This blog is just a grab bag of thoughts and useful links. However, as the name suggests it may be interpreted by some as a wee bit challenging, if not, activist. Hence the use of the term "Left" in the title.
The views expressed are strictly my own. The mention of any software or service is not to be taken as an endorsement or criticism.
When it really hits home that there are a finite number of days to live, it is not only profound, it begs the question: "Was life worth it?".
I'll get to my answer in a moment, but boy do you start reevaluating everything in your life and surroundings from my totally different perspective. Considering things like:
Should long multiyear projects be undertaken?
Is it really worth buying that large big-ticket item?
Since the end of life is now more than an abstract concept, each day becomes "a limited time event". How to spend that time wisely?
The list goes on from there, and the closer one examines it, the clearer it becomes that life is a pretty unusual state to be in. Or perhaps, to put it another way, the very act of considering the above questions, and being conscious about doing so is incredibly inspiring. There-I have just given you my answer to the question "What It's like Worth It?"-"Hell, Yes!" - The good and bad.
Perplexing, only I think the bad was just as important as the good parts of life. When considering the negative experience as a whole after the fact. By definition, you are not going to get anything positive out of the negative experience while you're in the middle of it, unless you literally stepped out of the experience for a moment to consider it from another viewpoint. It is all about taking stock of life; the whole experience. Not being a passive passenger but as engaged with life as much as you can be. That is my take away if I was asked to sum up my reading of existence and it would be a 10 😊😊.
I think it is very important, especially as we are now dealing with more and more technology that is impersonal and literally reformatting the social norm that everyone periodically take stock of their life and if you don't find it is worth it so far make changes to make it a worthwhile experience. These need not be huge changes. Often it starts with a slight mind set adjustment. Take a look at what your preceding to be true automatically. Is it negative or is it positive?. There are quite a few articles on this blog about this topic, I'll link to a few here.
Funny how this article started out being about the limited number of days before us, meaning of course, "me" and is transformed itself into a short article on how to appreciate life. At least my approach to getting more from life and it is really pretty simple:
Pay attention.
Don't do things automatically.
Change your routines regularly and then occasionally change that. Become irregular for a little while.
If you are uncomfortable with the idea of "change" consider why that seems to be the case. Often it is based on a misconception about the change itself.
Okay that's it for this brief Saturday article. Have a good day and of course let me know what you think. Patrick
Some people become enthusiastic regularly. While others just never reach thier "Ignition Point".
I have noticed this to be the case in my surroundings, but I think it's true of the wider world as well. Once again, it boils down to a few simple differences in general outlook and expectations of life.
Enthusiastic people are:
Curious. They want to know why something works a certain way. They desire a deeper understanding and are enthusiastic about the undertaking of learning.
"Change" is one of their favourite words as well as an action. They innately understand that the world and their life changes frequently. Usually in subtle ways, but sometimes in overwhelming ways. The key is that they welcome and accept this fact.
It is innately understood that the personality and perhaps the very person will change throughout their lifetime. Remaining static and holding onto the old ways is not one of their goals. This point is one of the most important aspects of their character. It is understood that nothing is permanent. Everything about life is in flux.
Unenthusiastic people don't share the above-mentioned points.
There is a false belief that they will remain the same, throughout life. That their character as it is today, will always be. Furthermore they actively will avoid change. Sometimes they will put quite a bit of effort into staying static.
They prefer staying "Comfortable", within known boundaries. This means that they eventually will become very frustrated because things naturally change around them. Yet they will profess a desire to experience or acquire new things. This is a contradiction, you can't avail yourself the benefits of new things unless you come out of your boundaries.
The result of these two behaviors , "staying the same" and remaining "comfortable" means that they don't grow and will retreat into past memories while limiting the negatives they perceive in the modern world. I think this condition has been brought about by the simple fact that in today's world there is nothing that really forces the human being to go outside of their comfort zone. There is no need to hunt, or seek shelter. 100 years ago this was definitely not the case, a person had to avail themselves of opportunities if they wanted to survive.
So, the message is clear. If you are sincerely seeking enthusiasm in your life. You must embrace change and acknowledge that the person you believe you are today will not be the person up tomorrow. You may not the comfortable with change but in order to grow it is a necessary fact which must be undertaken. Do this and the enthusiasm for things in your life will begin to appear.
Have a great day everyone and of course take care. Patrick
** NOTE: The picture displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service"
and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed
by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their
terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.
The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.
I find it very strange, that I keep running into people who emphatically tell me they don't like change-they like routine. These aren't elderly people either, their ages run the gamut. If this article has one point, it is that I believe the unexpected is it very necessary component of a full life.
