A Midwinter Season Of Procrastination

 Time to talk about this notable topic, "Procrastination". I said, in a very short February 2023 post, that "It had reared its ugly head". I can tell from the shortness of the article and the minimal amount of effort I put into the graphic that I must've been really out of sorts in this regard. Probably stalling on many fronts.

Here it is 2026 and the situation is back again, not as bad, but still annoying as hell. It's a good thing I wrote the original post because it does have some good points. For once I'm going to listen to myself. One of the things I'm going to recognize is that I have been keeping this blog going pretty regularly and it is doing quite well averaging around 7000 to almost 8000 visitors a month.

SIDE NOTE: Not bad for a blog that has issues with google's "smart phone spider", which is how they scan  everything today on the Internet. For those of you in the audience that art totally "geeky", a "spider"is simply a program that scans the Internet for new content. It does this by pretending to be a device, in this case a smart phone. When it gets to the site, the blogger server attempts to send it a smart phone compatible webpage and the process by which it does this by makes the Google spider think something fishy is going on so it doesn't like to add page to the Google index. Because of the way blogger is set up there is not much I can do about it. Fortunately, enough of my articles make it through however.

And now back to the topic at hand, procrastination. Where was I… As you can tell this is a very informal post as I just try to work through getting ready to get things done today. Rather than try to do everything my goal today is to focus on only one thing, if possible, because sometimes reality comes along and goes, "Nope. I'm going to fill up your plate."

One more side note. Unlike other websites, I never take anything off this site and so it has become a bit of a historical crucible with articles going way back to 2012.. So if you post a comment, it is here forever and apparently Blogger.com service on which this site depends it's doing quite well. So disciple be around for a long time I think. So while I'm working through my little boat of procrastination please feel free to use a new feature I added if you're using a laptop or tablet you will see at the top of every post a "Read a Random Post" button, feel free to use it is much as you like.

Anyway, I'm getting on with the rest of my day. Take care and their other items (articles) in the queue. So stay tuned for more.

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.

The shift to AI in content creation

 

Image created by  Ideogram AI 

AI has been a boom in content creation, there can be no doubt about that. The graphic at the top of this article was created in about five minutes using a service called Ideogram AI .  But just how far will this trend go. 

The field of AI is still very young and evolving rapidly. No one knows where it will go or whether it will hit a brick wall. My plan is to use it here and there but not over rely on it.  So the question becomes where will AI settle into the scheme of things.I very much enjoy creating graphics and video by hand. There is just something in the process that I find very fulfilling.

This is a very casual article and at this very moment it is more a thought sold the following text is likely to of old over the next few days. One of the things holding AI back is each huge power consumption. That simply is a problem that must be overcome. But it is easier said than done. The other thing is the fact that I have heard that when processing a request from a user, each work in their question is given to a separate CPU. It is no wonder there is so much power being utilized. Quantum computing may help for certain aspects but from one of heard this may be a very small specialized subset of queries and/or problems.

Perhaps a good starting point for this discussion is how do you use AI currently in your content creation. Myself it is currently with graphics and occasionally gaining insight into technical questions which are usually related to servers or the web. These types of questions tend to be those that are hard to use a traditional search phrase for because of their complexity. Chat GPT or Gemini in these cases give me insights start from and occasionally almost accidentally contained within their responses is the answer.

It is amusing to think how quickly I've gone from an attitude of "I feel guilty when I use AI, because it is cheating." to "Gee, this can be very handy when used properly." However one thing is for sure, some AI's are definitely better at certain aspects. I use mainly Chat GPT and Gemini and to pay for a subscription to Ideogram AI . The one thing I don't do however with AI is completely trust the answers. Much is been said about "AI hallucinations", and after taking a introductory course on brilliant.org I understand why these mechanisms sometimes fail in their answers. I worked with someone recently who on the other hand by the sounds of it completely trusts AI in their daily activities. They were rather shocked to find out that I don't. They use the phrase that caught me off guard in our discussions as well. "Oh, you did it that way… That was before you could use AI." They acted like everything before the creation of AI was somehow almost prehistory. Although AI has been worked on for many years and has gone through many starts and stops, it hasn't been around no functional state for too long

As I recall in the 70s there were great predictions that AI would be everywhere. As the euro went on a however and the 80s approached, many researchers thought it was an unobtainable goal. There were minor breakthroughs here and there but interest in artificial intelligence almost evaporated. Then of course as everyone knows not put too many years ago chat GPT exploded onto the scene. And now we find ourselves in a similar situation to the 1970s. Great prognostications on all sides of the debate.

