Category: Uncategorized

Peace, n.  In international affairs, a period of cheating

                    between two periods of fighting.

                                                             –   Ambrose Bierce           The Devil’s Dictionary

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the domain names I “own” and maintain (but still haven’t done anything with) is

 

                            Sustainability Equals Survival

 

(which is true enough, but)

I have come to appreciate that ‘Sustainability’ is also a euphemism for Survival.

 

It allows us to talk about Staying Alive WITHOUT the unpleasant ideas of (maybe) dying.  We live in a society, after all, which is NOT comfortable with (our own) mortality.  

 

We Americans spend more on entertainment … than we do on Education and Healthcare combined.

 

Now, I suppose that it’s possible that our tendency to stick our heads in the sand is completely unrelated to our determination to keep ourselves distracted … but – realistically – what do you think the chances are of that?

 

Probably … these two behaviors are (quite) connected.

 

No doubt – quite often when the term Sustainability is used its meaning is a bit mushy … (vague).

However

it is NOT meaningless.

 

The only way this term can be understood is to put it alongside its opposite – Unsustainability (or Unsustainable)

Up and Down.   Left and Right.  

Such terms are meaningful only in the context of each other.

 

Also – it will be worth noting – that Sustainability (just by its nature) tends to be a bit invisible.  There’s no drama.        

But such is NOT the case with a behavior which is (very) unsustainable.

 

Suppose you notice some broken glass on a roadway … and you take the trouble to remove it.  Then you sit a while and watch the traffic. It will probably be boring. No drama.

But suppose (on the other hand)  you PUT some broken glass onto a road … and then observe the cars as they pass the spot.   Soon – one or more cars will pull over with a flat tire.

This is (a little bit) more newsworthy.  Some drama.

 

Sustainability is like that.

 

So (to get clear on what Sustainability means) – we’ll need to look at (extreme) Unsustainability.   

 

Let’s consider two recent movies

 

‘Peppermint’ (with Jennifer Garner) 2018

&

‘Cold Pursuit’ (with Liam Neeson) 2019 [released less than 2 weeks ago]          

 

These are (both) “revenge” stories.

In both stories, the protagonist suffers the loss (by murder) of someone they loved dearly … and decides to seek revenge personally and directly.

 

I haven’t seen either of these films  (but I’ve seen other ‘revenge’ movies.  They’re not rare.)

Probably ANY revenge story will contain an example of severe mistreatment.       

 

And mistreatment is NORMALLY dealt out with a sense of impunity, isn’t it?   

 

But when someone is able to beat the odds … to prove that it was a FALSE sense of impunity … that’s what makes for a ‘good story’.   Mmm?

 

Did you know that (during the Revolutionary War) before Washington ‘crossed the Delaware River’ … that Gnl. Cornwallis (who let the British Army) had gone home.    

He reckoned that the war was over.   (Washington’s army was dreadfully underfunded and ill-equipped.)  But the Americans won that war anyway.    

 

You may like to read the (great) Declaration of Independence –

 

                http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/declaration-of-independence-text.html  

 

It carefully details why the colonists regarded their treatment by the British Crown … as intolerable mistreatment … (which is, of course, the essence of social unsustainability)   

 

There are (of course) other arenas  (than social)     to which may be applied the notion of Sustainability.

 

Personal

&

Environmental       

 

Personal practices which are healthy, life-sustaining, and produce general well-being … may be said to be Sustainable.  (good habits, universal kindness and respect … etc.)

 

Alcoholism may be regarded as a good example of a practice which is personally unsustainable.   

Even though it is not uncommon, it (nonetheless) brings destruction (families dissolve, careers collapse, health deteriorates, etc.)  The misuse of alcohol causes enormous human damage.

 

Our Environmental unsustainables include –

 

Our addiction to fossil fuels

Our laws which permit planetary destruction

Our miscreated (ill-designed) corporations

 

And (if what Noam Chomsky says is true) our (own) Republican Party is the most dangerous organization which has ever existed … because they are determined to destroy the whole planet.

(Here’s a 2-minute video on the Republicans & global warming)

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AXwpVWLlhw         

 

(and here’s an 8-minute video from Democracy Now)

               https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeHOCId5T-w  

 

Basically … the Whole of Human History is one long Nightmare of Mistreatment, Exploitation, Greed, and (the resulting) Suffering.

 

Nevertheless … it seems to me … that True Sustainability

is actually devoid of any and all forms of mistreatment and exploitation.

 

We need to learn how to treat each other … like Family … and our Planet – as if it were our HOME.  

 

We need to figure this out.

Our very survival depends on it.          

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

http://www.thrivemovement.com/

 

Millions of persons long for immortality who do not

know what to do with themselves on a rainy afternoon.

                                                                                         – Susan Ertz

 

We wear more clothes than any people who have ever lived.  We eat more different kinds of food than anyone since Louis XIV.  What goes on in the corner drugstore the bazaars of Arabia couldn’t match.  What we find piled at the supermarkets is the harvest of the world in all seasons at the same time.  And as we push through the aisles, grabbing this and that from every corner of the globe, with the Muzak sludge overhead, we should be the most contented people in the world.  Are we?

                                                                                                                                                 –  Agnes de Mille

 

YouTube is now owned by Google.  I doubt whether anyone there (at either place) actually knows who I am.  Yet I have come to the (somewhat uncomfortable) realization that YouTube has become an (external) augmentation of my (own, internal) mind.

 

I mainly use a desktop computer.  The people (that is – the software) at YouTube know which computer is mine.  That is – they presume that it’s always used by the same person (and perhaps this computer I use is even associated with my name)

 

No doubt the people whose job it is  to perfect the software which chooses (from among countless millions of possibilities) WHICH videos to present to me (or to anyone) based upon our previous ‘choice history’ … these folks are very well paid.

 

They may well even be (self-consciously) aware that they are trying to figure out how the human mind works.

 

For one thing, it is Very Important HOW the incoming videos are categorized … how they are characterized.  The system must have the capability of making a good guess as to the REASON we watch a given video.

 

If 300 hours worth of videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute    and the average length of a video is 4.3 minutes … that means that (about) 6 million videos get uploaded (to YouTube) every day.

YouTube videos are watched by 1.3 billion people … about 5 billion videos are watched          per day.

 

Perhaps they have a way of getting the people submitting the videos … to (effectively) categorize them.  (I don’t know)

 

But what about the problem of Quality Control?   That would have to be handled “in house”, wouldn’t it?

 

In any case, YouTube recently began suggesting (to me … by offering them) videos containing the thoughts of Carl Jung … for whom I happen to have a Great Deal of Respect … (affection, even).

 

(Now … let it be noted – that I never SEARCHED for anything by Carl Jung!  The SOFTWARE still figured out that I might like them!

 

That’s when I realized – that YouTube … has become my assistant.  They’re making intelligent guesses … as to what I wish to learn about!

 

I’m grateful for this.   (and also … it gives me the creeps, a bit)

 

For many decades I have had a Deep Interest in the Human Condition.  (What is the nature … of Human Nature? … or of the Human Situation?) So anyone who shares this interest (or, by any means, aids me in my search for the Truth of this matter) … is my ally.

 

I just (still) have a hard time     imagining YouTube (the computer programs that make it work) … as my ‘friend & ally’.

 

It’s a New World, I reckon.

 

But let’s have some Real Content –

 

Please take the time (13.5 min.) to watch –          

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkoc0ltIBF4    (Carl Jung – the Spiritual Problem of the Modern Individual)

 

In hopes of (possibly) preventing World War III    Jung did his best to Understand and to Explain why world wars (I & II) came about.

 

He believed that (we) humans were unprepared to grapple (effectively  / well) with the (tremendous) existential problems of Human Life … (now) without the help of the ‘crutch’ of religion.  Modern man now feels he is on his own   to deal with (any and all) existential dilemmas.

 

With the Industrial Revolution (and urbanization) came the phenomenon of Mass Society … wherein the Modern Man feels himself impotent, insignificant,  and powerless. Our psyche’s (organic, natural) tendency is to attempt a compensation, which (if NOT brought into the realm of the conscious mind) can pose a Great Hazard to our well-being both as individuals and as a society.  We will (then, if the urge remains within the Unconscious) seek Power … perhaps even Lust for power.  This makes us vulnerable (and susceptible) to some rising dictator … promising us the power we long for.

 

I would also suggest –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUs6NDsMWVI    (Why Passivity Breeds Mediocrity and Mental Illness)     [which is only 8.6 minutes]

 

It suggests that Modern Man now finds himself in possession of (considerable) Discretionary Time … and that we (literally) do not know what to do with ourselves.

 

One of the most popular new diets is the Paleo Diet.  It makes sense to us – that if we want to be healthy … we should eat what we were eating during our (long) evolution … rather than eating the foods which now happen to be available (and which the ad men want us to eat)

Mmm?

