With all the noise of modern life, there are few times during the day when things quiet down. Those moments are the opportunities for the mind to wander and creativity to bloom.
Whether it is in the shower or while working at the farm in my temp job, I have been fortunate to have a mind that flows easily. Sometimes it is about my family and what each is doing. Sometimes it is about my own involvement with a project. Sometimes it is a concept that gets pretty philosophical, like realizing there are about a gazillion people also taking showers right at that moment. Wondering what their days will be like. Makes me feel like a speck here on earth.
Overall, I recognize that I am a speck. But since I have some sense of right and wrong, some ability to think through issues, and some concept of how to put words together, I can take the opportunity to move (some of ) my thoughts into words to share.
Put some quiet time into your life…..let your mind roam and note where it goes. Hopefully you will find it a helpful exercise.
Someone on my Facebook feed today wrote something that has me perplexed.
She actively posts articles pertaining to her beliefs regarding religion and politics and although we often have different viewpoints our discussion has always been done with cordiality. But a little while ago she wrote that she did not have time to check all the facts on the posts she forwarded. She said there is so much information out there she has to be satisfied with what she thinks is valid.
The reason she said that is because I had posted, once again, information that showed that what she had posted was not accurate. I actually had not written anything myself, just posted the source.
See, when I read something that appeals to my sense of greed or outrage I IMMEDIATELY try to verify it.
This incident brought to mind something that happened a few years ago. I knew a women who had a 5th grader who could not add, subtract, multiply or divide. She could read well but not answer questions about the content. She would could not find things to do and had be kept busy with supervision or would just sit and stare. This child was perfectly able to sing all the Justin Beiber songs and had memorized facts about her favorite actresses and singer. Her mom felt there was nothing wrong with this situation. It appeared that mediocrity was acceptable.
It seems to me that there are many people who are similar. The desire for knowledge, for information to analyze seems to be missing. The ability to analyze facts and think things through is not a common trait. People are accepting everything a talking head may spew without any question because much of it resonates. Others are not even aware there is anything they need to know about current events. Getting by is good enough. They’re not happy but have no idea why or how to work on changing things because those thinking skills have never been developed. So, they hide with drugs perhaps, to keep from feeling miserable or maybe just “bored”.
Life is too short and offers too many choices to leave them to others. Be involved. Be a thinker.
“I must judge for myself, but how can I judge, how can any man judge, unless his mind has been opened and enlarged by reading.” – John Adams
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