More good advice

Two good pieces of advice

"I’m not telling you to make the world better, because I don’t think that progress is necessarily part of the package. I’m just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it. To look at it. To try to get the picture. To live recklessly. To take chances. To make your own work and take pride in it. To seize the moment. And if you ask me why you should bother to do that, I could tell you that the grave’s a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace. Nor do they sing there, or write, or argue, or see the tidal bore on the Amazon, or touch their children. And that’s what there is to do and get it while you can and good luck at it.”

Joan Didion

 

“Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. It doesn’t have to be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter. Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but 'steal' some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be.”

Albert Camus

The bad news that envelopes us

Just a sample of the bad news that is available to us 24/7. This is just today's list of the negativity that defines the world at present. Everything is 'catastrophic, problematic, alarming, deeply troubling, staggering, on the verge of collapse, deadly, etc'. 

Atlantic Ocean is headed for a tipping point − once melting glaciers shut down the Gulf Stream, we would see extreme climate change within decades, study shows (msn.com)

Atlantic Ocean Currents Could Collapse and Shut Down, New Study (businessinsider.com)

What Does the 1.5 C Marker of Global Warming Mean? - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Mary Sanchez: America must choose – Aging man with bad recall or the one with evil intentions (msn.com)

How Old Is Too Old to Be President? Biden Report Raises Uncomfortable Question Again. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Why Does Everyone Seem To Have The Flu Right Now? (msn.com)

The deadly fungal disease C. auris spreading across the US explained - symptoms, treatment and outbreaks (msn.com)

'No common symptoms' for deadly fungal disease sweeping US, public health agency warns (msn.com)

Measles Now Spreading in 9 States Amid 'Staggering' Outbreak, CDC Warns (msn.com)

Costco, Trader Joe's, Walmart products recalled amid listeria outbreak (msn.com)

California knows the way to end homelessness. It's time to find the will. (msn.com)

New problem found on Boeing 737 Max planes | CNN Business

How production pressures plunged Boeing into yet another crisis | Reuters

California earthquake: Millions in Los Angeles and Malibu feel quake after Hawaii tremors (msn.com)

Vladimir Putin wants 'massacre across Europe' after 'deranged' Tucker Carlson interview (msn.com)

What Erich Fromm wrote about extremely narcissistic people

I am currently reading The Heart of Man: Its Genius for Good and Evil by the psychoanalyst and social psychologist Erich Fromm. Published in 1964, it describes his view of what he calls the syndrome of decay and its opposite, the syndrome of growth. The syndrome of decay is comprised of extreme forms of the following: necrophilia (love of and fascination with death); narcissism; and incestuous symbiosis. When these are combined to excessive degrees in a person, he defines that person as evil. Hitler is his primary example, but he also lists others--Caligula, Nero, and Stalin, among others. 

He writes:

There are other examples in history of megalomaniac leaders who 'cured' their narcissism by transforming the world to fit it; such people must also try to destroy all critics, since they cannot tolerate the threat whcih the voice of sanity constitutes for them.........we see that their need to find believers, to transform reality so that it fits their narcissism, and to destroy all critics, is so intense and so desperate precisely because it is an attempt to prevent the outbreak of insanity. Paradoxically, the element of insanity in such leaders makes them also successful. It gives them that certainty and freedom from doubt which is so impressive to the average person. Needless to say, this need to change the world and to win others to share in one's ideas and delusions requires also talents and gifts which the average person, psychotic or non-psychotic, lacks. 

In other words, political leaders who behave like this have a desperate need for their followers to share in their beliefs and delusions. They are never cured of their narcissism, and it's doubtful that they understand that they are narcissists. They simply mold the world around them to fit their brand of it. Their followers reward these types of leaders for their lack of self-doubt (total self-assurance, arrogance), their solipsism (self-centeredness--they are the centers of the universe), and their xenophobia (in this context, fear of anyone who doesn't share the leaders' beliefs, also parochialism, insularity, intolerance). 