 

Like that –  human beings have had to struggle just to survive … for many eons.  And now (all of a sudden) we find ourselves with our survival (relatively) assured … and we have all this time on our hands!

We are tempted to imagine that it makes sense – to do as little as possible.

 

Well … this turns out to be a Bad Program.

 

[Now, I’m going to assume you’ve watched these 2 videos … and offer you a quote by Parker J. Palmer  –

 

I remember talking with a friend who has worked for many years at the Catholic Worker, a ministry to the poor in New York City.  Daily she tries to respond to waves of human misery that are as ceaseless as surf in that community. Out of my deep not-knowing, I asked how she could keep doing a work that never showed any results, a work in which the problems keep getting worse instead of better.  I will never forget her enigmatic answer: “The thing you don’t understand, Parker, is that just because something is impossible, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.”

 

We need to apply our energies to something we (deeply) care about.

 

How about … ‘Let’s save this planet’  ?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKHUaNAxsTg    (The Science Delusion  – Rupert Sheldrake) [an excellent talk]  [Did you notice the photo (of the ‘pro-science’ demonstration) in the Spiritual Problem video … about 4 minutes in?]

 

The great movies enlarge us.

They civilize us.

They make us more decent people.

                                              –  Roger Ebert

 

 

 

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.  I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.  I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive. …

It doesn’t interest me who you are, or how you came to be here.  I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

                                                                                                                                                          –    Oriah Mountain Dreamer

 

 

 

 

 

During the years I lived in Seattle (‘74 – ‘85) my best friend and I developed a form of ‘cheap entertainment’ which I came to refer to as our ‘Fear of Death Workshop’.                      It was … a rope swing.

We would take a piece of heavy nylon rope to the 20th Avenue NE bridge where it went (in a level fashion) over the creek and ravine of Ravenna Park.  This short stretch of road was supported by an old style (erector-set type) steel bridge. There was a big arch, each end of which was (in turn) supported by a big concrete “foot”.

We would bring the rope with us each time we used it. (If we had left it there, some city employee would certainly have been instructed to cut it down or remove it.  And this would not have been good from our point of view; for our rope was a piece of Samson Cordage, continuous filament, tubular-braided mooring line … which I had salvaged from the big “paper” dumpster which was (always) on the pier, near the submarine tender I was assigned to in the Navy, in San Diego.  Though slightly worn, it was plenty strong for the use we were putting it to … it was probably one inch in diameter. Soft … but very strong. Ideal for this purpose.)

We put a good-size (bowline) loop in the top end.  And this loop was protected from wear by a short length of fire hose, which encased the entire loop.  We would climb out to near the middle of the arch, and (with a girth hitch) suspend the rope from a certain steel girder.

 

What a set-up!  This was ideal for a rope-swing.  We also tied (another, permanent) bowline loop in the bottom end of the rope.  This was to put your foot in, so that you did not have to depend merely on the strength of the grip of your hands … to keep you alive.  Your foot and leg could then take most of the force.

The south slope of  ground (under the south end of the bridge, downhill from the ‘foot’) was a long stretch of soft dirt.  From this slope you could easily reach the stationary rope … or, if you just rode the swing till you nearly stopped swinging, you could easily step off onto the slope.  And yet you would never hit the slope when you swung.  It was perfect.

 

To get the ‘full ride’ you would have to climb up on top of the big concrete foot (from the uphill [south] side … then (with someone else’s help, and by means of a length of small rope) pull the big rope up to you.  Then, sitting on the edge of the concrete precipice, with one foot in the loop, and one hand just above (the strategically placed) knot in the mooring line … with a considerable drop just beneath you, the abyss in front of you, and the weight of the rope pulling you into it … (sometimes after several minutes of mental preparation … looking death in the face) … you go for it.

The effective length of this rope … was only 50 feet, but it seemed like more than that.

I just now did a calculation for the period of a 50-ft. pendulum.  It’s nearly 8 seconds. That means that rope swing would take you north for four seconds … then south for four seconds.

But I don’t think this really conveys very much.

 

One time (with my friend Tony Littrell hanging onto me (not the rope), and his foot on top of mine) … when we got to the end of the first full swing, I came to the realization that I was hanging onto the rope with only my last finger joint(s) … just my finger tips.  The force was considerable.

 

Another time (I think this was the time we came the closest to death, doing this), my best friend and I were down near the creek, when a friend of ours jumped off.   And we both watched as, when she let go of the rope, at the bottom of her first swing … and she sailed … perhaps 15 feet above us, spread-eagled, face up, rotating gracefully … and landed in the moist earth and grass on the north side of the creek.  She split the crotch out of her jeans and got the wind knocked out of her … but she didn’t die. (in fact, she was basically uninjured) But she very easily could have died, had she happened to strike a rock with her head.  Minutes after this incident, Dave and I removed all the rocks from this “emergency landing field”.

We didn’t realize (till after) – that Jacquie was wearing cotton dress gloves.

 

After that, I found a piece of nylon seat-belt strap … enough to wrap twice around a person’s waist and then tie off (making a safety belt) … and this would get connected to the main rope with a short length of stout nylon rope (which I tied there permanently) … and could be joined to the safety belt with a big carob beaner.

After this … a person (even if they had a heart attack) would not die from swinging from this rope and losing grip.  You could not fall off, once fastened in.

 

But (even after that) … the business of getting yourself to jump off into the abyss (especially if you’d never done it before) … was scary as hell.

 

We did this for years (every now and then … especially when we had special company / guests).

Sometimes I would charge people (a stranger who happened by)  five cents   to go on the rope swing.

 

I’m grateful that no one ever got much hurt doing it.

 

In any case, the whole rope-swing exercise will count as warrior training … even the technical/technological aspects of it.

A warrior must be willing to confront death, danger, defeat, humiliation, pain & discomfort … many things.  And the best warriors will be those who train the most.

 

Actually, we are all training.  Every day …  we train something.  

And the way we are right now … it’s the result of all our training.

 

For example … suppose our toilet (in our house) malfunctions.  What will we do? Will we take the lid off the tank and try to figure out what’s going on with it?  Will we try to fix the problem?

If NOT …  then we are deficient in our warrior training.  If we do not even try, it’s probably because we have given ourselves permission to steer clear of humiliation … of the feeling of inadequacy.  We do not want even to risk feeling ‘stupid’ or ‘inadequate’.   Mmm?

 

I have on occasion – tried to encourage young math students – by trying to help them see that learning math … is excellent warrior training.  That’s because math is hard.  It’s constantly humiliating. It makes you feel stupid.  

Concepts you were getting acquainted with about two weeks earlier are beginning to make sense … but what you’re studying right now … you always feel at sea with that.

It’s warrior training.

 

In this (12-minute) video

                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlKuE7jm0WM  

 

                    Tom van der Linden discusses the importance of the Warrior Archetype.

                            (I like him very much.)

The warriors which appear in our movies and comic books are expressions of this archetype … which is a Basic Building Block our our psychology.

It’s the most controversial of all the archetypes … because of the existence of the  “shadow” warrior  – the bipolar dysfunctional archetype.  This type of warrior revels in cruel behavior, often masking their hidden insecurities and their unresolved emotional issues.

Most warriors are men, it’s true; but the warrior archetype (inside us) helps us ALL (not just men) claim our power …  and assert our identity.  It helps us confront and overcome our fears; it helps us find courage.

The inner warrior arrouses … energizes & motivates us.  It pushes us to take the offensive, and face the challenges that life puts before us.  

The warrior does not see himself (or herself) as a victim … but takes responsibility for his own life.

Carol Pearson says –

                                 To identify as a warrior is to say – ‘I am responsible for what happens here’

                                  and

                                  ‘I must do what I can to make this a better world for myself and for others.’        

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Books:

               King, Warrior, Magician, Lover     by Robert Moore & Douglas Gillette

 

               The Hero Within

                  (Six Archetypes We Live By :  Orphan, Innocent, Magician, Wanderer, Warrior)

                                            by Carol S. Pearson

 

 

               

When it all comes down to dust

I will kill you if I must,

I will help you if I can.

When it all comes down to dust

I will help you if I must,

I will kill you if I can.

                 –    Leonard Cohen

                              Story of Isaac

 

 

 

If you liked School

you’ll love Work.

                   –  from a Seattle sidewalk

 

 

 

 

Between 1974 and 1985 I lived in Seattle, Washington … in the Wallingford district.  West of the University district (and the I-5 freeway), and north of Lake Union.

One evening as I was walking home, I happened to take a route along the ship canal (under the interstate bridge) … and happened upon some graffiti, spray-painted onto the sidewalk :

 

If you liked School … you’ll love Work.

 

I wish to say “Thank You!”  to whoever it was that wrote that there.

(You are my Teacher and Benefactor)

 

You helped me to see the connection and continuity between how we are (herded and) handled when we’re students … and how we’re treated when we ‘join the Work-force’.  A bell rings … and we all get up and go where we’re supposed to go next … (and do what we’re told).

