"Believe nothing because someone else believes it. But believe only what you yourself judge to be true." -Buddha
"Everything you do right now ripples outward and affects everyone. Your posture can shine your heart or transmit anxiety. Your breath can radiate love or muddy the room in depression. Your glance can awaken joy. Your words can inspire freedom. Your every act can open hearts and minds. " -David Deida
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Today's Quote
"Listen closely...the eternal hush of silence goes on and on throughout all this, and has been going on, and will go on and on. This is because the world is nothing but a dream and is just thought of and the everlasting eternity pays no attention to it." -Jack Kerouac
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Quotes I would add to the list...
"In the end these things matter most: How well did you love? How fully did you love? How deeply did you learn to let go?" - Buddha
"Try to be like the turtle--at ease in your own shell." - Bill Copeland
"My advice is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it is on your plate." - Thornton Wilder
"Try to be like the turtle--at ease in your own shell." - Bill Copeland
"My advice is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it is on your plate." - Thornton Wilder
Quotes that were on my wall at work...
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Krishnamurti
"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world." - Hans Margolius
"In mountain light, all sounds
return to silence.
All that remains, the temple
bell." - Ch'ang Chien
"The fruit drops when it is ripe." - Zen saying
"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly understood; an in convenience is only an adventure wrongly considered." - G. K. Chesterton
"The world is not to be put in order. The world is order. It is us to put ourselves in unison with this order." - Henry Miller
"Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf." - Native American proverb
"Most people believe the mind to be a mirror, more of less accurately reflecting the world outside them, not realizing on the contrary that they mind is itself the principal element of creation." - Rabinranath Tagore
"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world." - Hans Margolius
"In mountain light, all sounds
return to silence.
All that remains, the temple
bell." - Ch'ang Chien
"The fruit drops when it is ripe." - Zen saying
"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly understood; an in convenience is only an adventure wrongly considered." - G. K. Chesterton
"The world is not to be put in order. The world is order. It is us to put ourselves in unison with this order." - Henry Miller
"Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf." - Native American proverb
"Most people believe the mind to be a mirror, more of less accurately reflecting the world outside them, not realizing on the contrary that they mind is itself the principal element of creation." - Rabinranath Tagore
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
1st Response to the book "The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made it" by Richard Hofstadter
I found the text dense and difficult to read due to vocabulary. As I worked my way through the new words and deciphered the meaning behind the prose, I developed a new understanding of the Founding Fathers and their motivations. I have to say that their motivations make sense when their personal histories are included. However, they are nonetheless surprising to my unsuspecting mind. Public primary and secondary school do not prepare students to understand our political history in its realistic rather than idealistic form.
I found it strangely comforting and disconcerting that the same comments and arguments are alive today in American politics. Have we not evolved in our philosophies, our ideals? Thomas Jefferson appears to be naïve to think that rewriting a constitution every twenty-five years would be necessary because of our evolution of ideas. We would most likely come up with a similar constitution today as we did in 1776. Or worse, we would sway drastically between ideologies from quarter century to quarter century, as we do every four to eight years. Although, having our countrymen focus on the meaning and form of their constitution periodically throughout their lives may arouse the apathetic to action.
Interestingly, an understanding of the vocabulary is not necessary to form your own opinion of how government should work and how citizens should be involved. My new vocabulary reinforces my opinions by giving them labels from historic movements or schools of thought. In a way, it legitimizes those views and explains the views of my opponents or identifies my natural opponents by linking together ideas my mind had not connected. For instance, a person with currently popular conservative views might naturally be an anti-intellectual. This helps to explain the endless astonishment I experience at the outrageous comments from my aunt regarding her view of society.
At best, I hope this class prepares me to more critically consider the statements of political figures and follow political conversations without being derailed by outlandish statements that I should have known were related. At worst, I will consider myself confident in political discourse and find myself in political arguments that I lack the ability to articulate, as I do now.