The best creativity comes about when something unanticipated is thrown into the mix. Which can result in an "Aha!" moment. Indeed, I think the whole concept of the unexpected is underappreciated. Some people will avoid the uncertain situations at all cost. This is the wrong way to approach life. One needs to embrace the opportunity that potentially comes from the unexpected. From the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Röntgen to the creation of WD-40 Which actually stands for "Water Displacement formula 40" lubricant, the "unanticipated"has always played a role in the creative process. (For an in-depth article in the creation of WD-40, see this wonderful article "Who Invented WD-40?" on the "Today I Found Out" website.)
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen looking into a fluoroscope (X-ray screen) placed in front of a
man's body and seeing the ribs and the bones of the arm. Chromolithograph Date:1896/1900
Wilhelm Roentgen's Realization of the practical application of x-rays wasn't the focus of his 1895 experiments. However, when he saw that they could permeate solid matter and cause a chemically treated paper to fluoresce, it was definitely an "Aha!" moment. His mind was open to unexpected ideas.
Have you ever had an idea not work out, but that very failure inspires you in a new way to solve the problem?
An unexpected situation can have the benefit of shaking you off of a limited train of thought, that is by injecting something new into your experience . In computer science especially when generating random numbers, there is the concept of a "seed value" it is a random number you pick to start the program going and it can dramatically alter the results you get. This is not the part of the day I where you ask a question this is on a more fundamental level that affects how the program initially approaches the problem. This would be equivalent to giving it something unexpected. Therefore the results are completely different.
So whether it be random numbers or an unexpected situation the influence of the unpredictable cannot be understated. I would go farther and argue that it is necessary to keep an unpredictable component in your life just so that one does not suck. I once had a friend who was great for doing this,"being random", he would burst through my door at all times of the day or night with some of the craziest ideas or adventures. Everything normal would occasionally go right out the door and I had more adventures and meant more unique people than I would've ever imagined if this person had not been part of my life. Sadly, they passed away a long time ago, but I still remember the lessons learned. Which can be summarized as follows:
"Be thankful for the unexpected. This is where life grows."
Having said this however underscores just how important the "unexpected and surprising" is. Without them it can be difficult to go beyond your boundaries. One tends to stay with what they know and you can't just say "Okay The Unknown, surprised me was something new."Probably because you can't anticipate what is outside of your own experience. The random conditions have to combine in order to create the unanticipated. One might be able to engineer part of but there always must be a random component.
I have spent the last few days wandering the Internet and books in order to add some unique items to this article. Things that would really underscore the usefulness of the unexpected.
At the beginning of this article I mentioned WD-40. It is without a doubt one of the most well-known products for, lubricating, cleaning, and rust removal. With an endless list of uses. (See the WD-40 Blog.) The thing is though that is not why it was created. It was supposed to be a water repellent used on the Atlas rockets to reduce rust while they sat in their silos. It was a accidental discovery about the lubricating aspect and fortunately the developers realize this. Again the unexpected played a role. While I was reading up on the history I decided to ask my local AI software to draw me a picture. I told it to "Draw a can of WD-40 in the style of Atlas rocket." What it came up with was totally unexpected.
Output from an AI when asked to combine an Atlas rocket with a can of WD-40.
A few weeks ago I bought myself a 360° camera. The device captures everything around you and converted into an MP4 video file.See the companion YouTube video for several examples of the 360 camera in use. There's also 15 second long example video on this post.
If you are unfamiliar with this type of camera here is a very short, 15 second video clip. It should be noted that the camera uses two lenses mounted on either side of the device and I am not moving the camera at all. The panning affect is done with software. It's a little crude I am still learning, but you will get the idea.
The 360 camera used in the clip and longer video. Insta 360 X4
Here is the companion video to this article. There are a few much longer clips from the new 360 camera. What became immediately clear to me in reviewing the footage was how much is missed as one proceeds through their day. I was surprised by how much was going on that I was completely unaware of. This is the "unexpected" again and it gives my creativity a real boost.
The lesson to be learned here it is then, when you noticed your creativity beginning to dry up start in on something new. Whether that be learning a new skill or exploring some terrain. Also be prepared to go back and reevaluate your daily life, there are most likely many things that you just haven't noticed. Being in the moment can be great for focusing and and calming oneself down, but don't get in the habit of defaulting to a particular mode of living life. Experience in the world are very diverse. Indulge in the mysterious and unexpected opportunities they afford.
Take care and as always feel free to leave comments.
"You have to give yourself a break from all the Connected Chatter". Take some time to do only what you want to do.