 

Yesterday I came across a video (which I watched).        It’s with Michael Moore :

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHHFGo161Os    (Why Finland has the Best Education System)

 

I would suggest (if you can spare 9 ½ minutes)  that you watch it right now.

 

Apparently – it’s illegal (in Finland) to have a school which charges tuition.

How un-American is that?

 

We can’t have our superior (rich) children hobnobbing with riff-raff!

 

And it (most certainly) would not do – to (actually) teach Critical Thinking skills in our public schools!

I mean … what if (when the riff-raff kids grow up) they were to figure out what’s really going on!

 

They might become Activists (or something awful) … they might get involved in politics and turn our beloved (oligarchical, ‘pretend’) “democracy” … into a Democracy!

 

That definitely … would not do.

 

One of the best ever testimonials for learning how to Think … is Alexandre Dumas’ novel – “The Count of Monte Christo”

Early in his story, his main character (‘Edmond Dantes’) finds himself in a (Very Unpleasant) French prison.  And he doesn’t even know why.  Except that he was framed for the crime he was alleged to have commited.

After 4 or 5 years there, he hears ‘scraping’ … in the wall of his cell, and decides he must aid whoever is tunnelling on the other side.  After a few days of digging (fairly ineffectually, except that he had managed to remove a stone from the wall behind his bed) … he happens to make an (aloud) exclamation … and a voice answers him.  They have a conversation.  Dantes is told to cease digging.  Two days later a person emerges from the hole in his wall.  A fellow prisoner of the Chateau d’If (since 1811 … four years prior to Dantes’ own imprisonment there).  He is ‘Abbe Faria’, a priest (who is highly educated).  While Dantes is not the sharpest tool in the toolshed, he very quickly realizes what a brilliant thinker and intelligent man his new friend is.  So … Dantes soon asks Faria to help him solve the ‘mystery’ – of why he finds himself in prison.  For the priest – this is an easy task.  He asks Dantes a number of questions … most importantly – “Who would stand to benefit from his being imprisoned?”

 

Dantes experiences a great burst of clarity … a (sudden) Opening of the Mind.  He excuses himself, goes (through the connecting tunnel) to his room … and spends the whole night thinking through (what he then realized) had befallen him … and what he would do about it.

The next day, he begs the priest to teach him a bit of what he knows.  Faria agrees … saying that human knowledge does not amount to much … and that he could teach him everything he knows … in two years – (mathematics, physics, history, and three or four living languages.  [I took this to mean – that they would not bother with Latin])

 

Now, let us leave this story … and come back to our own –

 

The QUESTION (in our situation) is … WHO STANDS TO BENEFIT FROM OUR HAVING A WEAK EDUCATION SYSTEM?

 

It’s the Super-Rich.

 

Who benefits – from the American People – paying SO MUCH attention to Fashions & Sports?

 

If our lives tend to be increasingly superficial … who benefits?

 

Who benefits from so many housewives being busy … clipping coupons?

 

Who benefits  – from our being Such Good Consumers?

 

If college students (upon graduation) find themselves saddled with OVERWHELMING debt …

 

if a great number of couples find they must both work – just to make ends meet … who benefits?

 

If (in general) our involvement in politics … our involvement in improving the health of our society – (making a better life for everyone)… is minimized … who benefits?

 

Mmm?

 

The Super-Rich …

 

The Occupiers.

 

And … these people are … our enemy.

 

If someone is trying to destroy me (to kill me) – they are my enemy.

 

But suppose I am a child in an occupied country; and another nation is committed to bombing my homeland.  There is bound to be collateral (sideways) damage. Some civilians (including women and children) will also (if inadvertently) be killed.  It is then legitimate for the people (even the civilians) to regard the aggressor nation as an enemy, because they are committed to a course of action which puts them at risk … and those actions are bound to kill some (as “collateral damage”)

 

The Ruling Elite (the Super-Rich) are committed to a course of action – of keeping us riff-raff distracted, uneducated, struggling, and superficially occupied.  Their strategies substantially prevent us from interfering with their scheme to exploit us (as ‘their consumers’).

 

They deliberately make our lives worse!

 

See      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA-jtlV3VNs    (Noam Chomsky  – 10 strategies of Manipulation)

 

and      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6unS2JF8TA    (Chris Hedges  – The Pathology of the Rich)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr0HCqiD1C8    (Story of Isaac  – Leonard Cohen)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqznqIpkZz0    (Chomsky  – Who Rules the World?)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQYA9Qjsi0    (What the 1% don’t want you to know  – Bill Moyers, with Paul Krugman, discussing Thomas Piketty’s book – Capital in the Twenty-First Century)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnrBQEAM3rE     (Manufacturing Consent  – Noam Chomsky)

 

 

 

 

Happiness is not a matter of intensity

but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.

                                                                     –   Thomas Merton

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“ … that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

 

This line (from the U.S. Declaration of Independence) is VERY well-known.  Certainly every American is familiar with it.  But I suspect that it has (in no small way) contributed to our dysfunctional relationship with the notion of Happiness.

 

It does NOT SAY that everyone has the right to be happy.  It does NOT say – if we pursue happiness, that we will attain it.   It does not even say that we should pursue happiness as a goal.

 

What it means is – that a person should have the opportunity to make his (or her) life better … that those efforts should not be hindered by (the state or) anyone else.

 

It is worded the way it is – for economy.

(I have read that – Thomas Jefferson never said two words when one would do.)

 

 

I wish to commend to you 2 (TED talk) videos that I happened to watch recently –

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Trdafp83U    

(“There’s more to life than being happy”  – Emily Esfahani Smith)

Emily spent many years researching the HAPPINESS problem.  She found that pursuing happiness can actually make us unhappy.  She came to the conclusion that what we need is –

MEANING.  And she found that meaning seems to have four pillars –

 

Belonging  (Love)

Purpose  (Service)

Transcendence

Storytelling  (how we interpret … and ‘frame’ our life)

 

I think that Emily’s talk does a good job of clarifying – that these Big human Issues do not reduce to “information”.  One must develop a “vision” of life … for them to make sense.

It’s our vision (of life) which gives us the power to interpret individual events.      Mmm?

 

Another TED talk is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EHZAQmw2JA    

(“What 1 skill = an awesome life?”-  Dr. Shimi Kang)

 

She says –

“I’ve been a medical doctor for 17 years.  I’ve researched the science of human motivation.  I’ve worked with thousands of people from all walks of life, and I believe that we humans are in trouble.”

“We’re in a place of negative evolution.  We have made sleep deprivation a symbol of ambition, and ‘rested’ a symbol of laziness.  We have made being too busy a symbol of importance.”

 

The World Health Organization says that

 “Stress is the #1 health epidemic of the 21st century”

But … Dr. Kang says – there are a few people who are better than ever.  They have passion and purpose and meaning and joy in their lives.  And so I wondered – What is the difference between these two groups?  What does one group have … that the other one doesn’t? Passion maybe? No.  Nor is it ‘grit’ – (hard work).

 

It turns out, it’s … adaptability.

 

She refers to the ‘Grant study’  (the longest yet study of human development … spanning 70 years) which concluded that “the key ingredient for well-being is … the ability to make lemonade out of lemons”

 

 

Albert Einstein said –

“Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.”

 

Dr. Kang wrote a book (about dolphins … and what we can learn from them)  … called – “The Dolphin Way”  (now translated and published in many other languages)

 

She uses the basic (dolphin) family unit – the POD to remind us of the basics of ADAPTABILITY & BALANCE.

                   P    O    D

                     l      t       o

                       a     h      w

                         y      e      n

                                    r       t

                                      s       i

                                                 m   

                                                    e

 

(POD  = Play, Others, & Downtime)

 

We are in trouble if we don’t play.

 

But FREE PLAY, she says, activates our frontal cortex.  It stimulates all kinds of pathways for abstract thinking, for emotional regulation, for problem solving, for strategy.  Play makes us comfortable with uncertainty. It makes us take risks, and to learn from trial and error.

PLAY … is HOW we ADAPT.

 

The “O” (in POD) is for “others” … and it’s WHY we adapt.

While dolphins are exquisitely connected to their families, their groups, and their communities … humans have forgotten – that social connection is a basic of life.  

Being lonely is as much of a risk factor for death as is smoking.

 

When we don’t honor the basics, we are in trouble.

 

Humans have also forgotten – that rest and relaxation is a basic of life.

(DOWNTIME …  This is the “D” in POD  …   and it’s WHEN we adapt)

 

We are so “on the go” that stress hormones are wreaking havoc on our brains and our minds.

 

When we don’t honor the basics, we are in trouble … and we do things – like driving & texting … and yelling at our kids to calm down.

 

The research on

Mindfulness

Slowing down

Paying attention

is outstanding.

