takes a dramatic upturn. Nothing can ever be the same as it once was.
At the rate things are changing, making plans for events happening in the present, based on comparison to a same such event just one year ago, is becoming an unreliable reference. I know it frustrates those who pine for things to return to the way they used to be. Of course, that really only applies to those who were privileged enough to be in a dominant group, enjoying the fruits of success at the expense of others. Those who have endured years of discrimination share no similar desire to return to “the good ol’ days.”
I don’t expect this November to be the same as all my Novembers before, but I am growing less pessimistic with time, and I sense plenty of reasons to visualize the handbasket that I am in, as headed for wonderful things, with an added bonus of including more people than ever before. Feel free to climb aboard and join me!
Pondering Perceptions
I am more wealthy than most of the people in the world, yet I am so far away from the top 1% of wealth that I completely understand the perspective that is driving the multitudes who are protesting “income inequality, economic disadvantage and the overwhelming power they say is controlled by the top 1 percent.” [Occupy Wall Street Protest: As Movement Spreads, a Message Evolves ]
May their protestations prove influential in a way that brings about increasing equity in the financial situation of the masses. Will I live long enough for that?
Concurrently, the passing of Steve Jobs is inspiring an abundance of emotional nostalgia for the products he brought to the marketplace. I am a fan from the very beginning. I have used almost every Apple product. I am happy to see the outpouring of attention for everything Steve Jobs accomplished in his life. But once again, as I so often do, I find myself intrigued by the attention that springs forth at the time of a death.
On Monday, nobody was waxing nostalgic for their original Macintosh computer. Today, there are images of those early machines showing up in the news, and all over tribute postings online. At the beginning of the week, who was thinking about how much influence Steve Jobs had in their lives? Now, Steve is dead. His influence on us hasn’t changed yet, but people’s perception sure has.
Will I miss him? I don’t know. I never knew him personally, so I doubt it. Will I miss his influence on the products I love? Possibly, but that will take a long time to manifest, I expect. He was a man who accomplished amazing things. His passing doesn’t alter how I perceive that.
I am moved to wonder, what person, whom has dramatically influenced us for years, though is still alive, are we totally overlooking right now? As soon as he or she dies, we can focus anew on the depth of our appreciation for all we have gained from that person.
Fully Conscious
Yesterday afternoon, Cyndie took me along on a visit to the stables where she has been helping a friend look after horses. It was an absolutely beautiful autumn day that defied the month of October with temperatures in the 80s. The unseasonable heat seemed to put the horses in a bit of an ornery mood. The dryness of the fall minimizes the amount of green turf available for grazing, so they have plenty of excuse to feel ornery.
I quickly became reminded of my limited experience around horses, especially groups of them. Our visit served to be a very clear demonstration for me of the simple lesson that is the cornerstone of the process Cyndie is learning: being fully conscious of yourself when interacting with horses, and being fully aware of the present moment. Horses are not satisfied with anything less.
I was describing to Cyndie how awkward I felt, trying to temper my normal quirkiness. I tend to react spontaneously, often with quick movements. I even used the word, “unconscious” to describe my usual mode of behavior. I didn’t want to startle the horses, so I had to control my urge to make unintentional movements. It is a great exercise for me, both mentally and physically.
We tossed out some hay and filled water troughs. Then Cyndie moved two horses out of the hot sun and into the coolness of the stable. Twice I witnessed how the animals approach Cyndie and make themselves heard. She said one horse was angry there wasn’t anything to eat. Even I could read his message. His direct approach. The way he stomped his feet. He was definitely telling her how he felt.
The second time was just as we were getting back in the car to leave. A horse made a very obvious and deliberate effort to hustle up to the fence by the car. I asked Cyndie if he wanted to tell her something. She walked over to the fence. I saw Cyndie bend over and look at his legs. It was quite something to witness, because it really did look like a conversation. And then, as soon as it was clear she got the message, he headed off to whatever he was doing before, leaving her standing alone at the fence.
Cyndie said that he had a sore on his leg. I asked how she knew to look at his leg and she said, “Because he showed it to me. He pointed at it with his other foot.” I don’t know what I was looking at, but I missed that message altogether. It did look very much like a conversation, as a whole, however.
Her stint in Boston is going to feel like a very long time to me, I think.
Altered Perspective
Nothing is ever really as hard as we make it out to be. It is remarkable, the mental power we have to influence how realities play out. If I think that some task is difficult, and I keep repeating that message to myself, it seems only logical that the perception I develop is bound to make the task more onerous than it would otherwise be. Especially as compared the choosing to entirely refrain from telling myself anything negative, and forging ahead without hesitation to tend to the task at hand, regardless the challenge it presents.
I spent the majority of my life under the duress of a negative perspective. It is a complex collaboration of insecurity and dysfunctional thinking that conjures up a belief that this is a sound and logical manner of reasoning. Yet it is the kind of thing that one defends with stubborn resolve. It is such a misguided effort.
Nothing is as bad as it seems. The pains we cling to, the wrongs that we have experienced, are ours to release at any time. It is absolutely possible to give them up in an instant. Both Cyndie and I have learned to do this. In time, it is possible to become aware enough to avoid even taking on certain mental burdens in the first place. It is something that I wish I had learned to do much earlier in my life.
It was never as hard as I perceived it to be.
Flying Time
This morning dawned as my final day at the lake after a week of vacation. The weather is just about as perfect as it could possibly be, just like the day before, and the day before that. In fact, the entire previous week has been divine, even with a couple of thunder showers tossed in. For whatever brilliant reason out of the mysteries of psychological behavior, I found myself, twice, waking from a dream about a past workplace. That sure felt like a stab at my attempts to completely dissociate from work during my time off. Maybe that was my mind attempting to purge work from my thoughts, by doing so while I was sleeping. Thanks, anyway.
One project that I resumed during the week was sculpting the wood bracelet I am making for Cyndie. I tend to work meticulously slow, and that gives me ample time to enjoy the transformation from a chunk to the flowing shape. I am fascinated by the variety of visuals that appear as the grain is revealed. Lines appear that I would love to keep, but then must sacrifice in the effort of working toward a more refined shape. These are a couple of shots that I captured a few days ago. It is now even more finished than is shown in these images. It is a real trick to capture all the detail in a 2-dimensional image. Maybe a video is in order…
There is something that I have discovered about how fast this week has passed in my mind. These days of doing almost nothing have flown by so quick that today feels like we have only been up here for a long weekend. In fact, today is day 10. Tomorrow, I return to work. A few days ago, I discovered that I had no idea what time it was. I have rarely looked at a clock all week. When I checked for the time that day, it turned out to be 2:30 p.m., about 3 hours later than I imagined it might be. It occurred to me that on a normal work day, by that hour I would probably have checked the clock about a hundred times.
My thinking is that I should try checking the time repeatedly, while on vacation, so I can absorb how much time is passing while I am doing nothing. That way, maybe the glorious days will feel like they last as long as a day of work.
I’m just sayin’…
Relative Something 