Sound familiar? Look at some of our current world leaders and would-be leaders. Again I ask, how did we get to this point? Perhaps the better question is why. Why did we get to this point? Why do so many people want to abdicate personal responsibility in order to follow these types of leaders, to become little more than toadies? I can only conclude that following such leaders is preferable to thinking for oneself and to taking charge of one's own life. It's easier to place one's decision-making in the hands of someone who promises you complete and utter security and certainty (a fantasy), who promises you the past (also a fantasy), and who promises you that nothing has to change--lack of change and growth. Lack of change and growth is important to those who do not want to focus on personal development or bettering themselves, which involves change and growth. 

Fromm's book is worth reading. He's a good writer who can take complex ideas and clarify them for his reading public. When we were young adults, his book The Art of Loving, was very popular. I remember reading it then, but I never ventured further with his other books until now. Reading The Heart of Man is helping me to understand the current political situation. It may not provide solutions, but it's good to know what we're dealing with and what's at stake. 

More Joseph Campbell quotes

Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.

I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.

Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.

When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness.

Sit in a room and read--and read and read. And read the right books by the right people. Your mind is brought onto that level, and you have a nice, mild, slow-burning rapture all the time.

Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again.

Regrets are illuminations come too late.

We're in a freefall into future. We don't know where we're going. Things are changing so fast, and always when you're going through a long tunnel, anxiety comes along. And all you have to do to transform your hell into a paradise is to turn your fall into a voluntary act. It's a very interesting shift of perspective and that's all it is... joyful participation in the sorrows and everything changes.

Not all who hesitate are lost. The psyche has many secrets in reserve. And these are not disclosed unless required.

Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.

Marriage is not a love affair. A love affair is a totally different thing. A marriage is a commitment to that which you are. That person is literally your other half. And you and the other are one. A love affair isn't that. That is a relationship for pleasure, and when it gets to be unpleasurable, it's off. But a marriage is a life commitment, and a life commitment means the prime concern of your life. If marriage is not the prime concern, you're not married....The Puritans called marriage "the little church within the Church." In marriage, every day you love, and every day you forgive. It is an ongoing sacrament – love and forgiveness.... Like the yin/yang symbol....Here I am, and here she is, and here we are. Now when I have to make a sacrifice, I'm not sacrificing to her, I'm sacrificing to the relationship. Resentment against the other one is wrongly placed. Life in in the relationship, that's where your life now is. That's what a marriage is – whereas, in a love affair, you have two lives in a more or less successful relationship to each other for a certain length of time, as long as it seems agreeable.

Rush - Tom Sawyer

Just had to hear some Rush......What a great band. This song from 1981 brings back some really good driving memories. They don't make music like this anymore. And when you read the lyrics, you just know we need more Tom Sawyers in the world today. 

Lyrics

A modern-day warrior
Mean, mean stride
Today's Tom Sawyer
Mean, mean pride

Though his mind is not for rent
Don't put him down as arrogant
His reserve, a quiet defense
Riding out the day's events
The river

What you say about his company
Is what you say about society
Catch the mist, catch the myth
Catch the mystery, catch the drift

The world is, the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his skies are wide
Today's Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you
And the space he invades, he gets by on you

No, his mind is not for rent
To any god or government
Always hopeful, yet discontent
He knows changes aren't permanent
But change is

And what you say about his company
Is what you say about society
Catch the witness, catch the wit
Catch the spirit, catch the spit

The world is, the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his eyes are wide

Exit the warrior
Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the energy you trade
He gets right on to
The friction of the day

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Alexandar Zivojinovich / Geddy Lee Weinrib / Neil Elwood Peart / Paul Phillip Woods

Tom Sawyer lyrics © Anthem Entertainment

Greed will be the death of us

Boeing has had its share of problems recently. This quote is from The New York Times article published today: Opinion | Boeing’s Problems Started Long Before the Alaska Airlines Mishap - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

"What Boeing has missed, as it tried to dump costs and speed production, was the chance to ensure that safety was a cultural core and a competitive advantage. Corporations can choose to push back against the Wall Street-driven notion that safety equals cost and thus lower profits".