It improves our focus, our memory, our concentration, our relationships, our life-satisfaction.

 

DOWNTIME … The most progressive companies in the world are bringing in yoga classes, meditation rooms, and beds … because they know – that “breaks” is the moment of “breakthroughs” … that looking inward gives us innovation and inspiration.

 

So that’s “POD”.  And POD is how we adapt.  And adapt is how we thrive.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

http://www.thrivemovement.com/

 

(book) –   “Man’s Search for Meaning”  by  Viktor Frankl

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKa-3lbLeyA&t=695s    (Why Denmark is the Happiest Country)

 

 

                                                 We don’t have to put it together

                                                        It is together.

                                                                                     – (the back of the Whole Earth Catalog)

 

 

We have all come to the right place.

We all sit in God’s classroom.

Now,

The only thing left for us to do, my dear,

Is to stop

Throwing spitballs for a while.

                                                                        –   Hafiz

 

 

All the dangers were outside us

And we knew them all by name.

                         –  Barbara Keith

                   (from The Bramble and the Rose)

 

 

 

 

What is the difference between a tragedy and a melodrama?

 

Well, it turns out … it’s this:    preventability.

 

In either case … bad things happen;

but whether the story is a tragedy … or (just one more) melodrama

is NOT determined by the basic “facts” of the story.

(No.  They may be just the same in either case.)

It will depend on the (subtle) way the story is handled.

 

If the “point” the storyteller is making

Is simply:  that ‘shit happens’

(lots of Country & Western songs fall into this category)

then  – it’s a melodrama.

 

If, on the other hand, the storyteller wants you to understand

that the (bad) things which occurred

could have been prevented … then

the story warrants being called  – a tragedy.

 

For example … when New York’s Twin Towers were bombed

our president (at the time) … got on the radio

and told us … that there was no justification (of any kind) for this act of terrorism …

that it was (simply) an “evil act”.

 

He was, you see, taking on the role of the storyteller

and he wanted the American People to see these events in a particular way.

He wanted us to see ourselves as wearing the White Hat

and ‘these terrorists’ as wearing the Black Hat.

 

He wanted us to see ourselves as the (innocent) victim in the story

and the ‘terrorists’ … as the perpetrators of evil.

 

He wanted us to see ourselves as in a melodrama.

 

If (on the other hand) there had been a Real Leader in the white house at that time,

he (or she) would have convened a Family Meeting (of the entire country)

and addressed us something like this:

 

“A terrible thing has just happened.  We have been attacked

on our own soil … and the lives of many good people

have been lost.

And so … we need to take a Hard Look

at how we have been deporting ourselves.

What have we been doing that would cause someone to hate us so much?

We need to figure it out.

And we need to find a way

to do better!”

 

[And then, (logically)  – he would have put the core principles of our Foreign Policy

‘on the table’

and  proceeded to consider them openly and honestly.

He would (in essence) have led us on a path of repentance

(so that it would be unlikely … that such acts of hatred

would recur in the future)]

 

That’s what would have made sense.

 

But, you see, the entire show

was insincere.

This was actually the debut of the war on terror.

(What a Great Invention!

but, of course, since ‘terror’ is a tactic, one can NOT wage a war against it)

 

When the ‘bad guys’ do it, we call it Terror … and

when we do it, we call it “Shock and Awe”.

 

And we never had any intention of humanizing our Foreign Policy.

 

But … we still imagine – that we are waging a war on terror!

 

It’s all just storytelling … (putting the right slant on the events)

 

Manipulation.

 

The reason there are so many melodramas being told

Is because it’s what we want to hear.

It’s because we would like to believe that we wear the White Hat, and that

we are not complicit … that

we are not accountable

for the bad things which happen to us (or elsewhere in the world)

 

When Ambrose bierce defines peace this way –

Peace, n.  In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting.

 

he is trying to get us to see

that we are responsible for the wars that occur …

that we are actually accountable.

(that we could treat everyone like Family … and cultivate peace, instead of war)

 

He is trying to get us … to grow up.   

Mmm?

 

Most of us try to live life inside out … Backwards.

 

We think that our Emotional State is at the mercy of events exterior to ourselves.

 

“I’ll be happy … when I get a raise.”

 

Or … “Boy, if he does that to me again … am I going to be Mad!”

(you see?   … We even Make Plans   to be angry)

 

We imagine that we are the victim of what happens to us.

We think that our Happiness is dependent upon external events.

(and then, since we believe it … it becomes   as though true)

 

What we are actually messing with here

is one of our Fundamental Powers.

 

We are (in a sort of mystical … but very Real way) the Cause

of what we see around us.

 

We would do well to realize

that our Situation  … is showing us

what is inside us.

 

It is (as though) … a Reflection.

 

We (in general) think we know how the Universe works … but we don’t.

 

(this is Good News, actually … because, if we can figure it out, then our lives can get better)

 

The Key is … our Inner State.

If we Show Up in a high (emotional) state …

if we’re coming from a place of Love, Peace, Joy, (etc.)

then the world around us will be seen through the lens of that emotional state.

 

But if we’re all Stinkface, and coming from a place of Fear & Doubt, then

the world around us will look very different.

 

Once we understand … that we are accountable

for (whatever) state we show up in, then

we can begin the Work

of choosing … the state we show up in.

 

Viktor Frankl (in his     Man’s Search for Meaning) tells us

that the ability (the power) to choose one’s own attitude … regardless of one’s situation …

This is something that no one can take away from you.

 

Frankl was in the Nazi Concentration Camps … and he witnessed it himself.

He saw people (who, though they were themselves starving)

give their little bit of food to others who were hungry.

 

And this happened often enough

that he was forced to the (above) conclusion –  that

we can choose our attitude.

 

Which means, of course, that we [always] do choose our attitude.

 

Of course, if we’re entertaining the belief – that we can NOT choose … that we’re at the mercy of our environment, then

this belief will (seriously) interfere with our (God-given) ability to

choose our Emotional State.

 

(That’s why we try to live life inside-out …

because we are entertaining bad habits and Wrong Beliefs)

 

[To anyone who is interested in a System

to help them correct this (deadly) pattern,

I would suggest you read Joey Klein’s book: The Inner Matrix

in which he outlines the basics of Conscious Transformation.]

 

I am certain that before you read this essay … you already had a notion of

(what I am calling) – accountability.

 

But

there are a number of notions … (of Cognitive Categories)

which are crucial to a good understanding of Human Life in general

(and of our Current Situation, in particular) … and also to simply Living Life Well … and

 

accountability … is one of these.

 

It is my hope that this little essay has increased your regard for accountability …

and you will take a more active interest in fostering it (and  your understanding of it) in your own life.

 

It’s important.

 

In the Great War of Ideas

it is the Pivotal Idea

in one of the Great Battles.

 

[this War is in all of us, and

we are all in this War]

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

http://www.joeyklein.com/?CFID=2838793&CFTOKEN=28964233&app=joeyklein  

 

I Heard God Laughing

             Renderings of Hafiz    by Daniel Ladinsky

 

I just now added “The Bramble and the Rose”  to the Songs page (under References)

 

 

Can we modify the course of our life?

Is it possible? Or are we condemned to lead

superficial, mediocre lives with no meaning?

                                                – Jiddu Krishnamurti                        

 

                              ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Muhammad said,

Three kinds of people are particularly pathetic;  the powerful

man who is out of power, the

rich man with no money, and the learned man laughed at.  Yet

these are those who badly want

change!   Some dogs sit satisfied in their kennels.  But someone

who last year drank ecstatic

union, the pre-eternity agreement, who this year has a hangover

from bad desire wine, the way

he cries out for the majesty he’s lost,  give me his longing!

                                          –   Rumi

                                                     from his Prayer to be Changed

 

 

 

 

 

Recently I’ve heard Tai Lopez say – that we should make FOUR resolutions … one in each of (what he considers to be) the Four Pillars of life:

Love

Health

Income

Happiness

 

I think this makes good sense.  Except … I do not think it makes good sense to regard Happiness as one of the Pillars.  I do not think that happiness is a worthy goal for a Human Being.  (you may have heard me say this before) Happiness is an experience that just happens.  (And this may well occur when we see that we are achieving our goals,  but I do not think it is a good idea to pursue happiness [itself] as a goal.  Better to pursue Truth … or  Authenticity.)

 

Lately I have given more than a little thought to ‘what I want’ … to the question of “What will I need … to feel (really) good about my life?”  And what I have found is very similar to what Tai Lopez has found.

After all … what kind of life is it – when we’re constantly worried about ‘not enough money’?

But then – of what use is plenty of money … if we do not have good health?

And … of what use is anything (at all) … if our heart is not full of love?

 

And … there is one more.  This is the “pillar” which I call ‘productivity’ … or ‘giving’ … or ‘Work’ … or – ‘making the world better’.

