ended as 2020 began. Regardless of how much ‘normalcy’ eventually returns, we can never go back to the same identical ‘Old World’ again and this will require people to make en masse psychological adjustments, something beyond the limits of many people.
Mental illness is becoming a major societal problem and all the buckaroos governments supposedly saved in closing mental facilities will have to be respent to address the impending crisis.
Every moment that passes now, tens of thousands somewhere are struggling to breathe and stay alive. The luck of the draw. That might have been us. Or might be some day given the virulence and longevity of the viruses. Likewise, someone close to us or someone we know.
Anyway we should not kid ourselves too much on how we personally hard done by or pity ourselves, given what many others are experiencing in hospitals and ICUs. Instead, we should follow the basic protocols and go on with our lives as much and as best we can.
The humor and fun both intact in the 2nd pandemic year.
Refrain from one of Gordon Lightfoot’s many romantic ballads.
The first significant Canadian folk singer of the sixties and a master songwriter. This photo from circa 1967s about the time of the above song.
through a living-room window during pandemic.
more aware of death and its proximity and real possibility before its natural time.
As one of my former doctors said “We are going to die; some today, some tomorrow, some 20 years from now.” But it is in a sense the final destination for all of us.
Usually and often when people pass, the survivors are suddenly majorly consumed, distracted, and often grief-stricken. It strikes me that a truly kind and considerate thing parents can do ahead of time is to buy and arrange for their own funerals to minimize the stress, tension, and misery of those they leave behind. (Including an option for body transfer for those people who travel is also a good realistic provision.)
Paying for one’s funeral significantly lightens the burdens of others till they they can get their bearings to deal with the rest of post-death processes. It provides automatic structure for the first immediate event that must occur, even if it’s a belated memorial (in the time of Covid).
Paying for one’s own funeral alleviates a ton of worry and stress a person might also have about how things will be handled when one is departed. It is no longer a factor or consideration in one’s thoughts. Goodness knows we all don’t need more distraction and wasted stress about death than is necessary.
There’s also an option to pay for one’s burial site if one wants to go that far, though that may be best left as a choice for the survivors.
Asking a commission to see if how the public “feels” about coal mining in the Rockies.
A waste of time and money. The People have already spoken. They don’t want it.
As always, Kenney needs to be watched very closely. He is incredibly sneaky and previously started up coal mining in the mountains without public consultation. Just as he has done with many other corrupt and illegal moves in his attacks on ordinary Albertans.
The commission is not necessary. He needs to keep his hands off exploiting and abusing the province’s natural resources. He needs to stop meddling with Nature and destroying our mountains.
A process divinely to be wished for. We are meant to experience this as much as possible in our ordinary daily lives.
For anyone seeking what that means and how it works, I would recommend the following poets and examples:
William Blake–“To see a World in a grain of sand, /And a Heaven in a wild flower, /Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, /And Eternity in an hour.”
Walt Whitman–“A Noiseless Patient Spider”
William Wordsworth–“Ode: Intimations of Immortality”
Henry David Thoreau–Walden
Virginia Woolf–The Waves
John Keats–his famous odes
as I have remarked several times before on this blog. Therefore, one must needs seek out balance in one’s life, which means not forcing things, going with the flow )chi), accepting one’s lot and limitations, and relaxing and enjoying life as it zooms by.
(based on Monet’s “Terrace at Sainte-Adresse”)
I am just such a man
who sits alone on latticed chairs
of afternoon terraces
considering the bay.
I don’t much mind being
the only tourist here
who truly notes the bobbing
white boats in Newport Harbor.
Overhead, a blue sky
and breeze flap flags
that salute red flowers
hedging my forever moment.
Pairs. Today’s word.
A couple holding hands
their backs against the view.
Two sweeping gulls stitch
their betrothal from left to right.
Almost everything fits, I think.
Even my own absurd shadow.
is never seeing, understanding, and appreciating the bigger picture. No matter what one’s specialization is, one has to look beyond at other areas, views, and perspectives. There is also a larger experiential component to this broadened perspective approach. It is not just the words and pet theories of a given area that matter. Universal consciousness is very limited by specialization and clinging to and working within just it. Life is about consciousness, most of all, “The unexamined life is not worth living” and all that. Hence, the case for interdisciplinary studies for starters.