In my mind however the question still remains, "To what degree will AI be used in content creation?" And of course this question can be expanded to other fields. Hopefully there will always be a human component in the equation. Humanity must not get to a point where we don't understand how the solutions are being achieved at. It's a little frightening to think that in some aspects we already don't know how things work. It is indeed critical that we strive to have a fundamental understanding because that also means that we can direct the ultimate goal of whatever the endeavour is.

Who knows there may be a Renaissance of the AI prehistory techniques. Much like there's been a revival in the use and enjoyment of vinyl records. Which is something I never saw coming. I really thought that vinyl records were going to stay as part of history. I really hated when I would get a brand-new record home only to find in a few weeks that there would be an inevitable "snap, crackle, pop" sound because some dust, despite all my best efforts, had invaded the grooves.

Anyway let me know what you think, and please watch this article as it is very likely to leave multiple over time.
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.

 

Time before us

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 

What Are the Origins of Enthusiasm?

 

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:

1. Curious. They want to know why something works a certain way. They desire a deeper understanding and are enthusiastic about the undertaking of learning.
   
   
2.  "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.
   
   
3. 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.

Differently Interacting with the Physical World

What I find most fascinating is how different people interact physically with the world. The subconscious decisions about where things are placed it's actually quite a study. I see these small automatic choices being made because I view my environment from the perspective of someone in a wheelchair.

Even trained staff who are more physically where than the average person fall into these automatic decisions; a cup get placed on a table within their comfortable physical range, which may or may not be useful to me. Of course I correct them when necessary, but I do find it fascinating and often watch the physical choices they make throughout their work day in regards to the placement of things. This is only scratching the surface though, it really gets one thinking about how people interact with their physical space around them and one may infer from such observations a fair bit about the person.

Original photo

Click photo download original untouched image
Hereby placed in the public domain by photographer Patrick Clark.
Photo taken on: 2015-08-07 2:50:25 pm
Camera model: Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

 

 I don't remember too much about this particular photo except it was a nice August day and I was wondering around Vancouver British Columbia. Something about the simplicity of the simplicity of the image just appealed to me. Feel free to download the full untouched photograph by clicking on the above image. 

 

Some people are deep thinkers who naturally taken a lot of information about their environment. You can see the wheels turning in their mind as they figure out how to best solve the problem. Whether that be comparing items when shopping or simply the placement of a cup on a table. They tend to be very creative in some of their solutions. It is marvellous to discuss with them almost any aspect of life. Of course occasionally these deep thinkers can overthink the situation aswell. They end up going for the most complicated answer only to realize that something simpler was the best solution to begin with.

Some people are efficiency experts. They tend to move through their environment a little more quickly and the placement of items may not be optimal for everyone or indeed themselves. But it is what is most effective for the moment to achieve the task at hand. As a rule I find they like to move in an orderly manner from one task to another, "A to B and then on to C". Once a pattern is established they tend to stick with it, even if it is not producing the optimal outcome. They don't readily tend to think as deeply unless something surprises them. They prefer a routine which allows them to achieve their daily tasks in a predictable manner. This does not mean they are not aware of their surroundings, they prefer however to get things done and then move on to the next task. This makes a lot of sense, in our busy multitasking world.

