tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post848833233445272841..comments2024-03-29T07:36:56.875-07:00Comments on The Forty-Five: Seasons Of Change And How Now Shall We LiveToirdhealbheach Beucailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14872794169534403463noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-40344599820832492052021-09-20T16:40:15.984-07:002021-09-20T16:40:15.984-07:00Hmm. It is a fair question Glen.
The number of...Hmm. It is a fair question Glen. <br /><br />The number of people that at some point I have told in Realspace that I write this blog has never been many, and I would bet in the intervening 16 years most of them have stopped reading it - some from being busy, some from simply forgetting, and some from finding that I have changed since I first started. That said, the subject matter I tend to cover here is really not at all like what I talk about "out there", so there is almost no cross-over. <br /><br />All of that said, I do not tell anyone anymore that I write here. In that way I have actually found it more helpful to my writing as I continue to subside into the shadows of modern life; the more grey I become, the more I seem to find my voice.Toirdhealbheach Beucailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14872794169534403463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-4142146723983662472021-09-20T07:18:16.362-07:002021-09-20T07:18:16.362-07:00Do you think the voice you write in betrays you so...Do you think the voice you write in betrays you somehow, TB?Glen Filthiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03256741311142364722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-65891266040997334172021-09-20T06:08:54.156-07:002021-09-20T06:08:54.156-07:00Jess - For myself at any rate, I find that I have ...Jess - For myself at any rate, I find that I have to spend time actually forcing myself to think to make progress on such things. I can allow myself to get sidetracked or sucked into other discussion mentally or simply devolve into allowing myself to be entertained. This is critical work for all of us though; I would argue the shallowness, mindlessness, and temporal nature of our current society and culture is a direct reflection of not making and spending the time.Toirdhealbheach Beucailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14872794169534403463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-19235624017808944062021-09-20T02:49:24.133-07:002021-09-20T02:49:24.133-07:00Nine months into retirement has left me wondering ...Nine months into retirement has left me wondering many things, and inner inspection of my thinking. It's a constant process, and the more I find, the more I wonder.Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15969361446367636746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-1549189149215776022021-09-19T16:27:01.624-07:002021-09-19T16:27:01.624-07:00STxAR - I, too, have been re-reading Sun Tzu. Fle...STxAR - I, too, have been re-reading Sun Tzu. Flexibility and learning are key for him. It is a good reminder. The best, most engaged people I have known have been learners right up to the end.Toirdhealbheach Beucailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14872794169534403463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-42281255573407820532021-09-19T16:25:49.119-07:002021-09-19T16:25:49.119-07:00Ed, I can only imagine. We have had the same conve...Ed, I can only imagine. We have had the same conversation here.<br /><br />I have often wondered why we cannot have growing up without the same of level of innocence that we had as children. I realize that does not work in the real world, but it sure would be nice.Toirdhealbheach Beucailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14872794169534403463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-13613305157713485622021-09-19T16:04:21.661-07:002021-09-19T16:04:21.661-07:00Exactly correct. I just got back from a little pa...Exactly correct. I just got back from a little parallel parking instruction with my niece. She was tuned in as long as we were in the car working on the points of reference she needed to miss everything stationary and find her spot. 90 minutes instruction at least. <br /><br />The next 30 were rehash and after action. She was constantly divided between her phone and our conversation. She managed it pretty well, and I kept myself focused on giving her facts and feedback to make the learning curve easier. <br /><br />Just as my eyes have begun to harden where focusing up close is at the limit of my arm, old timers can harden up and demand that folks bend to them, instead of being a bit more flexible and humble in spirit. It's a struggle for me too at times.<br /><br />Sun Tzu has been helpful here: <br /><br />He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain. The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing....<br /><br />Flexibility is key. But don't mistake flexible for weak.STxARhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04588850178293194825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-86023502212561733682021-09-19T15:40:17.751-07:002021-09-19T15:40:17.751-07:00Funny you should write about this topic. This very...Funny you should write about this topic. This very morning my youngest did something beyond her years and I told her she could stop growing and I would be a happy man. Of course, that wasn't agreeable to her as she wants to only grow up more quickly. All that led me to quote a lyric from a Garth Brooks song which I will just paraphrase here but went something like, "We come into this world yelling giddyup and go out hollering whoa!"Edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214319366049620074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-89918957057196263642021-09-19T08:41:52.313-07:002021-09-19T08:41:52.313-07:00STxAR, I consistently enjoy being the least educat...STxAR, I consistently enjoy being the least educated and intelligent person in the room - not because I enjoy some sort of self immolation of the intellect, but because I can learn new things.<br /><br />Your example is a good one. Right up to the time that my mother developed her Alzheimer's, she was continuing to learn and try new things. When the typewriter became obsolete, she got a stand alone Word processor, then a computer and attended continuing education classes to help her learn how to use it. She never became a technology master, but she could continue to stay in contact with people through the InterWeb as the era of letters passed on.<br /><br />But the option is simply to become a fossil trapped in amber. At least if we are active and engaged, we can asses the impact and wisdom of adopting new and different things and modify or reject as needed. For the fossil trapped in amber, it will never do any this, only remaining as it ever was.Toirdhealbheach Beucailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14872794169534403463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-85448920401937025632021-09-19T07:45:12.613-07:002021-09-19T07:45:12.613-07:00I cannot begin to say how much this is like a grou...I cannot begin to say how much this is like a group conversation with friends. You have touched another memory and brought more reflection into the forefront of my thinking. <br /><br />I knew a lady named Lilly Belle. She was born in 1912, graduated high school in 1928, became a home economics teacher. She was one of the sharpest people I had ever met. She was a home missionary, and I met her when she was 68. She had committed entire books of the new testament to memory. <br /><br />In 1986, we borrowed a friends truck for a trip back to Lubbock (Small Dodge diesel). We drove up to visit her and she asked me a question. She was wondering if there was substantial lag on acceleration due to it not having a turbo. That floored me. She read widely, had antique customs and ways of thinking, but constantly kept up to date as best she could. That gave me pause, and set a way point for me. We all want to be like our mentors I guess.<br /><br />I like to hang around intelligent people. Not just because they tend to get my sense of humor, but because there is so much to discover and learn from them and about them. Iron sharpens iron...STxARhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04588850178293194825noreply@blogger.com