Sometimes Internet slang has actual use.
We face pressure to conform our whole lives. Late in life, however, our tolerance for it diminishes.
We have individual preferences on subjects like art, entertainment, personal activity. Those preferences deserve respect.
I'm adopting the trendy expression: "Don't yuck my yum!"
To all who celebrate, Happy First Contact Day [FCD].
FCD is, of course, the holiday honoring "first contact" between humans and an alien species (the Vulcans) on April 5, 2063. The day also memorializes the historic first warp-speed flight of the Phoenix spacecraft which, as all schoolchildren know, caught the attention of Vulcans flying nearby and led them to land and say hello.
First Contact paved the way for later formation of the United Federation of Planets.
Live long and prosper. 🙂
The Artemis II space-craft will circle the Moon and see its "dark side" -- including areas never seen before by humans. I'm curious what we might find there.
My guess is a restaurant so good that aliens have kept its existence a secret to prevent the place from becoming too popular.
When we're young we experiment with alternate selves, looking for one that fits.
I once donned a carapace of bad-boy bravado (shown above). It felt ridiculous and I quickly abandoned it. But we don't learn without making mistakes.
I've discovered it's fun to circle back to our youth and explore things we enjoyed then in greater depth. Like re-watching old TV shows or reading books by favorite authors.
When I was a teenager I read a few Kurt Vonnegut novels. He was very popular then. I liked "Cat's Cradle", "Slaughterhouse Five" and a few others. But Vonnegut was exceptionally prolific: he wrote fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays and five non-fiction books. There's a lot in his literary oeuvre I haven't touched.
I'm heading over there now. Any suggestions? Did you like any of his books?
Words are like cars: they work better when you use them. And, like cars, they can transport us to new destinations.
My fleet of words are driving me to noetic insights. And I'm learning which parkway exits to take for that knowledge.
Most of my life my equable demeanor concealed a roiling cauldron of fiery emotion. Now, however, as I approach a new town called Serenity, I'm surprised to find beatific smiles on my face that I didn't put there. Mind you, I'm not complaining, just surprised.
A basic problem, it seems, is that humans develop perceptual and conceptual ruts in our thinking as we grow into adulthood. Children don't have this problem: they still view the world with open eyes, unhindered by expectation. But the self we create growing up conquers our consciousness. It hides as much reality from us as it allows to pass through. Adult brains "see" what they expect, not what actually is. This is why most people find it urgent to quickly label and put things in known boxes. Reflexive "non-thinking" diminishes our understanding and our discourse.
I'm learning that it's possible to reduce mental blindness by removing ego from our consciousness. Ironic certainly to hear this from a literally-blind person but the point is true. We can open our minds with various techniques, the most salient of which is becoming aware of our limitations.
Ludwig van Beethoven died on this day (March 26th) almost two centuries ago. His funeral attracted 18,000 mourners who treated him like a king.
Beethoven endured a life of excruciating pain and yet persevered. He chose to live for the opportunity to create music of sublime beauty. A music expert says, "Beethoven is the composer of the human soul. He is our composer."