On the weekends I disconnect. All the technological goodies and all the notifications on the various devices get turned off. I have only a few things on an emergency list that can get through. Aside from that, the world can wait until Monday.
This does not mean that I put down all the technology, rather I focus on what I want to do, and I mentally let go of the rest of the world. Funny thing is, I did this mostly by accident. One day I discovered that I didn't have my phone with me as I was wandering around, and it was really no big deal. I also noticed that once I knew it wasn't there the psychological relief of knowing it wouldn't ring was profound.
I am now quite comfortable with leaving it in my bag even when it's on and I'm out and about on the weekdays. That's how things started with a single device, namely "The Phone". With that change I also noticed that I didn't need other things as well. My computer pretty much goes on hiatus for large chunks of the weekend or if I am using it is to create something because I want to create it. For example the image of the rows at the top of this page. (There is also an animated version here, but be forewarned it is very large and may not display on older devices. This is why it's on its own separate page so someone doesn't accidentally load it 💣
"You have to give yourself a break from all the Connected Chatter". Take some time to do only what you want to do.
This is a very short post for the simple reason that there is not much when needs to do to achieve this little piece of mind. Just put down all the distractions. It is okay to do that you know :-)
A little bit about the Rose. It was created on a Saturday by using a little bit of off-line, not connected to the Internet, AI. I was so impressed and I just had to find a use for it and who knows it may end up as a " Displate" someday. I'm not sure the colours would reproduce properly but will see. I am convinced that I by hand disconnected from all my responsibilities for that weekend I may not have come up with the idea for the rows. But it sure was fun making it.
Take care Patrick
PS: If you love graphics and photos, over the years I have added many articles to this blog featuring the images here is one such article. Many of the photos can be downloaded in their original hi resolution for printing or whatever you like.
This article has been written over a few weeks, and therefore has changed direction slightly from beginning to end. The core of the article still remains intact and he is very much about people losing the ability to be flexible and insightful in their thought and actions. Choosing instead in many cases to go for the quick fix even though it misses a lot of the detail and depth. It doesn't matter what the topic of discussion is about people just want the answer quickly.
Personally, I love understanding the details and find it rather sad that we are going through this, faster, shallower time. From my perspective it is working through the details to gain greater understanding where a person really grows. It is not enough to know the answer, to really benefit one must understand how the answer was arrived at. The current buzz phrase is "Artificial Intelligence" and I have seen article after article praising it in this application or that application. Let us be clear, even if A.I. has some spectacular uses, people must not forget how to understand and ultimately learn so that indeed you can benefit the most from the use of artificial intelligence. It is not just the answer that matters, it is the details that make up the answer.
Take for example the photo at the top of this article: at first glance it is an old rusting truck but there are many other details contained within the photo that tell the story. Depending on your interpretation of the image the story can be dramatically different but as you examine all of the items and aspects your understanding will grow. A side note to this photo is it was taken many years ago but my father. He had a habit of just taking a photo of something that caught his eye and I think this is one of those cases. I came across it in a collection of old slides about 20 years ago when I had the presence of mind to scan it. We can be fairly certain that the photograph was taken in Canada and that's about all I know. Still something about it caught my father's attention… We will never know what it was… Perhaps the time of day the colours and shadows in the image. In the next few days I will post to this article the full size original scan. For now though consider the thought that went into not only the photograph but the actual creation of the vehicles depicted. There was absolutely no AI back then involved. The truck itself looks like it's from the 1950s which would mean that only be designs would be and calculated and drawn up. Think of the mental process that the people had and employed to make it all come together. It is truly inspiring to know that throughout history the human race has been able to repeatedly achieve remarkable things. Yes we still have to adapt… That is a good thing. There will be a time however when we have a choice in regards to artificial intelligence, however at this time...
Like it or not, we are still in an age where we must adapt to the machine.
People are loosing their ability to adapt to new situations and they are doing so willingly.
In the last five years I have noticed a real degeneration in people's expectations.
They are self-centred and usually quite extreme regardless of context.
There appears to be a real lack of the amount of time or effort involved.
There is an assumption that technology or someone else's work will take care of any aspect of their idea they don't want to address .
They believe that using AI means that everything will be done perfectly.
Boy do I have news for them. More than ever, people need to improve their adaptability and social IQ. We are not living in a small cloistered community anymore. Unlike previous generations, all the benefits and issues are going to require people to be flexible and more aware. With greater achievement always comes greater responsibilities and it's not the other way around.
Society is going to have to begin to look at it entirely new paradigms. As I write this the USA is going through some very, very turbulent and destructive events. This is largely due to old attitudes and ways of perceiving the world. In a way this is the late 1960s all over again except that the upheaval is being caused by a very small group of old guard individuals.
