Now is the Time

There comes a time when a person knows something has to change. At first what needs changing eludes identification. So much does need changing it is hard to pick which gets our first attention.

For example, it’s time for the news. In years past this was the late afternoon, pre-dinner cocktail hour. The 5 o’clock news, a scotch on the rocks, a few cigarettes and the news to bring me up to date. What was happening, how did the stocks end their day, how bad or good was the weather today and what’s in store for tomorrow? You know the sort of thing.

Over time this ritual takes on a different meaning. The cigarettes become unpleasant, unsatisfying; even the scotch loses its allure. But the news? Brother, it drones on and on with less and less meaning or timeliness. Boring. Predictable. Two-sided, maybe biased.

So changes were made. Fewer cigarettes was one change. Scotches were counted. Then different news channels were tried. In the end it came to the same disappointing result – the good was boring and the boring was bad.

So, smoking was eliminated. So too the scotch.

These changes, however, did not save the news hour from being boring. So the news was eliminated. No more TV news. What was reported didn’t interest me and the why was always elusive but suggested anyway. I searched for an alternative.

I found it in internet news items from trusted suppliers (Associated Press reports, BBC items, New York Times articles, NPR and IPR articles, etc.). I found these offerings complete with cited articles and research papers. Data was present to be scanned. Research questions were posed and partly answered. The unfolding weight of the stories were allowed their own tempo.

In this way the evening news/cocktail hour was eliminated and re-programmed.

Over time, say a year or two, other habits changed. More novels were read. New non-fiction books were investigated. The mind was engaged in finding perspective from a world of stimuli. Questions formed. Always with an open ending – who? What? In what order? When? Why?

The questions were enough for a few years. Eventually, however, they demanded a response rather than more searching.  Foundational ideas were sought. Something that told me what was important to me, what needed focus by others, and where we were headed, not just me, but everyone on this planet.

I know, that’s a huge thought! Who am I to even pose the question let alone wrap my head around the idea.

At some point, though, I had to do it. Pose the question and idea. Don’t you do this as well?

As we mature I think it is natural to fit disparate ideas and happenings into a shared context to better understand their meaning and value.

I recall staring at a sunset. Ever changing in color and intensity until fading slowly it disappears. What did I just witness? Was it only for that string of moments or was it of long-term weight? The quick response was it was for the moments only. And the ideas those moments called forth in response.

Beholding beauty – view – vista – scenes – is an act all by itself but it holds meaning and impact on our lives. It changes our thinking. We build a world view from these moments. They change us. But when we contemplate them seriously we are informed by them.

How often do we contemplate these matters? Are we systematically piecing things together? Are we informed by our life experience? Do we do this consciously and intentionally? If yes, great! If not, why not?

Perhaps now is the time to contemplate what it all means. Maybe it is time we took a stab at understanding our lives and what’s happening?

I’ve been doing this for some time now; still need to do more but more importantly, I need to extract more understanding from this process.

How about you?

March 17, 2015