 

We can get to it by asking (and answering truly)  the question – “What would I be willing to accept (as adequate payment) for relinquishing everything else?” … “What would I trade my Whole Life for?”

 

For me … the answer to this question is … ‘that this world be saved’  

(that all people [and all creatures who share this world with us] … have the chance to have a Good Life … that the planet itself – should manage to withstand and survive the damage we have already done … that it heal and recover from its injuries … and that we [human beings] stop the practices which are [now, even today] hurting it.  And we should also quit hurting each other.)

 

We could make it (universally) illegal   to destroy the planet … couldn’t we?

 

We could stop complying with the (Super Rich’s) plan – to have superficial lives, remain uneducated and uninvolved in the (re)creation of the world (the culture) we live in … couldn’t we?

 

We could redesign our economies such that there are adequate incentives toward Survival, a Healthy Planet, a Healthy Future, Enough for everyone, and so on … couldn’t we?

 

If such things are to occur … we must believe that they are POSSIBLE.

 

Suppose I make a resolution – to lose my excess weight … and I correct my diet … I exercise … I choose only what is good for me.   And then (at some point) I quit believing that it’s possible  to accomplish this (or maybe I just quit believing that it’s feasible) … at that very moment … it (actually) becomes “no longer possible”!   

 

In that moment, that ‘possibility’ ceases to exist!

 

You see?  For some change (anything at all) to happen in our life … we must believe that it’s possible.

 

No belief … no change.

 

 

 

Stefaan Engels was born in Belgium in 1961.  When growing up he had asthma and was instructed to avoid activity.  Nonetheless, Engels became an endurance athlete. Then he decided he would run a marathon (42.2 km  or 26.2 mi.) every day … for one year. In 2010 (when he was 49) … he did so.

 

“I don’t regard my marathon year as torture. It’s more like a regular job…I am running just as Joe Average goes to work on Monday morning, whether or not he feels like it. I don’t always feel like running.”

I heard him say (on NPR)  that ‘At the beginning, there was alway something wrong … my knees … or my stomach.  But eventually’, he said – ‘my body accepted the fact that I was going to run.’

 

I think that we need to learn how to use each other as a mirror.  I think we should look at Stefaan Engels as realize – that (perhaps because we have already developed an ‘abusive’ relationship with excuses)   we have (as though) ‘trained’ ourselves to use (whatever) excuse … to get out of doing something  which we now find has (clearly) become unpleasant.  We buy the ‘handiest ticket’ … and we just quit.

 

Only, in Stefaan’s case … he did NOT quit.

 

Mostly he ran slow   

(his doctor told him to run slow)

 

… but he ran.

 

     Every day.  

 

          26+  miles.  

 

The fastest time (the world record, so far) for the Marathon … is 2 hours (and a little more.    2.2 or 2.3 for women). Stefaan usually ran it in about 4 hours. But (while running) … his heart rate   was SIXTY !

 

(and THIS is why [I suspect] he did not go back on his decision) … He said –

‘I thought – if I could do this (run a marathon every day for a year) … that people would find about about it … then they would think  – they could go to the gym and work out … lose some weight … whatever.’

 

He did it FOR US, you see.

 

Albert Schweitzer said (you know)  –

 

                          “With human beings, example is not the main thing … it’s the only thing.”

 

 

 

Anyway … for me … the four pillars are

Love

    Health

        Wealth

            Service

                                                            (and in that order.  I think there are other [better] people   who have succeeded in making Service their Number One goal.  In my case, I am resigned to considering that these other things need to be in place … to support the last one … saving the world.)

 

According to World Watch Magazine

poverty could be eliminated

with an expenditure of 1% of the Gross World Product.

 

And (according to NPR)    WOMEN

   do ⅔  of the world’s work

       bring home 10% of the pay, and

           own 1% of the property.

 

 

 

 

The population of the earth (as of right now) is about 7.7 billion.

 

 

Let’s have a quick overview of the Human Family … with respect to religion.

 

Christianity                31%

 

Islam                         22%

 

Hinduism                  14%                               –   [the only (major) religion    which has no founder]

                                                              

Buddhism                 10%

 

There are many other religions besides the ones listed above … just as there are numerous (nearly countless) sects   within each of these major religions.

 

You have (if you’ve followed my blogs) heard me talk about the Great War of Ideas … and the importance of it.  But I am not interested in our Religious Diversity as a phenomenon of the War of Ideas.  I think we’re much better off if we (instead)   celebrate our religious diversity.

 

It seems to me that all these religions are good.

 

It doesn’t much matter  what we believe.

What matters is    (and the Question is)    can we work together?

 

The materialistic scientist and the extreme idealist are destined always to be at loggerheads. This is not true of those scientists and idealists who are in possession of a common standard of high moral values and spiritual test levels. In every age scientists and religionists must recognize that they are on trial before the bar of human need. They must eschew all warfare between themselves while they strive valiantly to justify their continued survival by enhanced devotion to the service of human progress.

                                                            – The Urantia Book p. 1457 [paper 132:1.4]

 

If we fail to do this  (work together, putting our [unimportant] differences aside   to try to save this world) … we will rue it.

(Even if we should succeed in many other ways … become Very Wealthy, or whatever)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

About 10% of Christianity  (the Orthodox Christians) follow the Julian calendar; and these will celebrate Christmas in a few days (on what many of us consider to be Jan. 7th).  To you … Merry Christmas!   And I invite you to have a look at my post of 2 weeks ago (if you have not already seen it).  Consider it a [music laden] ‘Christmas card’.

(And if you have already seen it [and if you love music as much as I do] … you may want to visit it again, as I’ve added more songs.  Some of these songs, I’ll admit, are not ‘strictly’ Christmas songs, but I’ve included them because of their fine spirit.)

 

Happy New Year,  ALL !

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Reference  (Paper 131 from the Urantia Book:  “The World’s Religions” [beginning on p. 1442]) :

https://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-131-worlds-religions?term=131#search-jump-result-0

Or perhaps (if your first language is Russian, or if you speak it better than you do English):    https://www.urantia.org/ru/kniga-urantii/dokument-131-mirovye-religii  

 

There are Planners

and there are Plannees.

   – Ursula Franklin

 

 

I recently came across a good article … and I feel you need to see it.  The main content of it is from the economist, James Boyce.

*****************************

Oligarchy Is Destroying Our Society and the Planet

                                                                                – from truthout, 18 Dec. 2018

                                              

Is capitalism on the brink of joining the dustbin of history? And what would a post-capitalist society and a sustainable economy look like?

Since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the world has experienced historically unprecedented levels of growth, with capitalism raising the standard of living of many nations. At the same time, capitalism has generated immense contradictions (exploitation of labor and nature, huge economic inequalities and gross social injustices), and these traditionally have been the main foci of radical political movements advancing the vision of a just socioeconomic order. But is the era of capitalist growth now coming to an end?

Renowned economist James Boyce, senior fellow at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, offers critical insights on all of these questions, which should be food for thought for all progressives in the age of the revival of democratic socialism. Professor Boyce is the author of the forthcoming books Economics for People and the Planet: Inequality in the Era of Climate Change and The Case for Carbon Dividends.

C.J. Polychroniou: There are economists today who are arguing that the era of capitalist economic growth is over. Is capitalism, in your own view, on its deathbed, soon to join the dustbin of history like previous economic systems such as feudalism?

James Boyce: Your question really has two parts. One is about the future of capitalism, the other about the future of economic growth. The answers depend on what we mean by both of these terms, “capitalism” and “economic growth.”

Let me start with growth. Whenever we talk about this, we need to ask: Growth of what? Conventional economists use the term to mean growth of GDP, gross domestic product, the monetary value of all the goods and services produced in the economy that carry a price tag. Yet we know that GDP is a hodgepodge of things that are good, bad and useless. It not only includes good things, like food and housing and music, but also bad things, like the costs resulting from wars, prisons and environmental disasters. GDP also includes some useless things, like one-upmanship spending for what Thorstein Veblen called “conspicuous consumption,” the aim of which is merely to attain a higher position in the social pecking order, spending that does not add to a society’s well-being since one person’s gain is just another’s loss. The only thing that all the items counted in GDP have in common is that they carry a market price tag.

At the same time, GDP doesn’t count much that is very important to human well-being. It doesn’t count good things without a price tag, like the unpaid labor devoted to caring for children and the elderly, or ecosystem services, or any of the proverbial “best things in life that are free.” It doesn’t account for things that reduce our well-being like environmental degradation and violence. So, all in all, GDP is a deeply flawed measure of a society’s well-being. Preoccupation [with] how fast it grows is misplaced.

GDP is a deeply flawed measure of a society’s well-being.

The same applies to “limits to growth,” a phrase popularized by some well-meaning environmentalists. Of course, there are limits to growth, if by this we mean the growth of bad things like pollution, natural resource depletion, imprisonment or violence. None of these can grow forever. The limits may be hard to identify with precision – what, for example, is the maximum percent of a nation’s population that can be put in jail? Three percent? Ten? Twenty-five? – but we know there is a limit.