I found it strangely comforting and disconcerting that the same comments and arguments are alive today in American politics. Have we not evolved in our philosophies, our ideals? Thomas Jefferson appears to be naïve to think that rewriting a constitution every twenty-five years would be necessary because of our evolution of ideas. We would most likely come up with a similar constitution today as we did in 1776. Or worse, we would sway drastically between ideologies from quarter century to quarter century, as we do every four to eight years. Although, having our countrymen focus on the meaning and form of their constitution periodically throughout their lives may arouse the apathetic to action.
Interestingly, an understanding of the vocabulary is not necessary to form your own opinion of how government should work and how citizens should be involved. My new vocabulary reinforces my opinions by giving them labels from historic movements or schools of thought. In a way, it legitimizes those views and explains the views of my opponents or identifies my natural opponents by linking together ideas my mind had not connected. For instance, a person with currently popular conservative views might naturally be an anti-intellectual. This helps to explain the endless astonishment I experience at the outrageous comments from my aunt regarding her view of society.
At best, I hope this class prepares me to more critically consider the statements of political figures and follow political conversations without being derailed by outlandish statements that I should have known were related. At worst, I will consider myself confident in political discourse and find myself in political arguments that I lack the ability to articulate, as I do now.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Beyond School
So, graduation is looming...well, if a year away is looming. Regardless, my obsessively plotting mind has focused on this distant event for so long, to plan out how I will reach it with plans in ever motion and being refined in the last year. Then as my uneasiness ebbs from trying to swallow just how difficult the plan truly is, I realize that I must have a plan beyond school. I've been attending college for over a decade. What will I be when I am no longer a student and working my way through school? Well, now that is partially answered. I will be an HR professional, with letters and everything. *snicker*
But really... I am finally comfortable with the answer "an artist". That word has meant many fleeting and shallow things over the years to me. It is now, now that I have explored others and myself that I can say an Artist. So, ok, then what?
Well, there is exploring more of myself. There is trying new things. Doing the things I have been too busy to do. There is a marathon or at least running. I tasted the peace and exhileration of running more than a year ago when I did at least try to keep up a physical regimine. Now that I'm fat and out of shape, running has a more obvious appeal. But truly it is the pushing of my limits that gives me great joy in the surprise of me. It creates a unique chance to stand apart and say "wow, you can actually do that." Without it being a question.
Then there is the goal of learning to sing; to express what I cannot say in words alone. But what voice will I find with a soul singing Janis Joplin and vocal cords that emulate Jewel? We shall see...we shall see...
But really... I am finally comfortable with the answer "an artist". That word has meant many fleeting and shallow things over the years to me. It is now, now that I have explored others and myself that I can say an Artist. So, ok, then what?
Well, there is exploring more of myself. There is trying new things. Doing the things I have been too busy to do. There is a marathon or at least running. I tasted the peace and exhileration of running more than a year ago when I did at least try to keep up a physical regimine. Now that I'm fat and out of shape, running has a more obvious appeal. But truly it is the pushing of my limits that gives me great joy in the surprise of me. It creates a unique chance to stand apart and say "wow, you can actually do that." Without it being a question.
Then there is the goal of learning to sing; to express what I cannot say in words alone. But what voice will I find with a soul singing Janis Joplin and vocal cords that emulate Jewel? We shall see...we shall see...
Friday, March 6, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Inconestrate?
We have a cheese purchased at the Green City market that we do not think we will find again.
The handwritten label states,
"Inconestrate
Italy, cow".
A Google search for Inconestrate yielded no results...none at all! When does Google have nothing?
So, I figure that the label might be a little off and go in search of Italian cheeses. Well, that was way too many results...yummy results. Then with a little narrowing of the search to Italian cow cheese I find a website that carefully describes the types of Italian cheeses. This may be a Parmesan cheese after all. But who will ever know?
The handwritten label states,
"Inconestrate
Italy, cow".