The last group tends to boggle my mind and I end up wondering how they make it through life. These people are pleasant but deal with things, for lack of a better phrase, "at arm's length". For every task they want a step-by-step breakdown of how to accomplish it. They do this not in order to understand the situation but rather to avoid thinking about it. They tend to be very regimented in any given situation and are seemingly oblivious to nuances. Once again these are very nice people but you will never have an in-depth conversation. They just don't work on that level. One gets the feeling that they would prefer to have a step-by-step manual for life. People like this fascinate me because their approach to life is so different than mine, bordering on alien.

When scientists gets to the stage where can actually decode messages in the human brain sufficiently to construct the individual minds reality I think we are in for a big surprise. I don't think human minds process reality as uniformly as we are given to believe. That is I think the human experience is very different between people. I hope I live to see this because it will force a reevaluation of not only social norms but deeper considerations. Hopefully this will have the effect of expanding understanding and inclusion.

From the basics of how we individually interact with the physical world and our own environments, to deep considerations of society and the world as a whole. I didn't expect this short little article to go down such a rabbit whole. If you've never considered such questions spend the next week or so observing how different friends and people interact with their environment. Or just consider how you personally interact with it.

For me this way of looking at things and how people work with their world allows me to custom fit my reactions to each individual person and when I can I try to step into their shoes and consider the world from their perspective. It sure makes one appreciate the diversity of life and experience.

Have a great day! 
Patrick

This seems a fitting question to answer for the first article of 2026 👀

 One of the questions I hear often regarding this blog is, "Where do you get the ideas to write about on your website [blog]?"

This seems a fitting question to answer for the first article of 2026.

The inspiration for ideas comes from the fact that I keep not only my mind open, but I'm also very aware of my environment as a whole. One's environment is always changing, people come and go, and if you look closely can pay attention new things are always happening. One has to take an active role in this process though. You cannot just wait for it to come to you. Be ready to embrace change of all kinds. In brief that is how I come up with new articles. I may be talking to someone, or hear something, or just a flash of insight. I never really know where and how the motivation for a post on this website will appear.

Let me stress that you have to be active in being open to new ideas and mixing things up a bit. By that I mean not being too comfortable with your current environment. If you find yourself being bored and that is a really good indication that you have to shake up your situation. You cannot wait for an event to come to you. Chase an idea and get used to doing this on a regular basis. The idea may or may not pan out but it is the process that is most important. The process of being aware of your surroundings and keeping yourself open to experiences will result in ideas and insights becoming part of your daily life.

So, to summarize:

1.  Actively seek change.
2. You must put energy and effort into the undertaking. It will not come to you without effort.
3. Get comfortable with the idea of short-term discomfort. This is required when exploring a new frontier as in an idea or activity.

 I created this poster to remind myself that "Change and Challenge" are opportunities. You can download a printable copy or order a full poster:. 

 

Click the picture to download a printable
version on your computer.

 

Please feel free to download and print out the image if it inspires you. If you would like a unique hard copy version of this printed on steel as a poster it can now be purchased at "Displate" in several sizes. Full disclosure, I do receive a percentage of every sale.   

Click here to view all  posters available on my Displate page  

 

Things are changing... As they always do. 

We live in an unusual period of history, in that unlike previous generations, for the most part we don't have to put in any energy to find a basic answer to our everyday questions. All that needs to be done is ask the local virtual assistant and the answer is provided. On one hand this is fantastic, everyone has access to a knowledge bank of information, and even though it may not be totally accurate it gives us the ability to investigate further. The initial work of figuring out how to attack a problem has been done.

Unfortunately this has a downside in that the skills we need for introspection and understanding of ourselves have rapidly declined and these are the very skills necessary when discovering new ideas to explore. Because it is in the exploration that you discover not only how to find an answer, you discover something about yourself along the way.

I often wonder if I'd be born in the 1990s as opposed to 1959 whether I would have my own investigative skills developed. For all of my teenager years research of all kinds was done manually. One had to go to a source of knowledge, be at the library, or an authoritative organization and bring all the pieces together to make a hypothesis. I am very grateful to have been born it at this transition period in that I can avail myself of both systems. 

How do you come up with your own inspiration? Is it a different approach than mine? Let me know in the comments.

May we all have an excellent 2026!