These individuals are unwilling to adapt and what I see is that many people are being swayed emotionally to at least some of their ways of thinking. This is dangerous. The world is not what it was 100 years ago or even 50 years ago. You cannot go back because what you recall is a "simpler time" never existed. Every step in human history was and will be complicated and require the individuals of the society to be involved. When you invoke the idea of a simpler time you are just cherry picking the pleasant parts of the past.
This trend toward being more inflexible and one's attitude also has other side effects. If we approach one's lifestyle with such an attitude we may not only ignore danger signs but impact the quality of one's life as well. I mention this in the video when someone I know insists on drinking 11 cancel the pop per day and regardless of the health consequences. True that is an extreme situation but it is an extreme example worth mentioning because settler behaviours are occurring in society. People adopt a perception about the world and stick to it blindly. This is not a good way of getting the benefits from life and is ultimately extremely self limiting.
Anything worth doing well, takes time and this is the other component that I see people shying away from. Don't look for the quick fix. It doesn't exist. You must be involved in whatever endeavour you undertake and if it is a large event in your life by the time you are through it you will have changed. Usually this is a positive change because to encompass a great idea means you must understand things to a greater detail than you did when you started your endeavour. But again this takes time and a great deal of effort.
Don't assume that technology will come to the rescue and do all the things you don't want to do. You want to do as much as you can because this is how you broaden your horizons. Doing anything less leaves you at a risk of not understanding a part of your endeavour. It would be like learning only the rudimentary parts of a language and not understanding the subtleties involved in the phrasing which might lead you to some very unexpected results.
"For best results, be prepared to adapt to the machine, and in this case the machine is life itself."
Stay involved everyone. Stay flexible in your outlook and critically consider all that you hear and read.
Many years ago I read a book called "Using Your Brain for a Change" (I've mentioned that book previously on this blog because it is so good. See the article: "Do we all live in our own abridged reality?") One of the things it pointed out was you don't normally react to a situation it self, what you react to initially is your perception of the situation. That is, if you think a particular food is going to taste bad then it very likely will.
Using Your Brain--For a Change: Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) By Richard Bandler
Publisher: Real People Press Year : 1985 ISBN numbers: 9780911226263, 9780911226270, 0911226265, 0911226273
People tend to bring their reality into alignment with their belief system. And one's belief system can be very, very powerful. But many of us don't realize it, because our belief system is not often scrutinized. For the most part it's on autopilot and doing what ever it likes. It's also very fast, especially when taking the form of an emotion. In such a case, your conscious mind has been conditioned to just follow along. Whether you like it or not.
So the first thing to do is pay attention to how aware you are of your surroundings. This is the beginning step of taking your self off autopilot. Just stop right now for example, and take stock of what there is to notice. Do this a few times throughout the day. Then consider if you have any opinions about what you've noticed:
Is there anything you would like to change?
Are there any unexpected reactions to your environment when you actually pay conscious attention to it?
Just this simple act of taking yourself off autopilot can yield so much information. I recommend you don't go overboard but just pick one or two things to modify or perhaps make notes on.
Now, for Those Hidden Habits:
Have you ever found yourself in a position where you have a straightforward task to perform and yet even before starting you fear that you will fail to complete it?
Taking an initial great idea and becoming overly worried about it because of perceived fear some aspect is going to have a greater impact in reality than it usually does. This habit has an effect that I bet you never thought about.
It keeps you from taking a risk, and risk is built into all new endeavours. Even though you may become this frustrated as hell. It is possible that subconsciously part of you is relieved. The trouble is unless you address what you are feeling and begin to deconstruct it, this automatic "kill switch" will just keep firing whenever a new endeavour or idea wonders by.
I talked with many people were very frustrated because in their own words "I can never get anything off the ground. The more I try the more frustrated I become a mineralogist give up." After a little more investigation most of the time it is revealed that they start with the initial idea and then they keep building requirements on to it. Before they know it may become overwhelmed.
The thing to do in this situation is take the first simple and thereby doable version of the idea and implement that. Instead of trying to get the concept perfect. This is one of the best ways to start things. Frequently, my article start with the simplest of ideas and rather than waiting until I got some sort of Mangum openness, I type the first sentence into the online editor of my blog. That gets me going, and because it actually creates a draft entry of the article on the site it makes it just a little bit more real. Now, not all ideas come to fruition. Sometimes I find other sites covering the same topic and doing much better job. In which case I may simply reference them in an later article. Sometimes what seemed as a great idea doesn't hold water the next day. It's is all part of my creative process. The big point here is that you start with whatever you've got.
