Neville Ronan Blog

It was the final day of the year and weather-wise a perfect day for a walk on the trail by Lake Hancock.

The sky above was clear-blue, and the temperature was somewhere around fifty and perfect for throwing on a jacket and taking a walk.

We got there just after eight and though there were a few people ahead of us, we didn’t care. Most of the time we were on our own, or at least, just us and some furry or feathered friends.

It was a bit too chilly for the alligators but everyone else was out and having fun. Even the moon hung around to see what was going on.

We saw most of the usual suspects plus a couple of playful raccoons, one of which walked right by us on the trail, perhaps only three feet from Inna.

The adventure finished with a distant capture of an elusive night heron, and another far-off shot of a woodpecker that was playing hide ‘n seek on one of the palm trees.

I have added a number of images as the end of the blog and I hope you enjoy.

It was later in the day as I sat down to see what I had managed to get, that the thought for the blog formed in my brain. It revolved around the notion that this was my last shoot of the year and I wondered what the new year would bring.

The more I thought about it, the more I ridiculed the notion of time. We humans invented it and beyond our mind it doesn’t really exist.

Yet we use it to measure and delineate almost everything about our lives.

It becomes the one metric by which almost everything is defined.

“How old is little Johnny now? What age was grandpa when he died? How long before we eat?”

We try to calibrate everything by it and somehow believe it to be a relevant yardstick. We have even created a word for it when something larger needs to be counted. “I will love you for all eternity. Who wants to live forever?”

Yet, unless I am sadly mistaken, most creatures in the world don’t use such a concept and they live (for however long they live) regardless of the passage of time.

For example, a Mayfly only lives 24 hours. Do we really think the passage of time is therefore a relevant metric for him? I say “him” because apparently the female Mayfly lives 5 days (she has more to get done, apparently.)

The Greenland Shark lives up to 500 years so do they puzzle about how short humans live and whether anything meaningful can be accomplished in that time?

We use time not just to define ourselves but also to define the world around us. We also use it to provide limits on each of the things we do or achieve. There is a statute of limitations on most crimes, which implies that the relevance of the crime is lost once that timeframe passes.

We even limit creativity and such with time, where patents and copyrights only last a certain number of years. (Hence Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Wilie became public domain this morning and open for us all to use as we wish.)

Time is a strange concept and one that should be taken with a grain of salt.

It’s passage is far less relevant than what we actually do with the time we are here. Forget about physical achievements or creative ownership as these will be lost over time.

All that really matters is how we use time to love and be loved, to care and be cared for.

Beyond this, we fool ourselves into believing our existence is even remotely relevant.

The most famous Mayfly ever is the one that (OK, then, go on. Finish that sentence for me.)

… just a thought.

“Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.

It’s the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here’s a happy one for you.”

So begins the wonderful old song by Roy Rogers.

I found myself yesterday on a new trail with some amazing friends and I couldn’t have been happier.

As days go, some would argue that it was a bit on the chilly side for Florida and others would wonder where the blue sky went, but it was a perfect day for exploring a trail and in the company of good friends, I found myself exploring mushrooms, marveling at moss, following leaves, and picking “stickies” off my hoodie.

Inna and Jax sifted through river silt and found amazing fossilized sharks teeth and camel molars and oblivious to the cold water they were in, stayed there for over and hour.

Meanwhile, Kallista and I explored surrounding landscape, climbed fallen trees, and marveled at the scenery around us.

By the time we were finished, they had gathered a bagful of fossils, and me a bagful of memories.

I hope you enjoy the pictures at the end of the blog.

I was left with that song playing around in my head as a blog thought for this morning. And more significantly the thought that it isn’t so much the trail you are on, sometimes, as the people you are sharing it with.

I am truly fortunate that there are enough fools out there that love me and happy to spend such time with me. “May they never get wise” is my mantra these days.

But going through life and occasionally sharing little patches of it with the right people is a true treasure that we should cling to with all our might.

Building memories of time well-spent is a wonderful use of our time on this planet and I like to think that at the final hour when life flashes before our eyes, it is these memories that take pride of place, however we spend our lives.