But this does not mean there are limits to the growth of all the good things, too — things that improve human well-being rather than diminishing it. There are no natural limits to the growth of art or music or knowledge. There are limits on how much food and other necessities we require, but these are limits on demand, not necessarily on our ability to supply them.

This distinction between good things and bad things wouldn’t matter if they were locked together in some fixed and immutable ratio, making it impossible to have more of one without more of the other. But the good/bad ratio between them is a variable, not an unchanging parameter, and a fundamental aim of any economy that works for people and the planet is to move the balance in favor of the good.

The “limits to growth” slogan has obscured this, just as GDP has obscured our understanding of human well-being. It conveys the implication that we face an inexorable trade-off between protecting the environment and advancing economic well-being. Ironically, this is the very same message that is propagated by fossil fuel corporations and diehard opponents of environmental protection. In the end, it’s a message that limits the growth of environmentalism itself.

I’ve argued that we need a new banner: Grow the good and shrink the bad.

What about capitalism?

A bit like growth, “capitalism” is a word that can mean different things to different people. For some, it means the division of society into two opposing classes: the vast majority who work for a living, and the elite few who live off the proceeds of other people’s labor by virtue of ownership of capital. For others, it means just about anything involving markets, or wage labor or the profit motive. In talking about whether capitalism is on its “deathbed” – a better image might be in its death throes, since if it is dying, it’s not going gently – we need to unpack these different meanings.

To me, what is not sustainable is the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few. If this is what you mean by capitalism, I truly hope that its days are numbered. Oligarchy, which is the name for concentrated wealth and power, is bad for people not only because it condemns many to poverty and powerlessness, but also because it erodes the mutual trust and affection without which a society cannot function happily or well. And it’s bad for the planet because it allows those at the top of the pyramid to use and abuse the environment – both as a source of raw materials and as a sink for the disposal of waste – at the expense of everyone else.

Oligarchy erodes the mutual trust and affection without which a society cannot function happily or well.

Historically, the political left has seen oligarchy as an outcome of unfettered markets, while the political right has seen it as an outcome of an unfettered state. In truth, however, the defining feature of oligarchy is not the balance between the market and the state. Its defining feature is the highly unequal distribution of wealth and power. If purchasing power and political power are concentrated in the hands of a few, it doesn’t matter whether we have a “free-market” economy or a state-run economy: the result will be unhappy outcomes for most of the people and for the planet, too.

Capitalism cannot exist without markets. Can markets exist without capitalism?

Sure. Markets existed before capitalism, and markets will exist after capitalism, however you define it.

Here is a thought experiment: Imagine a society in which a substantial chunk of assets [is] owned in equal and common measure by all. These assets – call them universal property – would include gifts of nature, like the trees in the forest, the fish in the sea, and the minerals in the ground, and also would include some of the institutional infrastructure that society creates and maintains, like financial systems and patent systems. These assets generate income in the form of payments for the use of nature’s sources and sinks, taxes on financial transactions and a share in royalties on patented innovations. Imagine that income derived from these assets is paid in equal monthly or quarterly dividends to every person – call it universal income from universal property.

The defining feature of oligarchy is the highly unequal distribution of wealth and power.

The result would be an equally substantial leveling of the economy’s playing field. There would still be markets, in the sense of payments for goods and services. There would still be wages, in the sense of people being paid for work they do. There would still be the profit motive, in the sense of people seeking favorable returns on their investments of time and capital. And there would still be other, nonuniversal assets owned privately by individuals and cooperatives and businesses, or publicly by governments. But whatever you call the result, it would not be capitalism as we know it today. Instead, universal property would inject a dose of equality into the distribution of wealth and power. It would act as a kind of democratic antibody, strengthening the immune system of our body politic against oligarchy.

You might call this vision a new kind of capitalism. Or you might call it libertarian socialism, an idea embraced by Noam Chomsky, among others. To me, the label is less important than the substance: a democratic distribution of wealth and power.

What forms of resistance could be useful in order to hasten the transition to an economy that works for people and the planet?

I’m glad you are asking about “forms” of resistance, not assuming there is only one right path. We need to forge a broad alliance of people who act at multiple levels – personal, local, regional, national and global.

At the personal level, we see people choosing to conduct their lives – to work, consume and engage in civic activity –in ways that reflect pro-people and pro-planet values, resisting the temptation to look the other way.

At the local level, we see people struggling for environmental justice, defending the fundamental human right to a clean and healthy environment. We see the growth of cooperative enterprises, new agriculture and community-based clean energy initiatives that, together, are sometimes described as a “solidarity economy” that is incubating alternatives to the status quo.

If purchasing power and political power are concentrated in the hands of a few, the result will be unhappy outcomes for most of the people and for the planet, too.

At the regional level, we see efforts to develop low-carbon and no-carbon transportation systems, to safeguard clean water and open lands, and to build alliances across diverse communities who share a commitment to building an economy that works for people and the planet.

At the national and global levels, we see efforts to mobilize the people to demand policies that guarantee access to health care and education for all, protect the environment, promote peace, and reverse the toxic concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the “1 percent.”

By all these paths, people are resisting the degradation of human well-being and the environment and seeking to establish a more level playing field, build a more resilient economy and create a more vibrant democracy.

Sometimes we see a temptation to dismiss the efforts and paths pursued by others as less important or less virtuous than our own, as “false solutions,” useless or even counterproductive. This kind of one-size-fits-all arrogance is born of egoism, insularity and lack of imagination. It is inimical to building the alliances we need. So, dogmatism is something we should resist, too.

Is there hope for the planet, given that humanity is on the edge of a precipice due to global climate change? Is there a way forward?

There is a vast intermediate terrain between the extreme positions of claiming that climate change is not a problem and claiming that it is the end of the world. Both are forms of denial. The first denies the reality of climate change itself; the second denies the reality that we can do something about it.

Let’s be serious. The planet will survive climate change. Life on Earth will survive climate change, though unless we act today, many species may not. Humans will survive it, too, though unless we act today, many people may not and many more will experience needless suffering.

But we face a continuum of possibilities. The more carbon we dump into the atmosphere, the worse things will be. In fact, exponentially worse: if average global temperatures rise by 3°C [3 degrees Celsius] above the preindustrial level instead of 1.5°C, the damages will not be merely twice as high, but many multiples greater. Where humankind and the planet end up will depend, above all, on how quickly we stop using fossil fuels and shift instead to clean energy. As climate scientist Kate Marvel has put it [quoting earth system scientist Benjamin Cook], “climate change isn’t pass/fail.”

The good news is that we can take actions now to limit the degrees of damage. The bad news is that we aren’t acting nearly fast enough. The binding constraints are political, not technical.

I believe that there are four main arenas where we need to act. The first is to minimize the extent of climate change, above all by reducing our use of fossil fuels. At the level of public policies, this will require a set of complementary measures: carbon pricing that is anchored to hard emissions targets; investments in clean energy and energy efficiency; and smart regulations designed to support an efficient and equitable clean energy transition.

The second arena is adaptation. It is too late to prevent climate change altogether. So, we will need to invest in adaptation as well as mitigation. Here a key question is how resources available for adaptation should be allocated across and within countries. Conventional economics would assign priority to protecting the most “valuable” lives and property – in other words, protecting the people with the most wealth and power and their assets. In the face of rising sea levels and storm surge risks, for example, we could see the construction of sea walls that protect pricey real estate by diverting floodwaters into poor communities. A rights-based approach would start from a radically different premise: the principle that the right to a safe environment is held equally by all. It is neither a commodity that should be allocated on the basis of purchasing power, nor a privilege that should be allocated on the basis of political power. In this view, adaptation investments should be guided by human needs, prioritizing the communities that need them most.

The third arena for action is to build on the ways that reduced use of fossil fuels can bring about immediate and tangible improvements in public health by improving air quality. The burning of fossil fuels releases not only carbon dioxide, the main culprit in climate change, but also many other dirty pollutants that harm human health. While the damages from climate change are long-term and spread across the globe, the damages from air pollution are near-term and more localized, enhancing their political relevance. It makes good sense to cut emissions where the air quality benefits – known as “co-benefits” in climate policy – are greatest. We know that air pollution disproportionately afflicts people of color and low-income communities, so this is a matter not only of efficiency but also of environmental justice.