This type of thinking--cutting costs and speeding up production--has invaded every corner of the business world. It's a disease without a cure. Every time I turn around, I read or hear about more budget cuts that result in fewer employees and more work for those employees who remain. When the emphasis is on keeping costs low, something gets compromised, and that is usually quality work and eventually safety. Even employees who want to do their absolute best (and more) will not be able to get it all done in the best possible way. Corners will be cut in the name of saving money and time. After all, time is money. Those employees with good ethics and a conscience know that this type of thinking won't work in the long run, and they leave. Highly-competent employees who don't want to compromise quality and safety leave to take other jobs that won't force them to compromise their ethics. But what happens when the majority of companies behave in this way? What happens when companies that prioritize ethics and quality work become a minority?

As always, Wall Street figures into the picture. What would happen if companies delisted from the stock market and focused on the business they were created to do, rather than on corporate profits and having to satisfy shareholders (investors)? Would they lose all of their investors? I understand that companies need investors who will provide the money needed for the company to grow. And of course investors want their money back via profits. I don't understand enough about how the stock market works to really discuss this in detail. My only question is: when is enough, enough? If and when investors are paid back, do they need more money? The Norwegians have a saying: 'mye vil ha mer'. It means the wealthy will always want more. I guess that's part of the investment deal. As long as companies have to consider their shareholders first, employees and quality work will take second place. Budget cuts, fewer employees hired, outsourcing to cut costs, loss of competent employees and eventually substandard finished products are the result. 

Greed will be the death of us. 

The waning of common sense

Actions speak louder than empty words, strange ideas, or half-baked theories. When you put any of the latter into action and the results are underwhelming or even foolish, you have to ask why. The answer is found in the waning of common sense. Society is losing its ability to think, discuss, and act rationally. 

People are talking about how AI (artificial intelligence) is going to be the undoing of the human race--that AI technology/machines are going to wipe us out. As far as I can see, the human race is doing a bang-up job of wiping itself out all by its lonesome. AI doesn't worry me half as much as does the bad behavior of human beings. Let's list up the bad behavior: greed and more greed, lust, envy, stealing, cheating, murder, lack of peace, warmongering--all of which will be our undoing.  

Climate change hysteria has invaded and permeated every aspect of our lives. While I don't deny that there have been increases in different types of climate changes (global warming, rising seas, melting polar caps), no one can say for sure if the causes are due to man or to natural changes or both. I would guess both. We should make adjustments to the way we live, yes. That we should uncritically swallow every new idea that is put forth as to how to eliminate climate change, no. 

Pertinent to the previous point, here in Norway, electric cars are overtaking gas cars, which will likely be phased out in a few years. The politicians are totally on board with this way of thinking. There is little to no discussion of why electric cars are better than gas cars. I understand that the carbon dioxide emissions from gas cars can contribute to a greenhouse effect. But what about the production of the huge lithium-ion batteries needed to run these cars? What about the mining that is necessary to obtain the metals needed for these batteries? What about the disposal of these huge batteries? And additionally, let's get real, Norway is a winter country with snow and bitter cold from November until April. Cold temperatures reduce the efficiency of these batteries which in turn affects the performance of electric cars. Heating electric cars is a drain on the batteries, so in the wintertime the cars can be quite cold so as not to drain the batteries. Also, I've read that the production of lithium-ion batteries results in more carbon dioxide emissions compared to gas car usage. So tell me again, why are electric cars better? Why not push hybrid cars that can run on gas fuel in the winter and on battery power in the summer, if you've got to push anything at all? The goal is null emissions from gas-fueled cars, but it's ok if the emissions come from electric car battery production. This makes no sense to me since the emissions from the latter are only going to increase as more and more transportation vehicles (cars, boats, planes) 'go electric'. 