This also conditions you to not overthinking everything and actually getting something off the ground. Over 12 years ago when I started this blog it sat dormant for many years and then one day boat four years ago I just decided to start adding content and now we are at 165 articles. They are not all by any means literary masterpieces, but slowly and surely I am getting better at this and the monthly views are following suit. At this point in time I can't even remember why I started the site and that doesn't matter. What matters is I enjoy what I'm doing and I know in a small way I am adding content and value to the good old Internet😀
So don't think too much about a new idea but take steps toward a small goal as fast as you can. That helps keep it real and gets you going on whatever the adventure is.
The other thing I hear a great deal when talking with people is ingrained automatic habits that they are barely aware of . These habits can have great effects both positive and negative. Here's an example:
A coffee lover who has an important event in next day. Normally they enjoy their Java throughout the day. But in this case the night before and have to be alert at their event they drink double the amount of coffee. Because that is what to do when they're nervous. Of course but they don't always realize is that they are guaranteeing themselves to have a bad night's rest. Breaking this little habit for them is very challenging. They have relied on this mechanism for a long time. Even though it is totally counterproductive and works against them ultimately.
This same scenario can take different forms but you get the idea. Small little habits that don't seem to be harmful at all and yet if you're not totally aware of what you're doing these little routines can spell a guaranteed scuttling of your ship. So start tracking what you're doing will you go throughout your day especially when you're in stressful moments. I have a feeling you are going to find a few of these little habits kicking around and actually ingrained behaviour can become someone conscious that the only way you know it's there is because of your emotional reaction.
Take care,and as usual feel free to leave comments.
It has taken a long time for me to realize that I have a "magic potion for success". What follows is a list of ingredients:
⭐Act on the idea in some way immediately. This can be jotting down the concept or making a quick recording, but to make a permanent record of your inspiration. In enough detail so that you can fully remember the train of thought leader. This does not mean you have to write the entire book now but so many great ideas get lost in our busy world.
⭐Recognize that this will take time to fully evolve and make plans for ways to get back on track should life throw you a curve ball. The best ideas can take a long time to fully flush out. So be realistic and be prepared to reevaluate things as you go along. Very often an idea can evolve to include many more aspects. If necessary rather than trying to create an all-encompassing project, limit it to an achievable outcome. It may be the first of many versions and that's fine.
⭐Sometimes along the way of your journey you find that the idea has completely changed. Again, there's nothing wrong with that. Take a look at your expectations and if the new version fits within those boundaries, continue the project.
⭐If it is a long undertaking deliberately insert appropriate breaks. Even with the best big ideas it is healthy to step away for a while. Nothing hampers creativity like burnout. Burnout can best be avoided by diversifying the activities you undertake. It doesn't matter how much you like your project, if it becomes all-consuming for too long the quality will suffer and probably so will you. Everybody has an activity they become very enthusiastic about and spend many hours at it but please watch out for burnout and take appropriate action. Usually your friends or loved ones will start sending you signals ahead of time that you need to come out for a breath of fresh air. So keep your options open.
⭐⭐Bonus point: Expect to change. All major events change you. One of the things people forget when we are planning for success is that, they will fundamentally be different if they succeed. Perhaps and only a small way but you will have changed. So plan for it. It's analogous to going from childhood, to adolescence and then finally to adulthood. At each step of the way you were different. Success in your endeavour will change you.
There you have it. My short recipe for success in almost any undertaking. Like all good ideas it need not be long or complex to express.
As usual leave comments and take care. Patrick
NOTE: **Source of image at the top of this article. This image has been very stylized by myself using Corel Paint Shop Pro. I was browsing through Google image search when this photo from an eBay auction appeared. I remembered almost the exact model sitting in my grandmother's kitchen. When the idea for this short article occurred to me this seemed like a perfect image. No copyright or rights infringement is intended.
In the last two days I have had several people sitting me things like "oh this is too hard..." or "this was supposed to be easy." and "I hate ' XYZ' because it is hard." (Implying that they won't even try doing the task because they perceive it to be difficult.)
Challenge and difficulty are essential components of life. Without them, a person over time will in some sense literally de-evolve, they will lose basic skills. This is a self evident statement. People were much better doing basic mathematics before the calculator as an obvious example. But we are now entering a time in society where people expect things to be easy all the time. This has me worried and honestly surprised.
Now, I understand the natural desire to take the simpler road, especially if it makes your life smoother, but just not all the time. The default choice must not be the path of least resistance. Difficulty has its benefits and they are usually long term. It keeps you engaged with the idea of growing, whether the perceived difficulty is undertaking a new field of study or doing something that is different and perhaps slightly uncomfortable, as most new things are.