The fourth arena is carbon dividends. These recycle the extra money that consumers pay for fossil fuels as a result of carbon pricing as equal dividends to every person in the country or state implementing the policy. The government of Canada recently announced that it will introduce carbon dividends in provinces, including Ontario, that do not already have a carbon price. Carbon dividends are an example of universal income from universal property – the concept I mentioned earlier – the property in this case being the limited capacity of the biosphere to absorb carbon emissions. People pay based on their use of the scarce resource – the rich, who typically have the biggest carbon footprints because they consume more, pay more than others – and everyone receives an equal dividend based on common ownership. With a carbon price-and-dividend policy, the majority of people, including low-income households and the middle class, would come out ahead monetarily, without even counting the benefits of curbing climate change. Their dividends would more than offset what they pay in higher fossil fuel prices, helping to ensure durable public support for the policy.

The insufficiency of inequitable climate policies was demonstrated recently in France by the “Yellow Vest” revolt against President Macron’s government that broke out after his government imposed new taxes on gasoline and diesel in the name of fighting climate change. Across the country, hard-pressed working people took to the streets in protest. Macron, they contended, “talks about the end of the world while we are talking about the end of the month.” Polls showed that a large majority of the French people agreed. The new tax was rather modest – it would have added about 35 US cents to the price of a gallon of diesel and 12 cents to a gallon gasoline – but it was enough to provoke such a violent reaction that the government decided to suspend the policy.

The lesson is clear: to be politically sustainable, climate policies must be seen to be economically equitable.

***********************

Simon Sinek tells us – that what bothers us so much … when the CEO of a big corporation allows the whole company to go under (or maybe even arranges for it to happen) … he says that it offends in us a deep-seated sense of justice … a Social Contract.  A LEADER must PROTECT the people he is responsible for … NOT EXPLOIT them. [See Simon Sinek’s talk on “Why Leaders Eat Last” (about 26 minutes in … if you’re in a hurry) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReRcHdeUG9Y         ]

Now, in many cases, the Real Leaders in a society (or sub-society) are NOT elected … and typically they are wealthy.  But (when this system functions in a right way) they STILL take seriously their responsibility. They are NOT predatory.  They CARE about the people who look up to and who follow them.

However … this does NOT describe our Current Situation (- our Modern World is ruled by a few wealthy (super-rich) Occupiers).

These rascals do NOT regard Ordinary People in the same way that they regard the members of their own (elite) group.  They ARE predatory.

However … this situation can NOT continue indefinitely.

It is NOT  Sustainable.

Soon we shall have a look at HOW they have managed to prolong their (advantaged) position for as long as they have … including their sense of impunity.  

(They do it … because they think they can get away with it.)

 

Christmas, it seems to me, is the Highest (and the most spiritual) of all our holidays.  If you have the time, I suggest you read my first blog posting (or maybe it’s the 2nd …).  In any case, I posted it here on January 10th, 2018; but I actually wrote it on Christmas Day (one year ago) and had posted it (Dec. 25th) on the predecessor of this site.  (I just now read that blog … and I would say those same things now … except I already said them a year ago.)                                                                                             It’s here:         < https://worldfamilytrading.com/is-family-possible/?v=7516fd43adaa  >

 

Honestly, it’s a little difficult for me to accept the fact – that it’s taken me a whole year to get my online store to function.  (Clearly – I’m not here for the money.)

 

A few days ago I ‘pushed’ a few products to my store.  (But they didn’t land where I wanted them to … also – they seemed to have no mark-up.)  So – I withdrew them … till I can solve these little problems.

But, you know what?  I realized that the way I am choosing which products to offer … is not according to ‘what’s trending’ … or  “What’s going to make me money?”

No … it’s much simpler than that.  I want this store to be filled with things I want you to have.  Basically, it’s as though I’m rounding up things which (if I could) – I would put under your Christmas tree.

 

I would Very Much like to present you with such a store … but it’s still not ready.

 

So … what I will do instead – is to offer you a little ceremony – which you may wish to use  … (maybe) between now and Christmas … or (maybe) on Christmas Eve … or (perhaps) simply on Christmas day.

The thing is  –  if we could experience (directly) … how much we are loved … (for even 5 seconds) … we would be changed … forever.   Mmm?

Now … I relied quite a bit on my intuition    to structure this little ceremony which follows.  And your intuition may be better than mine … so you should follow it.   Mmm?

 

[It so happens that I spent 17 years (1995-2012) in a religious order (gccalliance.org) where everyone studies the Urantia Book.

That was our ‘core document’ … and I (still) have a high regard for it.  (“Urantia” is the name the celestials use to refer to this planet … which we call the ‘Earth’)

I will reference the passages below … simply by their (Urantia Book) page numbers.

I use the Urantia Foundation’s site … where the U.B. is available to be read … in 19 languages:     

                                 https://www.urantia.org/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          When I use this site, I normally search for a passage by entering its paper number (just the number) into the (lower) search bar.  Page numbers don’t seem to work.  The excerpts below    are from Paper 119     & (mostly from) Paper 122]                                                                      

 

[Jesus (Christ Michael) chose Urantia (the Earth) as the planet where he would carry out his 7th and final (required) bestowal.  And he made this decision some thirty-five thousand years ago, at the time of the default of Adam & Eve (who, by the way, were not human)]

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Do these readings aloud.]

 

While we believed that this would be the method, we never knew, until the time of the event itself, that Michael would appear on earth as a helpless infant of the realm. Theretofore had he always appeared as a fully developed individual of the personality group of the bestowal selection, and it was a thrilling announcement which was broadcast from Salvington telling that the babe of Bethlehem had been born on Urantia.

We then not only realized that our Creator and friend was taking the most precarious step in all his career, apparently risking his position and authority on this bestowal as a helpless infant, but we also understood that his experience in this final and mortal bestowal would eternally enthrone him as the undisputed and supreme sovereign of the universe of Nebadon. For a third of a century of earth time all eyes in all parts of this local universe were focused on Urantia. All intelligences realized that the last bestowal was in progress, and as we had long known of the Lucifer rebellion in Satania and of the Caligastia disaffection on Urantia, we well understood the intensity of the struggle which would ensue when our ruler condescended to incarnate on Urantia in the humble form and likeness of mortal flesh.    …

Certain wise men of earth knew of Michael’s impending arrival. Through the contacts of one world with another, these wise men of spiritual insight learned of the forthcoming bestowal of Michael on Urantia. And the seraphim did, through the midway creatures, make announcement to a group of Chaldean priests whose leader was Ardnon. These men of God visited the newborn child in the manger. The only supernatural event associated with the birth of Jesus was this announcement to Ardnon and his associates by the seraphim of former attachment to Adam and Eve in the first garden.

                                                                                                                                                       – p. 1317

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~   [Light a candle, if you have one … and stretch your arms out and upward; and raise your face ‘heavenward’ – in a gesture of “Receiving”.  Hold this pose for 5 seconds or so  … then play the following song]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_3-haTEFrU    (Some Children See Him)

 

One evening about sundown, before Joseph had returned home, Gabriel appeared to Mary by the side of a low stone table and, after she had recovered her composure, said: “I come at the bidding of one who is my Master and whom you shall love and nurture. To you, Mary, I bring glad tidings when I announce that the conception within you is ordained by heaven, and that in due time you will become the mother of a son; you shall call him Joshua, and he shall inaugurate the kingdom of heaven on earth and among men. Speak not of this matter save to Joseph and to Elizabeth, your kinswoman, to whom I have also appeared, and who shall presently also bear a son, whose name shall be John, and who will prepare the way for the message of deliverance which your son shall proclaim to men with great power and deep conviction. And doubt not my word, Mary, for this home has been chosen as the mortal habitat of the child of destiny. My benediction rests upon you, the power of the Most Highs will strengthen you, and the Lord of all the earth shall overshadow you.”      …

 

Joseph did not become reconciled to the idea that Mary was to become the mother of an extraordinary child until after he had experienced a very impressive dream. In this dream a brilliant celestial messenger appeared to him and, among other things, said: “Joseph, I appear by command of Him who now reigns on high, and I am directed to instruct you concerning the son whom Mary shall bear, and who shall become a great light in the world. In him will be life, and his life shall become the light of mankind. He shall first come to his own people, but they will hardly receive him; but to as many as shall receive him to them will he reveal that they are the children of God.” After this experience Joseph never again wholly doubted Mary’s story of Gabriel’s visit and of the promise that the unborn child was to become a divine messenger to the world.

In all these visitations nothing was said about the house of David. Nothing was ever intimated about Jesus’ becoming a “deliverer of the Jews,” not even that he was to be the long-expected Messiah. Jesus was not such a Messiah as the Jews had anticipated, but he was the world’s deliverer. His mission was to all races and peoples, not to any one group.                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                                               –   1347

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[If you do these readings on different days (or if it seems appropriate to you) – again light a candle (another one) … and again do the ‘Gesture of Receiving’.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L_Yc-rWHvQ    (The Blessed Son of God  – Ralph Vaughan Williams)   

 

It was not necessary that Mary should go to Bethlehem for enrollment—Joseph was authorized to register for his family—but Mary, being an adventurous and aggressive person, insisted on accompanying him. She feared being left alone lest the child be born while Joseph was away, and again, Bethlehem being not far from the City of Judah, Mary foresaw a possible pleasurable visit with her kinswoman Elizabeth.