Of course more articles are on the way.
Sincerely Patrick Clark

 

** 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.

 

You Are Alive; Why Would You Not Take Advantage Of It?

 

WOW, life... I am going to take advantage of this!

Image generated by Ideogram AI.

Imagine for a moment, that you are a sentient life form on another planet and just like human beings you live and die a certain amount of time. But you know for certain there is no afterlife. Would this affect how you approach your existence?

I ask this question because I find an ever-growing number of people don't take advantage of what their life offers. Put simply, that is that they are aware they exist; they can affect change in their environment and yet they do not alter their situation in a positive manner but instead reinforce negative behavior, and all the while completing bitterly about the situation. This is analogous to putting one's hand in very hot water and yet insisting that they do not want to take their arm out of the scalding liquid, because that would be a change. For years, this same group of individuals keeps stating that they are unhappy but they keep doing the very things that entrench their discomfort. Any change in the status quo is met immediately with negativity. Offer to give them empowering tools and they resist that too.

 The only way I can rationalize this in my head, is that they must be waiting for some marvellous afterlife. But I'm willing to bet they would resist that change as well. This boggles my mind. Yet I know people just like this today, in the 21st-century. A time in human history when there are so many opportunities, regardless of your physical or mental situation. It does take a fair bit of work in some cases to utilize these opportunities. One may have to negotiate with funding sources for equipment, or take a field of study. In the situation where the person cannot do any of the things necessary to utilize opportunities, they can form a group which could assist them in reaching a goal.

 To illustrate, the other day it occurred to me that anyone can create artwork. You can literally give one the many AI services like the online service IDEOGRAM a description of what you want and it will produce an image for you, this service has a free option so to create this image would cost the person nothing. Then they could dictate the text to go along with the image to their phone or computer. Again this is free to do. So basically you could write a book complete with images. You could then use this new book to mobilize others to assist you further. Perhaps form an organization which would then in turn qualify for funding. You could then pay your self a salary.... This is an oversimplification but you get the idea. The old axiom comes to mind "Where There's a Will There's a Way."

 The older I get the more enthusiastic I get about what life has to offer. Because I now know that the opportunities are short and should not be taken for granted. I have also seen what "The other side of the coin" described above, looks like and to me that is mediocrity at best and indeed a waste of life at worst. I shall scream: "That Ain't Me, Baby!" Until the end of time.

 Maybe things are too easy and the beginning of the 21st-century. When you think about it, it's the challenges in ones young life that build the skills of self-reliance and deeper understanding. Do any of my readers remember learning how to use a physical card catalogue at a library? If so leave me a comment. That one skill brought together many aspects of awareness and understanding. 

 

The card catalog in Manchester Central Library
March 2010. Photo: Ricardo Creative Commons License: CC BY 2.0

 

Now you just go to your favourite search engine or A.I.(Artificial Intelligence)  resource. There is no need to work out a solution, now one just tells the machine what you want and poof the answer is there. There is no need for the individual to change or evolve. Maybe that explains some of the behaviour I described above. These people are waiting for something else to do the hard work of finding a solution. Then again it is unlikely that the solution would work if the person was not willing to adopt alteration in their behaviour.

 I was told of a similar situation earlier this year and involved a person on welfare. To be clear they were very poor and just getting by. This year the provincial government made available at extra $200 per month for people who also havw a disability. The person I am talking about would indeed qualify for the extra money in this case. But there was a catch, there was a separate application process. To this day they still have not filled out the one form in order to get the money.

Ministry of  Social Development and Poverty Reduction June 20, 2025 
News release: "B.C. helps people keep full federal Canada Disability Benefit" 

I am so grateful that my life experiences have shaped me in a way that allows me to see the possibilities. Difficulty is not a problem, it is an asset,  an opportunity to get creative, and thereby in solving the problem one gains a slightly deeper understanding of the world Add up these difficulties and their respective solutions and what you are left with is quite in the encyclopedia of understanding. The ultimate toolkit for life if you will 😀

 This Christmas was particularly shocking in the supported living building I am a member of. Most tenants actively argued against Christmas celebrations or decorations. In the six or seven years that I've been here I have never seen it so bad. Yet as mentioned above by maintaining the negative status quo one only entrenches and makes worse the situation. Dr. Seuss's the Grinch could take lessons from this crew. However the staff were able to break out the ornaments and festivities that go along with them at the last minute. It did result in a mild elevation of the buildings' mood. So there is a way to improve the situation.