It is not so much what you learn or experience, it is the tools you discover along the way which can be used in different contexts to solve other challenges. One can only be a good problem solver if they have run into a few problems in the first place. Personally I love a good challenge and my boss knows this 😀. Sometimes he will just give me a task and let me dig through it. I am very lucky to have a volunteer job which has the latitude built in to do this. That does not mean there are deadlines, it means there is the breathing room to explore.
I totally admit that, I like difficulty, with the qualification that said difficulty has to be meaningful and have a goal. At the very least there needs to be a possibility of resolution. The process as always is a learning process and that is what I really personally enjoy. I'm taking a computer science and Python course on Brilliant.org and I must admit I'm having a blast. It is nice to feel the brain cells "stretching" and hopefully multiplying in the process.
What I don't understand is why people now seem to be averse to learning and working through the process of gaining new knowledge. But some people really are reticent on this point. I have seen people get very angry and I honestly don't get their reaction. The human brain is ment to learn, but we appeared will learned a weird lesson, that the act of learning itself is not good… "What is going on?! " is my usual reaction. Where is this behaviour coming from? More importantly how can we turn people back on to learning and undertaking challenge?
Here are some answers that have occurred to me and of course, the list is incomplete and I may be totally wrong. Let me know in the comments.
People need to take some time to get to know their reflexive behaviours. To question why they are having said reaction. In short get to know themselves a little bit better. This does not mean they have to become a Buddhist monk or undertake some grand therapy. Just not be so externalized. Stop reacting instantaneously to everything around themselves and ask is the reaction doing anything positive for themselves. Then they can understand why they are resistant to undertaking a challenge.
Think about what the end goal is. If it is too vague like "I want to make money easily." Then it would be impossible to start because there is no central idea and thereby no way to know when you're at the end of the goal. Keeping a task vague guarantees to keep it difficult. If you find yourself in this situation take a look at why you are being so big in the first place about the idea. This point relates to other points in this list but it cannot be understated.
Getting over their biases against difficulty. Yes, some things are just difficult and rather than complaining about it being difficult one just has to undertake what ever the activity is. Sometimes to discover that once started the perceived challenge is not such a big deal. But they do have to start the process.
Things take time to accomplish. Especially if it involves changing preconceptions, and one may have to start with very small steps. The trick here is to keep one's eye on the goal. If the goal is to vague then I suggest putting it down to something definable.
Lastly make a plan on what to do if something interrupts this process.
Often it's as simple as making
a promise to yourself that should something get in the way temporarily
that you will just pick up where you left off. It may take a few tries
before you see progress toward resolving the challenge. All good things
are worth fighting for.😀
I had a friend who for many years wanted to write a science fiction story and had aspirations of selling thousands of copies of their literary masterpiece. The trouble less than ever sat down and went through the above list, rather they always spoke about the ultimate outcome. This went on for years until eventually they just gave up. When I reflected on this memory it was obvious that they never told me what the story was about, and I didn't realize it at the time because of all the enthusiasm they showed.
So if I had to boil all this down to one point, I would say: "Embrace the Difficulty!"
I have made the following 21.6 x 27.94cm (8.5 x 11 inch) poster which prints nicely on a standard sheet of paper. Feel free to download and print it. Clicking on the image will download the 9 MB JPEG image file from my Google Drive. It is detailed enough to enlarge well beyond that paper size as well.
Click the picture to download a printable version on your computer.
You can now purchase the poster printed on steel. The steel finish makes it quite unique. Available in three sizes. For more information please visit my "Displate" page at: https://displate.com/patrickclarkg
Okay that about does it for this article. Feel free to watch the included video it covers essentially the same thing.
In 12 months time what would you like to achieve, that is by the year 2026?
Many, many people and an equal number of articles are written every year in January regarding New Year's Eve resolutions, but have you ever thought of sitting a goal and a timeline to assist in achieving the objective? As well as a backup plan should something get in your way.
I learned many years ago that when something is difficult it is actually a good sign because it means that transformation of one sort or another is being achieved. Human beings I absolutely hate changing preferring to stay in their default mode no matter what it is. Even if that default situation is very unpleasant for them. So as you progress through 2025, if you find things uncomfortable recognize that there may be something from the event. Modify your plans as needed but do not give up, and if you have to put something on hold, then do that but do not see it as a defeat. Simply make a promise to yourself to revisit it when you can.