I am on board with using public transportation more, rather than using our cars for everything. Better yet, get out and walk if you can. Interestingly enough, Oslo has invested millions of dollars in electric buses and is phasing out its biofuel/diesel buses. But do the electric buses run in the wintertime when it is bitter cold outside, like it has been the past few weeks? No, they don't. They've stopped running, they're cold inside because to warm the buses up drains the batteries, the distance range (how long you can drive before the battery needs recharging) is abysmal, and the bus drivers are fed up. Do the bus company managers listen to their drivers? No, they don't. They continue to push their agenda, that electric buses are the future, no matter what. The same problem has occurred with the electric ferries that run between the Oslo fjord islands. Who wants to be out in the middle of the ocean when the ferries stop due to battery problems? These problems don't inspire confidence at all. I don't even want to think about the airline companies; eventually they'll be pushing electric airplanes. I won't be flying on them. 

Oslo has invested millions of dollars in bike lanes. Admirable, yes. You can really get around the city using your bicycle. We can thank the Green Party for that. But again, this has been their focus to the exclusion of other equally important issues. And during the wintertime, the bike lanes are cleared of snow and salted. The sidewalks are another story. Walking is just as healthy for you as biking, perhaps more so. But no one is going to get out and walk when they fear falling and breaking an arm or leg on slippery snowy sidewalks. It makes no sense to me, this strange prioritizing. Additionally, very few people except the diehards bike during the wintertime. 

Food prices continue to increase. The increases seen are for the healthy foods--fruits and vegetables, fish, etc. I can attest to that. But a box of gingerbread cookies after Christmas in one of the Oslo supermarkets was selling for less than a dollar. Go figure. The Green Party is pushing us all to eat less or no meat. But I don't see them pushing the supermarket owners to lower the prices of healthy foods. I don't see them making that their focal point. The thinking is that we should continue to pay higher prices for them. Is it any wonder that people eat at fast food places where they can still afford the prices? The thinking that 'I should pay more for the quality food that is best for me' only goes so far. Most people have a food budget. I feel sorry for families of four or more. Their food budgets must be very high. And while I'm on the subject of food, salmon has been pushed and is still being pushed as being very healthy for us. Wild salmon, yes. Farmed salmon, not so much. The open tanks for fish farming use antibiotics and pesticides to keep the salmon 'healthy'. Sick fish find their way into the processing plants. What is healthy about keeping fish swimming around in crowded conditions in tanks compared to having them swimming wild in the ocean? The answer given is that it isn't possible to catch enough wild salmon for human consumption, thus we need fish farms. My answer--eat less salmon, eat less tuna, eat less meat. You don't have to cut them out completely from your diet. Just cut down. We're overfishing the oceans as it is. 

Norway is very good at recycling plastic bottles and plastic items in general. However, plastic waste is exported to other European countries that presumably have ways of dealing with this type of waste. I'm not sure of the percentage of plastic waste that is exported, but it seems to me that in a country as rich as this one, that a solution could be found so that Norway could take care of its own plastic waste, rather than export it. Apparently, many countries have previously exported their plastic waste to developing countries which have found themselves overwhelmed by the sheer amounts. So these countries have dumped the waste they cannot process into the waterways and oceans. So what has been accomplished? It is not correct to say that Norway (or the USA or other European countries) are not polluting the oceans. They are, just not directly. Each country should take care of its own waste. Rich countries should lead the way, and the Green Party in this country should prioritize that. 

Oh Christmas tree

At Christmastime, we usually buy 'edelgran' (noble fir in English) trees, and this year, the tree is an exceptionally healthy one. It's still drinking about a liter of water each day. So we'll keep the tree up until it stops drinking water. I can't picture Christmas without a tree; I know some younger people who don't put up a tree, mostly because they travel home to family during the holidays and there's no one to give the tree water. But if that were the case for me, I'd put up an artificial tree instead. When I was single and living on my own in New Jersey, I did just that. Like my mother, I love pretty much everything about the Christmas season.

