Blogs

One.

The number One has become very important among socially minded thinkers. It represents the idea that we are all equal in this world; that one person's struggles or successes should be our struggles or successes. That we are all "cut from the same cloth" to use a cliche. Thinking about the "oneness" of things reminds us to treat everyone we meet with respect. It's quite an ideal, and I quite like it.

It's so important to say what you mean, and mean what you say. I mean that. Know what I'm sayin?

Terrible wordplay aside, the theme of this week's blog is communication, specifically "authentic communication" or sincerity. 

Sometimes we tell little "fibs" to people in order to [shudder] get something from them, or to appease them, or because we think it's the nice thing to do. And often it is the nice thing to do... at the time. The trouble with lies, no matter how big or small they are, is that they always come back to haunt you.

To quote one of my favourite fictional characters, "I've made a huge mistake" (kudos to those who know about whom I'm referring). 
 
Here are the details.
 
Bernard (my dog) was adopted in Korea. He is a small, white terrier-looking being when he's clean and groomed. Unfortunately we haven't had him groomed in about 8 months. Which makes him a small, brownish, shaggy, matted terrier-looking being.
 

One of the great qualities of the human mind is that we can only focus our attention on one thing at a time. 

Normally this feature of our cognitive clockwork is advantageous. It's what allows us to have a meaningful conversation with a friend in a crowd, to focus on doing only one piece of homework at a time, and to drive safely (when we are actually focusing our attention on the road, and not our phones, radios, breakfast, etc.).

Do you ever find yourself just "going through the motions"? 
 
I find it fascinating how quickly we humans form habits and patterns in our behaviours. For example, when I first moved to my current part of town Bernard (our dog) and I would use our daily walks as an opportunity to explore the new territory. It was very adventure-like. 
 

When I was younger, I had big dreams. At the ripe old age of four, I had ambitions. 

I wanted to be a "fire engine" when I grew up. Just like my dad. 

Kids are cute aren't they?

How many of you would consider yourselves "perfectionists"? 

I don't know about you, but sometimes when I get tired, well, the world knows my misery!

Being tired is usually the catalyst for a day of incessant complaining... too bright if it's sunny out, too cold if it's cloudy. Cars are too noisy and too bad for the environment, and environmentalists are too passionate... food is undercooked, overcooked, too spicy, too sweet, too loud, too mushy... people in general are just too much. On these days I am, to put it bluntly, unhappy.

On the weekend I had the pleasure of watching some live music... I love live music! 

Here's a test that's very worth doing. Count the number of times the people in the white shirts pass the ball... I'll leave you to decide whether its better to watch the people in the white shirts or the ball itself.