For myself I just started an introductory computer science course and my ongoing goal is to slowly learn a variety of languages. I am not holding myself to a strict schedule but deliberately keeping things very pliable only promising to myself that I will return to the course as many times as necessary in order to achieve success. Because as I have learned in the last few years and overly strict schedule simply does not work when one's life is complicated and very susceptible to interruptions. Therefore my approach is to literally say "The interruptions are not a negative. They simply need to be where they're occurring. I have a commitment to myself to move on when ever possible." I shall alter whatever needs to be altered in order to achieve this goal.
I think a great deal of life can be approached in a similar fashion and by that I mean, not to overly critique your self in pursuit of the goal. But do keep a timeline and a commitment adjusting things as necessary.
That's it for this very short post. It's the first one of 2025. Many more articles and ideas to come in the upcoming days. Stay tuned in 2025 and make your own adventurers be fruitful.
First, let's define what I consider "patience" to me:
It is not just the willingness to wait for something to complete or happen.
It is about being comfortable and open to the passage of time.
It is about understanding that people and things occur at different rates.
It is also about understanding one's self and others around you.
That last point (number 4 ) is really interesting and important. If you find yourself in the state of being impatient. That means that something about the situation you are in is bothering you and it is not usually as apparent as you first may think.
When I was in my mid-20s even though due to a disability I was physically slower, I would frequently get angry at people who didn't understand concepts as quickly as I could. This was missed place frustration at the physical limitations imposed by my condition. It took a long time, but what I finally discovered was the key for me is that you must be willing to go beyond your personal perceptions and consider for a moment the larger picture. Once I properly understood my physical frustrations, the impatient situations began to decrease.
So when you feel impatient about something, take a moment to look at your bigger picture. I bet you will find that there is some other component not being addressed. This is actually a very big lesson to learn: To continually alter the way you look at things. It is actually a good habit and one worth developing.No one likes to go outside of their comfort zone, so this lesson did take me a long time to really "get".
Judgements about people can also manifest as impatiences. To cover the fact that we are judging someone we simply feel impatient. Here, the answer is to look inside oneself to see what is motivating any particular feeling.
Learn not to take things personally. You are not the centre of the universe. Adults and children are spending far less time with each other in social activities. So we get used to dramatic feedback in everything from games to YouTube and this can result in a very insecure personality. Emotionally such individuals develop a need to be focused upon all the time. This is a recipe for disaster. Conversely if one understands that they are part of a larger community and that communities go through various cycles and changes you will find that there is no need to get an "Attention-Hit". So turn off the computer and spent some time with your fellow human beings. The insecurity will disappear replaced by a healthy sense of balance.
The more you understand about your self, the more you will grow and the more you will learn. The ability to be patient will grow and grow. You will also know when on occasion to not be patient. The point is you will know what true patience is.
As with all things in life, cultivating "patience" takes effort and commitment. For some of you it will not come easily because it will inevitably involve challenging yourself and your belief systems on some level. To truly understand what patience is, is indeed a journey. I can guarantee you that as you go through life your definition will change. But it is well worth the ongoing undertaking.
As always, feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think. Take care, Patrick
** NOTE: The pictures "Image generated by Ideogram AI" displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service"
and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed
by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their
terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.
The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.
A special thanks to Paul Stenning at The Heathkit Schematic and Manual Archive, which is where I found the Heathkit material mentioned in both the article and video.
What Have We Done to the Written Word?
Have Articles, News Stories, Books and other documents become too brief and chopped up to be truly useful to anyone looking up information?
On March 11, 2023, I wrote a short blog post entitled "Oh, for the Love of Manuals!" regarding the decline in quality of manuals and the written word in general. Not only is it sad to see the discipline of writing go downhill, I am now of the opinion that the lack of good quality material whether it be factual or storytelling has an effect on the whole person.
A lack of explanation results in ambiguity.
Think about it, an abridged piece of writing demonstrates how the author's thought processes functions. Usually showing off lack of depth about the topic at hand. Sometimes the author's train of though can be fallowed, while at other times the lack of detail is frustrating for the reader. I was perusing a manual the other day and part way through the text they they showed a screen capture of an icon. Nowhere in the text did they define whet where this icon was in the program, much less give it a name and it was a bad screen capture to boot. How did this pass into the final printing of this book? I know people like to be able to zero in on snippets of a document now, but sometimes a little more detail would certainly help. Here's an example of the icon from the manual.(Now that the image has been enlarged by four times, I can just see enough detail to recognize the icon.)
Enlarged image of icon shown.
Nowhere in the book does it name the icon, it just says what it does, and really, can you tell what it is?--I can't.