For as long as we've lived in our apartment, the Christmas tree always has been a holiday fixture in the dining room area, which also has a sitting area with a comfy couch. When it gets dark out and the tree's lights are on, I like to stretch out on the couch and just look at the tree. It's peaceful, calming, and meditative. Sometimes I turn on the flameless candle on the table near the couch, and the combination of both is very soothing. Puts me right to sleep. One of the nicest things I know of is waking up after a short nap to see the tree standing there, with its lights and decorations. A constant in a world of inconstants. A reminder that all is right with the world if we choose to look at it that way. Of course, I'm not naive, I know the world is drowning in problems. But I can't focus just on them. Before Christmas, I was rather despondent due to the lack of peace and all of the problems in the world. But when I traveled to Dresden and met my friend there, I got back some of my Christmas spirit. When I get a bit depressed or sad, I try to remember what it was like when I was younger and going through troubled times. I had faith that life would change, and it did. I hold out the same hope for the world, because I don't know how much worse it can get. 

Many people before me have had the same thoughts about their Christmas trees. I'm including the lyrics to Oh Christmas Tree, a traditional carol (written by German organist and composer Ernst Anschütz who called the song Oh Tannenbaum which means Oh Fir Tree) that we sang as children. You can read more about it on Wikipedia. I still love hearing the song now. 

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!
Not only green in summer’s heat,
But also winter’s snow and sleet.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
Of all the trees most lovely;
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
Of all the trees most lovely.
Each year you bring to us delight
With brightly shining Christmas light!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
Of all the trees most lovely.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
We learn from all your beauty;
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
We learn from all your beauty.
Your bright green leaves with festive cheer,
Give hope and strength throughout the year.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
We learn from all your beauty.

-------------------------------------

Reflections on academic plagiarism

I’m not stepping into the politically-charged fracas surrounding the resignation of the president of Harvard University--Claudine Gay. I understand that politics will inevitably rear its ugly head in the USA nowadays no matter what the situation. I’m only interested in one aspect of the case--the alleged plagiarism charges against her. If it’s true that she plagiarized some parts of her doctoral thesis already way back in 1997, then that’s the only thing that interests me. That’s because I spent over forty years in an academic research career and wrote nearly one hundred scientific articles, all of which were peer-reviewed and checked by specific software for plagiarism from around 2005 or so. This type of software appeared around the year 2000 and most scientific journals had incorporated it into use by 2005. If you were intentionally unethical and extensively plagiarized others’ articles, you would eventually get caught and your article would be refused. The ‘punishment’ was not more severe than that, except that ultimately, if you don’t publish in academia, you perish, hence the old adage—‘publish or perish’. The punishment of no published articles leads to no funding, because scientists will not get funding for their research if they haven’t published. Essentially it’s tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot. But in my long experience, most of the scientists I ran across or collaborated with were decent and ethical people. I include myself in that group. I can’t tell you how many times I lay awake during the night, wondering about the phrasing of this or that sentence or paragraph, wanting to get it just right, and hoping that I had without parroting others’ ideas. The problem of course is that each published article builds on the work that came before; in other words, there are very few novel ideas. The novel ideas belong to the few visionaries who move science along in a way that the rest of us do not.

If you have to write about the ideas and findings of others, as we had to do as scientists, then you must reference their previously-published articles. You cannot knowingly take credit for ideas and findings that rightfully belong to others. Most scientists are ethical and follow this unwritten rule; no one would like to end up being labeled a plagiarist. Of course mistakes are made and usually those cases are sorted out by the author and the journal, or by the author and his or her co-authors. But if you knowingly plagiarize and are caught doing so, the consequences can be unpleasant for your career.

