Getting to Know You

I have several quotes to share with you today.  All found on the internet and each author credited where known. I will tie them all together.

First, Marvin Gaye gave us this great quote:

            “If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else.”

Where else indeed? I've noticed that when I’m struggling with something, upset, unsure of the next thought or how to draw a worthwhile conclusion from my experience, I am not at peace and tend to view the world to be of the same temper. Think of instances of road rage. You see a simple act by one driver piss off another driver. The second driver may or may not ignore it. If he ignores, peace is maintained. If he reacts the battle is on! And what will happen is anyone’s guess. If lucky nothing much will happen of lasting consequence. If unlucky a violent accident will occur and press the issue onward.

Yes, peace starts from within and is broadcast outward. If we are pleasant others will most likely return the pleasantness. Grumpy faces beget grumpy scowls from others. Sounds sort of like a kindergarten lesson, eh?  Well it is. Think about it. And how have you been treating members of your household of late? Or fellow travelers on the bus, commuter train, “L” or roadway?  Room for improvement?

Charles de Lint offered this glimpse of personal reality:

            “Don’t forget – no one else sees the World the same way you do,

             So no one else can tell the stories that  you have to tell.”

And the stories. They can be rich. Instructive of mood, lesson and guides to a richer more productive life. Each of us captures our own moonbeams and rays of sunshine. They shape our thinking and moods. Richly lived and observed, they will fuel good recollections to share with others. Or write about.

My view of the world is just as important as yours, and vice versa. It’s the versa that usually traps us into thinking “I must be the only one with his brain turned on.”  Wrong!  So very wrong. We’ll just leave that thought here!

“People hate the truth. Luckily, the truth doesn't care.”

                                                            ~Larry Winget

As I view the news I am amazed at the consistency of ‘story telling’ by newscasters and pundits. They seem like broken recordings that are in endless loop mode. No new facts are allowed in to broaden understanding. No fresh perspectives are allowed to offer a different perspective. Same-o, same-o. How utterly boring and frustrating!

They make up their own take on a happening and lay blame, not logical substance. Is there a problem to report? Fine. What needs to be done to fix it? Or are we going to endlessly talk about the same things for days. And days. And day?  We know the answer to that question!  I’m about to turn off all TV news.  Radio is OK. I turn on Sirius in the car and never change stations!  No news. Ever, unless I’m trying to track a storm system!

Emma Goldman gave us this:

            “The most violent element in society is ignorance.”

Think NRA and sensible gun control measures. Not to happen evidently. The nation is a slave to ignorant thinking. OK to control cars, drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. Even food products. But guns? Pshaw!  Why bother? Doesn't it strike you all how silly it is – and dangerous – that 320 million people own 300 million guns? I have never owned a gun. My family never did, either. But my brother has several and my sister at least one. I’m not sure of the why. Something tells me I never will.

The violence our gun culture nurtures is palpable. Add it to road rage, bad news reporting, incomplete statistical reports analyzing things we will never understand because of the faulty math applications, and you see the violence that is sparked and all from a base of ignorance. Sad that our great nation and culture may very well find its end in this source code of ill manners.  Tragic really. 35,000 deaths per year by guns in our country. Most of those deaths were moments of rage; others were accident. Very few were for self defense or national defense.  Just imagine that fact.  Ponder it well.

Is this how I think? You? Yes or know it tells us something about ourselves, doesn't it? Hmm.  Interesting getting to know you.  And me.

I think I will end with that thought today. It has heft of its own. For sure!

May 23, 2013