Even if your preferred choice of format is audiobooks the same issue holds true. The difference in writing in the literature created only 30 years ago is astounding. Listen to this introduction from Carl Sagan's book "Pale Blue Dot" (or read it via the Open Library). The video below is hosted on YouTube and is part of the " carlsagandotcom" channel The wording used is eloquent and accessible, whether it is read or listened to this text is inspiring. Carl Sagan took the time to describe his vision. He didn't optimize the ideas for fast consumption, nor did he make any assumptions on what the reader already knew. This is why this three minute clip from YouTube is so widely appreciated. It is a story unto itself. When was the last time you heard or read something like this? This is writing,and it achieves its goal of informing fully and inspiring.
Imagine the textbooks Carl Sagan and others read when they were going through their various courses. Difficult to read perhaps by present-day standards, but well worth the effort. Even the illustrations would be well thought out in books and manuals, for example from a 1961 Heathkit: manual. In less than a page it describes clearly the technique for proper soldering. Click the picture to enlarge:
The writing and diagrams in this manual is simply marvellous. Dare I say it is bursting with well-written information.
So how did we get from concise written guidance to "blurry icons"? One thing is for sure, in the soldering example, it is not assumed that the reader knows anything. Whereas in the blurry icons scenario the text assumes that that the reader does. It is to the point where they don't even describe the blurry image. Clearly we have gone too far in the direction of making everything a snippet of knowledge... at least they could've provided a keyboard shortcut 😀.
This overly abbreviated trend in the media and knowledge industry also has a side effect on how people learn. Especially if they are only exposed to abbreviated documents as they are beginning to think critically. Indeed how as Google and other search engines affected the way people educate themselves and the depth to which that knowledge goes, or lack of thereof.
Here's a question: How much time do you think has been invested in creating this text so far? The answer is over two hours (and a good eight hours later I am still at it) . Why, because first the soldering example had to be found, checked for copyright, and edited graphically from two printed pages down to one graphic. So even though I use voice dictation which makes entering the text for the most part rather painless, there is a fair bit of work that goes into these kind of things. The Internet is not a place to just upload things without checking. Not if you want your content to last.
But this article really is about the thought processes that are going on, as related to the use of knowledge and actually how we think. The depth to which those thoughts go and the understanding that is the result.
I marvel at minds that can seemingly just absorb and understand information. For me it's a much more effort intensive thing. I may have to go over something several times in order to really grasp the concepts. I do this willingly because it is only then your horizons expand. The other reality that must be accounted for is that everything takes time. Even though we may want to get something completed quickly, quality must trump everything else even when we are on a deadline at least to some extent. Yep in other words quality takes work.
Which brings up another point: With the ability now days for people to, how shall I put this, " Copy and Paste " just about everything you really have to resist that urge, because it can make the quality of the final product go down the toilet if one is not careful. (Have you looked at YouTube lately 👀 . Somebody post something original and within hours there are legions of copycats). However the creators that do put in the work and I can think of a few that only post every few weeks, really do come out far ahead.
To sum up. In order for people to do better in their lives they should seek out more detailed explanations and experiences. Do your best to try to get away from the "brief answer" mindset. In the long run you will benefit greatly and the experience you gain will even make your own brief answers better than the rest when you need to use them. And at the end of the day your brain will thank you 🙏.
Have a great day Patrick....
PS: Wait! This article is about to get a little longer with an example of the downsides of the overly brief approach to writing.
As many of you know I usually try to produce a short video to go along with each article. It takes time but usually the process follows smoothly. This time around however I decided to use a new tool to create the end credits of the video. I like to include all of my sources and licensing information just to keep things transparent. I wanted to create a scroll of text which included still images. My video editor was not up to the task so I decided to use an add on which according to its brief description could do exactly what I want.
The documentation however is a disaster and that includes the video tutorials all except for a few which ultimately saved the day. Most of the documentation was overly segmented and again assumed the reader was fully versed in the philosophy of use for this particular software. A simple scroll with pictures took about a week to do, and I don't know how many articles and videos I watched and read. Fortunately once I found a good bunch of videos the project was completed within the hour.
The point this_so is that all of the information is segmented and fragmented. Did the company who created the software ever sit down and really consider who the product and documentation was aimed at.?… I don't think so, and even the official material is fragmented. I'm avoiding mentioning the product name simply because it is not about the product, it is about the information supporting the product. Perhaps though the most annoying aspect of this hunt for information was the fact that the online documentation does not mention what version the information applies to.,and like all software, there are different versions over time and between computers. So I'm begging anyone who reads this… If you write documentation, please indicate right off the bat the version numbers it applies to.
The other issue is that maybe it's more a case of a fault of the search engines. A friend last night was mentioning that now days in 2024 it is much harder to find the information you are looking for online.