This pleasant turnaround in the atmosphere actually really surprised me. I was convinced that absolutely nothing would break them out of their "Ebenezer Scrooge mindset". As I have said before in this blog, I think mindset plays a major role in one's life. (Click this link to see all the articles dealing with mindset and motivation on the blog.) Much larger than it is given credit for. I would go as far as to say: "your mindset, not only affects how you see things currently, it can affect your long term health". And I don't suggest this idea likely. Since a person's mindset has an impact on their entire perception of the world, I don't think it is too much of a reach to suggest that it may have a health impact if the same mindset is held on over a longer period of time.

 What I'm suggesting is that a profoundly negative mindset and open you up to a whole variety of health concerns. Maybe not biologically but definitely because you are not going to see the warning signs. I have noticed that many people in my facility have verily shallow inner awareness. Most of their stimulus comes from external sources like the Internet, various substances, all of which are just a form of distraction.

 This reminds me of the old story I was told as a young child about the ostrich which would stick it's head in the sand so that it did not see the approaching threat. Or to put it another way, "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind". Of course this behaviour doesn't do the ostrich any good at all except it is a virtual guarantee that the poor birds life will be shorter. The same holds true for anyone who holds on to a negative mindset or seeks constant distraction from a real-life.

 It can be very difficult to break this pattern, but as the short Christmas experience positively by the tenant in my building has shown it is not impossible. So, since you are alive and reading this or watching the companion video, please take the time to do something large, or small, with your life right now. That step may be all it takes to change your perception and have a great new year in 2026.

 Take care Patrick

 

** NOTE: The picture "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.

 

Merry Christmas 2025 🎄 🧧

I was going to post a serious article today… And then I thought: "What am I doing? It's Christmas eve afternoon 2025. Time to lighten up" so out with all the heavy duty philosophies and opinions. I just want to wish everyone a great holiday season.

As you're reading this short little blurb of an article, stop and take a moment, allow yourself to let go of all the stuff going on in life right now either locally or globally. Put everything on hold I just relax into something… Have a chocolate bar if that's your thing… Stop working for a few minutes and just changed change gears. There will be time for all of this in the new year, right now think about something you haven't thought of in a long time that makes you feel good. Whatever it is don't apologize for it or quantify it in any way, just enjoy it. If you have children giggle with them over a really bad joke, something ridiculous 😆

One of my fondest memories was sitting on the floor with my father who had polio. Watching him explain some little gizmo or idea he had. The sheer glee which exuded from his expressions and excitement was contagious. For half an hour everybody in the house turned into a kid and just enjoy the moments.

I'm going to put together a little video for this hopefully I can dig up the Christmas hat I have kicking around somewhere in the apartment, and if so you will see it on my head as I exude playfulness and joy. 

Even when it's not Christmas remember you can just take a few moments put a smile on your face for absolutely no reason. Other people may look at do a little strange but you shouldn't worry about it. Just enjoy the moment.

With that I'm going to wish to a very Merry Christmas and an excellent new year. I have a bunch of articles planned, I think I have three or four on the go right now in various states of preparedness.

See you in 2026
Patrick Clark 

 

The Spirit of Joy

Many people know I am an agnostic, and yet I very much enjoy the season of Christmas and New Year's. This is due to a simple fact, it is one of the few times in the North American calendar during the year where people are encouraged to feel "Joy" in their religious beliefs. It occurred to me, that it is equally valid to give oneself permission to feel joy for the sake of being happy in itself.Here's a spontaneous idea… Click the search button below to do a search on the word "joy" right now and see what comes up. We both could be surprised 😃. There is no trickery here, it's just a simple search on a single word. Indeed the results will probably change over time.