A Google search for Inconestrate yielded no results...none at all! When does Google have nothing?
So, I figure that the label might be a little off and go in search of Italian cheeses. Well, that was way too many results...yummy results. Then with a little narrowing of the search to Italian cow cheese I find a website that carefully describes the types of Italian cheeses. This may be a Parmesan cheese after all. But who will ever know?
Parmesan Cheese
Named after the town of Parma in northern Italy, Parmesan is one of the world's most popular and widely-enjoyed cheeses.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Leadership and New Science by Margaret Wheatley (1999)
Here are some quotes from my textbook readings. I find these enlightening in the sense that I'm not the only idiot out there contemplating how systems work. :)
"There is another important paradox in living systems: Each organism maintains a clear sense of its individual identity within a larger network of relationships that helps shape its identity. Each being is noticeable as a separate entity, yet it is simultaneously part of a whole system. While we humans observe and count separate selves, and pay a great deal of attention to the differences that seem to divide us, in fact we survive only as we learn how to participate in a web or relationships. Autopoiesis describes a very different universe, one in which all organisms are capable of creating a "self" through their intimate engagement with all others in their system. This is not a fragile fragmented world that needs us to hold it together. This is a world rich in processes that support growth and coherence through paradoxes that we need to contemplate."
"In a dissipative structure, anything that disturbs the systems plays a crucial role in helping it self-organize into a new form of order. Whenever the environment offers new and different information, the system chooses whether to accept that provocation and respond. This new information might be only a small difference from the norm. But if the system pays attention to this information, it brings the information inside, and once inside that network, the information grows and changes. If the information becomes such a large disturbance that the system can no longer ignore it, then real change is at hand. At this moment, jarred by so much internal disturbance and far from equilibrium, the system will fall apart. In its current form, it cannot deal with the disturbance, so it dissolves. But this disintegration does not signal the death of the system. If a living system can maintain its identity, it can self-organize to a higher level of complexity, a new form of itself that can deal better with the present.
In this way, dissipative structures demonstrate that disorder can be a source of new order, and that growth appears from disequilibrium, not balance. The things we fear most in organizations--disruptions, confusion, chaos--need not be interpreted as signs that we are about to be destroyed. Instead, these conditions are necessary to awaken creativity."
"There is another important paradox in living systems: Each organism maintains a clear sense of its individual identity within a larger network of relationships that helps shape its identity. Each being is noticeable as a separate entity, yet it is simultaneously part of a whole system. While we humans observe and count separate selves, and pay a great deal of attention to the differences that seem to divide us, in fact we survive only as we learn how to participate in a web or relationships. Autopoiesis describes a very different universe, one in which all organisms are capable of creating a "self" through their intimate engagement with all others in their system. This is not a fragile fragmented world that needs us to hold it together. This is a world rich in processes that support growth and coherence through paradoxes that we need to contemplate."
"In a dissipative structure, anything that disturbs the systems plays a crucial role in helping it self-organize into a new form of order. Whenever the environment offers new and different information, the system chooses whether to accept that provocation and respond. This new information might be only a small difference from the norm. But if the system pays attention to this information, it brings the information inside, and once inside that network, the information grows and changes. If the information becomes such a large disturbance that the system can no longer ignore it, then real change is at hand. At this moment, jarred by so much internal disturbance and far from equilibrium, the system will fall apart. In its current form, it cannot deal with the disturbance, so it dissolves. But this disintegration does not signal the death of the system. If a living system can maintain its identity, it can self-organize to a higher level of complexity, a new form of itself that can deal better with the present.
In this way, dissipative structures demonstrate that disorder can be a source of new order, and that growth appears from disequilibrium, not balance. The things we fear most in organizations--disruptions, confusion, chaos--need not be interpreted as signs that we are about to be destroyed. Instead, these conditions are necessary to awaken creativity."
Sunday, March 16, 2008
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