I was an anonymous article reviewer for a number of journals for well over twenty years. Article reviewing is voluntary; we scientists do not get paid for helping the journals in this way. I have come across blatant plagiarism (of words or ideas) only several times in that period of time. In one case, the authors copied and pasted whole abstracts and paragraphs in the Introduction from one of their previously-published articles to a manuscript they were writing and wished to submit for review. They did this in order to pass off their new article as original. We’re talking about the exact same abstract and introductory paragraph(s) showing up in two different papers, with only a drug concentration or amount changed to indicate that the new article was different from the previous one. They did not bother to cite their previous article (had they done so, it would have been less problematic). In other words, the authors plagiarized themselves (self-plagiarism), which you might think is not plagiarism, except that it is. This type of behavior has positive consequences for the authors if their behavior is not discovered. We academics know why this is done—to increase the number of publications on one’s publication list. In this case, the authors had tested the effects of five different chemicals on cancer cells, and published the effects of each one individually (five separate papers instead of one paper detailing the effects of all five chemicals). Since the methodology involved in each paper was the same, as were the aims of the studies, the authors were too lazy to write new abstracts and introductions for each article. It happens more often than you might think and is not discovered so often, mostly because many reviewers won’t google previous publications by the authors in question due to lack of time or interest (another kind of laziness). How did I find out that the authors had done this? Interested as I was in the subject matter, I googled some of their previous articles. After I saw what the authors had done, I recommended to the editor that the manuscript be refused and the authors chastised for this practice. What I know for sure is that the article was published as it was (without any changes) in another journal (low impact-factor), because those journals are desperate for articles to publish. They need them for their existence.

Another case involved a high-profile group who published a rather banal article in the late 1990s in one of the best journals in the science field. Their article documented the use of a technology that could be used to assess DNA content in cancer cells. It was presented as though this was a novel finding, which it most certainly was not. I happen to personally know the researchers who invented this technique and published many articles about it twenty years before the publication in the elite journal; nowhere in that article were the original researchers referenced. I and many others wrote letters to the editor pointing this out, expecting the journal to retract the article or at least write a short commentary about the situation. Nothing happened. The journal did not want to upset the research group involved, so nothing happened. No consequences. When you’re the elite, when you sit at the top, you can get away with a lot. I learned that already in my late thirties/early forties, with nearly thirty years to go in the academic research arena.

So back to Claudine Gay, who as president of Harvard was making close to a million dollars a year. I’ve read some of the articles about what she did; the most descriptive one so far (in terms of comparisons of Gay’s writing versus the original articles she is accused of plagiarizing) was written by Sophia Nguyen and published in The Washington Post: Timeline: Plagiarism allegations against Claudine Gay - The Washington Post . It is possible to read the article for free if you register your email address with them. After reading the article, I say, Gay should have known better. Harvard University should have known better and reacted differently and much earlier. But many elite universities would probably have done the same--swept the affair under the rug as a tempest in a teapot. But they’re wrong, it is an important matter, because the entire affair allows for a way of thinking that is already prevalent in our society. That laziness is ok, mediocrity is good enough, taking credit for others’ work is ok as long as you don’t get caught, but if you get caught, talk your way out of it. One must strive for ethical behavior at all levels of academia. It’s hard work (the antithesis of laziness) and sometimes you’re fighting against the crowd, but in the end, you have to live with yourself and answer to yourself.

Rare Earth - I Just Want to Celebrate

The previous post made me think of this song from 1971 by Rare Earth--I Just Want to Celebrate. I'm including the lyrics as I always do. Enjoy. 