Joseph virtually forbade Mary to accompany him, but it was of no avail; when the food was packed for the trip of three or four days, she prepared double rations and made ready for the journey. But before they actually set forth, Joseph was reconciled to Mary’s going along, and they cheerfully departed from Nazareth at the break of day.    …

The inn was overcrowded, and Joseph accordingly sought lodgings with distant relatives, but every room in Bethlehem was filled to overflowing. On returning to the courtyard of the inn, he was informed that the caravan stables, hewn out of the side of the rock and situated just below the inn, had been cleared of animals and cleaned up for the reception of lodgers. Leaving the donkey in the courtyard, Joseph shouldered their bags of clothing and provisions and with Mary descended the stone steps to their lodgings below. They found themselves located in what had been a grain storage room to the front of the stalls and mangers. Tent curtains had been hung, and they counted themselves fortunate to have such comfortable quarters.

Joseph had thought to go out at once and enroll, but Mary was weary; she was considerably distressed and besought him to remain by her side, which he did.

All that night Mary was restless so that neither of them slept much. By the break of day the pangs of childbirth were well in evidence, and at noon, August 21, 7 B.C., with the help and kind ministrations of women fellow travelers, Mary was delivered of a male child. Jesus of Nazareth was born into the world, was wrapped in the clothes which Mary had brought along for such a possible contingency, and laid in a near-by manger.

                                                                                                                                                                                          – 1351

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[If it seems right … again light a candle … and assume the posture of ‘Receiving’]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3s-Q1zyxYE    (Balulalow, Britten)

 

… the day of the arrival of certain priests from Ur, who were sent down from Jerusalem by Zacharias.

These priests from Mesopotamia had been told sometime before by a strange religious teacher of their country that he had had a dream in which he was informed that “the light of life” was about to appear on earth as a babe and among the Jews. And thither went these three teachers looking for this “light of life.” After many weeks of futile search in Jerusalem, they were about to return to Ur when Zacharias met them and disclosed his belief that Jesus was the object of their quest and sent them on to Bethlehem, where they found the babe and left their gifts with Mary, his earth mother. The babe was almost three weeks old at the time of their visit.

                                                                                                                                                                                    –  1352

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfS4A-KxHLU           (Túrót eszik a cigány  – Kodaly)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        ~ Blessings on you … and a Merry Christmas.            Perhaps even our loneliness      is holy.  ~

 

                                                                                                                      – A’Journe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPFvJgQqZb0     (Feliz Navidad  – dance recital)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBDFMD5kLvc    (Carol of the Bells  – Ukrainian)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwEp6F3GLkA    (Отче наш, Otche Nash, Lord’s Prayer, Our Father – Slavonic Hymn)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyFkPd6fEuI    (Hymn of the Cherubim  – Tchaikovsky)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxDZjg_Igoc   (Yo-Yo Ma, Alison Krauss – The Wexford Carol)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts4AxTD7ctc    (Wexford Lullaby  – John Renbourn)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifCWN5pJGIE    (Mary, Did you Know?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zx9JA2DOow    (Lullay Myn Lyking, Holst)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0mT-zNxRMw    (African version of Little Drummer Boy)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKzkCldvB-w    (God is Love  – Goethe and Holst)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU-E46o0sp0    (Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming)

movie:  “The God Child Came”   (DVD  available from     https://globalchangetools.org/collections/video  )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6IG6F6E5Ac    (The Huron Carol)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJRzB-buX0k    (The Huron Carol, Christmas at Saint Marie [45 minutes])

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjaN7DB7Pd4    (Past Three O’Clock)

.youtube.com/watch?v=SGeC_8VA4h8    (Adam Lay Ybounden  – Westminster Choir)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6S6EXxL_Lw    (Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella      &  Patapan)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nABowLcQlHc    (A Soalin’  – P P & M)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fpspzcrlGY    (The Boar’s Head Carol)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNgCM7zp30M    (Sacla’  – school lunch)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wit-jGD4wCw    (Coventry Carol  – ANÚNA)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4fMbPMdWs4     (This Little Babe – Britten – Multitrack by the Julie Gaulke Choir)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=999slUsTCpw    (Fum Fum Fum)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vel-9_wA_WQ    (La Nuit  – from ‘Les Choristes’)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTQKU6uUBjU    (O Holy Night)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYstefPL8VI    (I Wonder As I Wander  – Eleni Voudouraki)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RlMuRYvndU    (Angels We Have Heard on High)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3iYnHx8P0s    (The Lord’s Prayer (Our Father): A Russian Orthodox Liturgical Work by Nikolay Kedrov, Sr.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td7OlabxlXY    (Good King Wenceslas – King’s College Choir  – Prague Christmas)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c95ikxkv0KQ    (ГЕНДЕЛЬ  – “Аллилуйя”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IEuxKCB6o8    (A Ceremony of Carols  – Benjamin Britten)

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYVoAKvDsLU    (Angels We Have Heard on High)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RlMuRYvndU    (Angels We Have Heard on High  [w/ stained glass church windows])

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wit-jGD4wCw    (Coventry Carol  – ANÚNA)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRDtZeJzLi8    (Silent Night,  Celtic)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_6XMMzHZ7c    (I Wonder As I Wander  – McDermid)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzQO4L_OKQA    (Mary, Did You Know?  – The Hound + The Fox)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYvw7jm-lsw    (Praise the Lord  – Rachmaninov)

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgFyokgV1Ls    (“Our Father”  – Rimsky-Korsakov)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTQKU6uUBjU    (O Holy Night  – Libera)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L_Yc-rWHvQ    (The Blessed Son of God  – Ralph Vaughan Williams)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBOMVLd7wYg    (Russian Orthodox)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGR4Lj8cpYs    (Carol of the Bells   [using real bells])

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lwqdyVJuYA    (The Holly and the Ivy)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbJ-X_-1YbQ    (What Child Is This?)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1hegkE9Lb0    (Angels We Have Heard On High)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGI4cqItD6U&index=2&list=RD6miZpGUjbfw    (God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYoAhVW4B4g&index=4&list=RD6miZpGUjbfw    (Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Xt5SjHbBA&index=7&list=RD6miZpGUjbfw    (Good King Wenceslas)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTsknFSV-Zk&index=9&list=RD6miZpGUjbfw    (In the Bleak Midwinter)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv9-m-xDvwk&list=RD6miZpGUjbfw&index=5    (Good Christian Men, Rejoice)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojTtfocIbVU&index=6&list=RD6miZpGUjbfw    (Coventry Carol)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIA7uYQX2HA&list=RD6miZpGUjbfw&index=17    (Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1ZOGTPsxng&list=RD6miZpGUjbfw&index=31    (We Three Kings)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3raTXZ_hPk&index=29&list=RD6miZpGUjbfw    (And the Glory of the Lord)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-Rv-J46gvM&list=RD6miZpGUjbfw&index=30    (The Angel Gabriel [Old Basque Carol])

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Christmas at Sea

 

The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand;

The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand;

The wind was a nor’wester, blowing squally off the sea;

And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee.

They heard the surf a-roaring before the break of day;

But ’twas only with the peep of light we saw how ill we lay.

We tumbled every hand on deck instanter, with a shout,

And we gave her the maintops’l, and stood by to go about.

All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North;

All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth;

All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread,

For very life and nature we tacked from head to head.

We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide race roared;

But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard:

So’s we saw the cliffs and houses, and the breakers running high,

And the coastguard in his garden, with his glass against his eye.

The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam;

The good red fires were burning bright in every ‘long-shore home;

The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out;

And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about.

The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer;

For it’s just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year)

This day of our adversity was blessèd Christmas morn,

And the house above the coastguard’s was the house where I was born.

O well I saw the pleasant room, the pleasant faces there,

My mother’s silver spectacles, my father’s silver hair;

And well I saw the firelight, like a flight of homely elves,

Go dancing round the china plates that stand upon the shelves.

And well I knew the talk they had, the talk that was of me,

Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea;

And O the wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way,

To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessèd Christmas Day.

They lit the high sea-light, and the dark began to fall.

‘All hands to loose top gallant sails,’ I heard the captain call.

‘By the Lord, she’ll never stand it,’ our first mate, Jackson, cried.

… ‘It’s the one way or the other, Mr. Jackson,’ he replied.

She staggered to her bearings, but the sails were new and good,

And the ship smelt up to windward just as though she understood.

As the winter’s day was ending, in the entry of the night,

We cleared the weary headland, and passed below the light.

And they heaved a mighty breath, every soul on board but me,

As they saw her nose again pointing handsome out to sea;

But all that I could think of, in the darkness and the cold,

Was just that I was leaving home and my folks were growing old.

 

                                                                                                –    Robert Louis Stevenson