There are so many things going on in the world that are negative or complex. So regardless of how you want to frame it take the season of joy at face value. Put down the negativity for a while and allow yourself to smile and maybe even feel wonderful. Approach everything from a slightly younger perspective, being curious and playful. North American society has given you permission to do so during this time of year so take society up on that offer.

My apartment has twinkling lights and Christmas music playing. The day after Labor Day, I went out and did a impulse buy, an illuminated two thirds of a meter tall Christmas elf because it was something that I knew the child in me would go crazy for and indeed it did. I also purchased, a Santa's Workshop figurine pictured below (unfortunately the illuminated elf is very difficult to get a clear photograph of. If I ever manage to get one I will of course update this little article.) 

Santa's Christmas Village by Spode.
With battery-powered LED illumination.

Remember the magic and joy you felt anticipating a new toy at Christmas?… Looking at the present under the tree, and wondering which one of them might be the one. There is nothing stopping you from rekindling that glorious feeling today or at any time of the year but during the festive season one can really get into the spirit of things. I have spent the last two weeks drawing pictures and making Christmas screensavers for the computers and rooms in my facility, which happens to be an assisted living building. The funny thing I noticed right away was that when I did something in the spirit of the season, somebody else added their own declaration or ornament. It's contagious, and it's a positive contagion something that helps bring out the best in people. Have you ever made a paper snowflake out of a sheet of plain old stationary? It can be glorious fun! It does not matter if it looks great. The only thing that matters is if you enjoy it in such a way that it brightens your day.

If for whatever reason you can't be joyous right now then put it off until the opportunity presents itself. When I was about 14 years old I had to go into the hospital over the Christmas season and for much of that year. When I finally got out in July my parents held Christmas all over again. Yes we had Christmas in July! And it was spectacular. My young mind discovered that it's not "the when" that matters, it's giving yourself permission to indulge in play and a smile.

As I write this this short article, I keep getting inspired. What if you gave your self permission to at some point in the day to play? This could be very liberating… For it to work one would not worry about rules or a schedule. You would just play when ever the opportunity or idea occurred to you. What defines "play" would be entirely up the individual. Just thinking about it inspires me.

I must begin again to pay attention to how young people play. Not just learn what they are doing, but to discover what atmosphere and mental state they put themselves into. I am willing to bet that for most people as they grow up, they lose touch with some of the lessons learned in childhood. I vividly remember mom and dad telling us on weekends to go out and play, the exact wording was "Time for you to get out of the house." This wasn't said in a negative way. It was just the way our weekends went. Kids were self-sufficient to a larger extent back in the 70s and 60s… At least that is how I remember it. We would go out for a few hours and perhaps wonder back in for lunch, and that was conditional on the fact that we might be too involved in our playing to worry about something as mundane as eating 😀. I definitely remember feeling like the comic strip character Dennis the Menace.

Yes, by all means dear reader, set up some time play. For just a little while put down all other concerns. This will definitely encourage joy once again.

That's it for this very short post. Here's wishing you all the joy and happiness in the world, which you can dream up any time!

Take care Patrick

Your Mental Margin

 "Use It or Lose It" holds true for your mental well-being as well.

Ever since joining a cognitive therapy group I have become very aware of the way people process their environment and indeed their own sense of reality. I joined this group because I am 66 years old and even though I am in good health I have noticed a slight decline in my memory and cognitive skills. So when the opportunity arose I jumped at joining the group.

The adage "Use It or Lose It" really has come into focus for me as I look around and I see young and old people mentally drifting through life or taking things for granted. Assuming that the facilities for have now, they will always have. Mind you I think everyone does this at different stages of life to some degree, I recently saw a video clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger who is now 78 years old, as of the writing of this blog post, commenting that when he was 30 years old he never thought about losing muscle mass. Especially with the incredible amount of exercise he committed to every day. The idea even if it occurred to him what it seemed inconceivable. What makes "Use It or Lose It" even more important is, we live in a world that is much more interconnected and technical on all levels. Society and individuals simply cannot afford being ignorant of society and technology. The late astronomer, Carl Sagan said, and I'm paraphrasing this: 

"We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces."

