Beautiful and touching film--My Octopus Teacher | Official Trailer | Netflix

Any words I could use to describe this documentary film about a filmmaker's daily interactions with an octopus would not do it justice. He says so himself that he fell in love with this amazing creature. It is an amazing film on all levels--emotional, psychological, technical and topical. It is a beautiful film, and all I will do in this post is recommend that you watch it. I will probably watch it many times; I want to commit each part to memory and cherish all of them.

Problems, pain, and the mind-body connection

I've been thinking a lot about this lately and have recently discussed it with one of my younger friends who suffers from arthritis and other health issues. The mind-body connection is strong and not to be ignored. Of course sometimes we don't create our own problems; sometimes they are dumped on us by others, or sometimes we simply have no choice. For example, if a loved one becomes very sick and/or dies, there can be all sorts of problems that will impact us in a painful way. I know that's not what Tolle is referring to; he's referring more to our daily lives and how to keep unnecessary pain at bay by not creating mountains out of molehills. Or by not getting involved in others' dramas and idiocy. And he's right. It's just remembering that piece of advice that is the problem. Not always easy. 

Stillness and inner peace

This is what I wish for personally and for all the people I know and love. There is not enough inner peace, not enough stillness in these times. Without them, craziness reigns. 

To dare greatly in these times

You'll have to bear with me during these pre-election times. The USA is so polarized at present; I have not seen anything quite like it before in my lifetime. The Vietnam War is possibly the closest we've come to something like this, but it pales in comparison, because the poles now are just so extreme. Marriages and friendships are being severely tested and even destroyed by the prospect of a divisive man being given four more years to rule by the people. There is hatred on both sides for the other side--true hatred. There are threats of civil war, of DT not leaving the White House peacefully if he should lose. There are fears that his cult (as his followers are called) will rise up and become violent. What the hell happened to the USA I know and love? I am hoping that all of it is a lot of talk, but you can never be sure nowadays. But normal law-abiding people need to dare to take their country back, out of the hands of racists, white supremacists, and gun-toting militia men. They need to do that by using the intelligence and common sense they were given. That means righting the wrongs and re-establishing a balance that is sorely needed. It means plain hard talk--put away the guns, the rhetoric, the violence, the threat of violence, the aggression, and the stupidity. It means sitting down and working together to change society, because that is what our founding fathers would have wanted and had in mind when they drew up the Constitution. They did not want to be subject to a king any longer; and in 2020, we will not be served well as a country by ushering in an autocracy to solve the problems that exist. All countries have problems, but most are not choosing willingly to go down the path that the USA is taking.

Cicero's quote about Bread and Circuses

 

Reflections on what was and what can no longer be, and how important it is to remain awake

I was on Twitter the other day; I have an account from back in the days when I was working for the science library at the University of Oslo. Twitter is dominated these days by political tweets, most of them having to do with the upcoming presidential election. Both sides are at it, furiously attacking and condemning the other side. One of the tweeters is Rob Reiner, the actor who played Michael Stivic in the sitcom All in the Family that ran from 1971-79 on American television. Reiner is rabidly anti-Trump, and it struck me the other day how his character Michael and Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O'Connor) would probably have been at each other's throats over Trump's presidency had the sitcom appeared now. One thing always leads to another; I googled the show's theme song Those Were the Days to read the lyrics, and realized that the America presented in the lyrics is perhaps the America that Trump supporters want a return to. Unlikely? I don't think so the more I think about it. But there is no returning to what was, ever. Since 1979, the world has seen the rise of the digital age, cell phones, internet, and social media. The way we live our lives is completely different than how we did growing up in the 1960s and 70s. Television is not even what it once was. It is no longer a medium for social change; it merely reflects the vacuity of modern society with the majority of its programming. If we're busy watching mindless television like reality-TV programs, then we won't be paying attention to what goes on around us, or to the power-grabbers and would-be dictators. Google 'Bread and Circuses' to read about how easily people can be pacified (lulled into a stupor) with food and entertainment, whether it be from their government or from societal institutions/businesses whose sole goal is to create addicts who won't and don't think in the name of greed. And if not greed, you could wonder what the goal is. If we readily give up our free will and ability to think for ourselves, we will find that it will not be easy to get them back, especially if our country moves toward autocracy. 