I Just Want to Celebrate

One, two, three, four

I just want to celebrate another day of livin'

I just want to celebrate another day of life

I put my faith in the people

But the people let me down

So, I turned the other way

And I carry on, anyhow

That's why I'm telling you

I just want to celebrate, yeah, yeah

Another day of living, yeah

I just want to celebrate another day of life

Had my hand on the dollar bill

And the dollar bill flew away

But the sun is shining down on me

And it's here to stay

That's why I'm telling you

I just want to celebrate, yeah, yeah

Another day of living, yeah

I just want to celebrate another day of livin'

I just want to celebrate another day of life

Don't let it all get you down, no, no

Don't let it turn you around

And around and around and around and around

Well, I can't be bothered with sorrow

And I can't be bothered with hate, no, no

I'm using up the time but feeling fine, every day

That's why I'm telling you I just want to celebrate

Oh, yeah

I just want to celebrate another day

Oh, I just want to celebrate another day of livin'

I just want to celebrate another day of life

Don't let it all get you down, no, no

Don't let it turn you around

And around and around and around and around

Round, round, round

Round, round, round, round, round

Don't go round

I just want to celebrate

I just want to celebrate

I just want to celebrate

Said I just want to celebrate (celebrate)

I just want to celebrate (I want to celebrate)

I just want to celebrate (I got to celebrate)

I just want to celebrate

I just want to celebrate

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Dino Fekaris / Nick Zesses

A world of possibilities

At 93, Teaching Me About Possibility - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Richard Morgan wrote this article for the Modern Love section of The New York Times. It was published on December 22, 2023. I ran across it today and found it to be a wonderfully-written and touching article about a middle-aged man living in New York who decides to really get to know his grandmother who lives in England. It is their story and he tells it beautifully. There are so many little points that are made that will stick with you, especially the points his grandmother makes. The importance of kindness is one. The importance of trying is another. Looking at the world as full of possibilities is yet another. A wise woman, his grandmother. You'll enjoy reading about them both. 

His grandmother tells him one thing during one of his visits:

“Age,” she told me once, “is just another bother attempting to convince you of the impossible in a world absolutely blooming with possibilities.” 

I absolutely love this. No matter how you interpret the definition of 'possibilities', and I know it's individual for each person, it is such a freeing statement, as statements coming from a place of love and kindness always are. Lovely, reminding me of a flourishing garden. It says that despite getting older, there are always possibilities for so many things--new travel adventures, new hobbies to pick up, new books to read (or write), new music to listen to, new people to meet. And so on. We don't stop living when we get older or old. Yes, there are more physical limitations, but one can still enjoy life to the fullest. It's about getting up every day and being grateful for another day of life. A day full of possibilities.  

Merry Christmas, with a wish for peace for the world

There's not much peace in the world at present. We can hope and pray for peace. It's sorely needed. Peace is not just the absence of war. It's a choice we make every day. All the ordinary squabbles and disagreements of life can be met with more patience, more tolerance, more 'letting go'. We don't need to be right about everything. The practice of peace starts at home, in our families. If our families don't cultivate peace, we can't hold out much hope for the world at large. 

This is my prayer for the new year. A peaceful year, minus meanness, unkindness, snideness, selfishness, and indifference. Make a difference in the small worlds around you. Mother Teresa said this many years ago. It starts at home first. 

Striezelmarkt (Christmas market) in Dresden--photos

 

The politics of revenge (aka politics practiced by idiots)

This will be a short post, because I don't want to focus on negativity during the Christmas season. But it's also important to point out that we need a seismic shift in American politics away from revenge (tit for tat) politics and idiocy, toward balanced politics based on common sense, decency and intelligence. I wonder if that will ever happen, but God knows I'm hoping. Perhaps Santa will bear the latter down the chimneys of all of the politicians currently serving (I'm including a number of European politicians as well). 

How did we get here? I've asked that question many times. The great divide. The great disconnect. Why is it impossible for American politicians to meet somewhere in the middle without having apoplectic reactions on both sides? He said this, she said that, so I have to take revenge. Hasn't the American public gotten tired of being screamed at, lectured to, derided, insulted and otherwise treated badly by its politicians? Or do they just no longer care? Just asking. Because the current situation is likely to usher in someone who will take charge in a way that will no longer seem democratic. That person will crush all those who oppose him (or her). Think it can't happen? Think again. We are moving toward autocracy. I say wake up before it is too late.