It is my point of view that in order to get the best out of life, one must be fully involved in all aspects. One must avoid taking things for granted or as I've mentioned many other times in this blog going on a kind of mental autopilot. The more you exercise your mind and body the more margin you build up. To put it another way, the more reserves you have to deal with the challenges of life the better. A little bit of difficulty throughout one's life is necessary. Try not to become overly comfortable in your lifestyle or routines. Make a commitment to do something uncomfortable and potentially productive every few days or weeks. It is these uncomfortable activities which tend to break down the walls of isolation and help to keep you connected to the society and realities around you.

When was the last time you read a physical book? The act of reading something written or printed on paper is very different than reading the same material off a screen. Come to think of it when was the last time any of us read a book or other physical medium like a magazine or newspaper from beginning to end.

It is these kind of things that help you stay connected and alive in the world. It helps build up your mental and your physical margins, so that when your help does decline you have a much better chance of enjoying your later years with friends and family.

I probably will add more to this article in the next few days. But for tonight I wanted to get this out there just as a starting point.

Second instalment: October 18, 2025

Speaking about "mental margins"and really using the facilities of one's brain to think and consider a person's environment. I keep meaning people who really don't understand at all how different things in their life relate to each other. This leads into a real difficulty for them when they try to use technology. For example a friend of mine recently bought a Smart TV. They asked me to assist them in the set up and I realized partway through that they did not have any comprehension of what was meant by a "smart TV". As a result they are having great difficulty using it. When their PVR (Personal Video Recorder) had a momentary glitch in a recorded program and froze for a few seconds they immediately thought it was a problem with the new TV. They don't see the separate components which make up modern media experiences. To them the television set is all encompassing and so when I explained initially that they had to use two remote controls one for the PVR  and one to control the volume on their TV they really got confused. It was not until I realized how they were looking at the devices that I understood what the problem was.

There are extenuating circumstances here which I won't go into but it still remains that a great number of society's people are now using hardware and services with no understanding of how it all works together. This is a point of greatest concern for me because it guarantees that not only will the devices not be used to their best advantage, it is for certain there will be confusion and problems down the road. Yet I am also reminded that there are many very creative people out there still. But when I run into people that don't want to learn or expand their boundaries I get a little frightened. It reminds me of the movie "Idiocracy" (movie trailer) which takes place in the future in a city where everybody has been dumbed down. It is a comedy but the underlying message cannot be ignored. "Use it or lose it"

There has been a shift in attitude toward knowledge and learning

In my family, understanding a concept or discovering how something worked was a real sign of achievement, as a matter of fact I remember the expression on my father's face when he would describe some little aspect of an idea, there was sheer joy in his face. The message and the behaviour were transferred directly to his children. At the time we might not have understood what he was describing fully, but we got the message that it was something worth striving for. Now, knowledge and learning seemed to be, if not devalued, taken for granted… After all there's always "Google" or ChatGPT to fall back on.

What's missing is the sheer excitement which I still experience when I discover and understand something new. I still have quite a number of eureka moments in my life 😀. This means that many people also don't really appreciate discovery and achievement anymore. Especially if the undertaking involved some commitment over weeks or months. In part, this is likely due to everything being viewed as transitory, as well as what now qualifies as a lengthy commitment.
 

Take care Patrick

Side note: The Rose photograph (More about the creation of this image in the article "Find Some Time to Disconnect from All the Chatter") depicted at the top of this article is based on images generated by an AI initially and then slightly adjusted by me. The moment I saw the Rose I thought:" It be great to have this backlit in a light box. Wouldn't you know it, I did some searching and there is a small company on Etsy which does just that. Here's a link to their storefront: Q AND L GIFTS. You do have to provide the artwork as a very good scan but I have been most impressed I must say. This is not an official endorsement of this product and I am not being reimbursed I just thought others might find this beneficial.