The world waits for no one, and change is the only constant in life, whether or not you like it. You can be a reactionary; it won't matter because the world will not wait for you anyway. You can work to create the type of world you'd like, but I'm not sure we'd want an Archie Bunker world as our reality. Women and minorities would be most affected (subjugated) by it.

Here are the lyrics to Those Were the Days; you can judge for yourself whether this is the America that Trump supporters want a return to. As always--my opinion. Others are entitled to their opinions, because that is the basis for our democracy. Let's hope the USA remains one. 

Boy, the way Glenn Miller played

songs that made the hit parade
Guys like me we had it made
Those were the days

Didn't need no welfare state
ev'rybody pulled his weight
gee our old LaSalle ran great
Those were the days

And you knew who you were then
girls were girls and men were men
Mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again

People seemed to be content

fifty dollars paid the rent
freaks were in a circus tent
Those were the days

Take a little Sunday spin

go to watch the Dodgers win
Have yourself a dandy day
that cost you under a fin

Hair was short and skirts were long
Kate Smith really sold a song
I don't know just what went wrong
those were the days

Songwriters: Charles Strouse / Lee Adams

Can't wait for this year to be over

I cannot wait for the American election to be over. Cannot wait. Cannot wait until we can return to some semblance of sanity in our daily lives. Everywhere you turn, in every country on the globe (it seems), the election dominates the news. That tells you how important it is. But it also tells you how nuts it's become. I live abroad as you know, and will vote from here. By mail, because the United States Postal System works. It works, has worked, and will continue to work. But it will fall apart if the president wills it. If service has slowed up, it's because of the pandemic. The Norwegian postal system has slowed up as well since the pandemic began. 

I am just so tired of hearing about DT at every turn. Sick to death of him, sick to death of his sycophants. He's invaded daily life here, so I shudder to imagine how bad it's become over there. I just know that we cannot go on like this. His presidency pits and has pitted people against each other, affecting marriages and friendships. It makes people mistrust other people and mistrust federal institutions that the country relies on. If there are real problems in those institutions, then FIX them. Don't create a civil war because of them. There are people I know who fear that DT won't leave the White House peacefully if he loses. Have we really come to this as a country? Do you know how ridiculous it sounds from here, except that I know it's happened before in other autocratic countries and will happen again. I just didn't expect to consider that it would happen in America, my country. For heaven's sake, get a grip, people, before it is too late. I hope he wins the peace prize just so that WE can get some peace again. Then he can say that he got what Obama got, since that's all he does--compete with Obama--and then maybe we can be rid of him for good. He can enjoy the flattery for a few weeks and then we can move on with our lives. And hopefully never have to hear about him and his family ever again. 

I cannot wait for 2020 to be over. I cannot wait for all of the negative things to cease. The pandemic. Those who claim it is a hoax to destroy DT. Young people who ignore social distancing. Adults who do likewise. We need a vaccine against the virus, but then there are the anti-vaxxers to contend with. Workplaces that continue to plan for open-office landscapes when they know that viruses will spread like wildfire among those who sit there. A lot of unemployment. Greed. More greed. Never a mention of what Christ might want for the world. Sycophants who once worked for and were fired by DT, who cash in by writing tell-all books. Why didn't they have the balls to stand up to him publicly when they worked for him? Say straight to his face that he's wrong, uninformed, and ignorant about so many issues. Continue to say it. Why didn't they do that then? The books just confirm what anyone with any common sense already knows--he's unfit for the office of presidency. 

The saving grace has been my garden, but even there, there is stupidity--people complaining that there are too many honey bees flying around. I mean really. It's like complaining that there are too many birds, or earthworms, or soil that can get your hands dirty. We're in a garden for heaven sakes. Our beekeeper quit recently, and there are no plans to replace him. There are people who don't want hives or beekeepers because that will mean more bees in their gardens. I mean, really. The bees are there to help our gardens and us gardeners. They are not aggressive, they are rather wonderful little creatures with which one can peacefully co-exist, like bumblebees. Like Joni Mitchell wrote, "My heart is broken in the face of the stupidity of my species." Mine is not broken, not yet. We'll see what 2021 brings.