I can’t imagine anyone having a final thought about their bank account balance, the house they live in, the car they drive, or their job title at work.

What I hope my final thoughts are is the collection of memories I have been fortunate enough to hold onto of the people that I love and the moments we have shared together.

… just a thought!

Yesterday morning, we decided to take the trail at Lake Hancock again, even though it was a cloudy grey day and there were other things we could have been doing.

It was a work-day for some and between that and the greyness of the day, there were very few people on the trails when we got there. In fact, there were many times when we were completely alone for up to a half hour at a time and others when the only companions on the trail were feathered or furry creatures.

To say we had a blast, would be an understatement. It was truly a wonderful experience start to finish and when we weren’t being treated to the antics of creatures and such, we found ourselves just breathing in the air and savoring the gorgeous temperature of a long walk.

We watched as fish and spiders became breakfast for creatures higher up the food chain, witnessed the tiniest baby alligator ever (was less than six inches) swimming beside his mom, watched as a great blue heron stalked and then plucked two fish out from the water nearby, and we even had a close-encounter with a raccoon that went by us just a couple of feet away and proceeded down the trail as though he were out walking off his own Christmas dinner.

I have placed a number of the images at the end of the blog and hope you enjoy.

Yesterday was one of those days when the experience being felt was far greater than the images being captured and it isn’t always that way. Sometimes, you get amazing shots that mask a very quiet trail.

But yesterday was so full of the other senses, that image-capturing was very much a secondary aspect of the outing.

And it is that which gave me the thought for today’s blog.

You see, we can often become observers rather than experiencers in life and this is truly a shame. There is a real temptation to do that, when you are a camera guy like me, but I am talking about more than just that.

There are generations now of people that are being entertained (TV, internet, movies) that distract them away from their own experiences in life and replace their life with the life of others. I watched that old movie “Scrooged” the other night, where Bill Murray was describing things from his youth to one of the ghosts and at each turn she pointed out that his description was of something he had seen on TV. It wasn’t his life at all.

The arrival of virtual reality is taking that distancing from experience and widening the gap even further. I can’t imagine what a society of us all living our lives virtually is going to look like. I shudder at the thought.

Forget about the fact that we all become fatter and think less. Forget about the fact that being fed experiences is very different from tasting them.

Just ask yourself what life you want; one that is full of your own experiences or the experiences of others.

Walking trails is a very honest experience. In my opinion, there are very few like it. But even if you can’t do that, savor things that you can actually do. Yes, experiences will not always be good and sometimes will be frustrating and painful. But at the end of the day, these are the things that color between the lines of your life.

Without them, you are merely a black and white cartoon and the memories you take with you at the end, will not be your own.

… just a thought.

I went to Lake Hancock trail yesterday and had a lovely time. It was Inna’s thought to go, she recognized that I needed a change of mental state.

I had made a huge mistake earlier that has cost Morgan her Christmas with the cats. If the cats knew what Christmas was, I would have ruined it for them also. But thankfully they think it is just a normal day at home.

There was a lot of people there by the time we got there. It was an unusual mid-day visit for us. But we managed to separate away from the groups of intruders several times and we had sections of the trail to ourselves without too much difficulty.

Like a lot of the early morning visits, yesterday was a bad day to be a fish (is there ever a good one?) and we found many of them at their final moments in this world.

On a more peaceful level, we spotted a lot of beautiful turtles and the most gorgeous butterflies, so it wasn’t all blood ‘n guts.

Anyway there are a bunch of the pics at the end of this blog so, I hope you enjoy!

The thought for today’s blog stems not from the shoot but the event that led up to it.

I made a huge mistake and threw out all the presents that Morgan had gotten for her kitties. She had been collecting them for months and had customized the presents for each of them.

She was devastated at the loss and I was heartbroken to have caused it.

Friends and family will rally around me of course, telling me we all make mistakes and that it wasn’t intentional.

But that is exactly the point of this blog. We all make mistakes.

That Alexander Pope quote “To err is human. To fogive is divine” aludes to the act of making mistakes as a normal human trait. So, why do we have such an issue with mistake making.

Many people forgive mistakes within themselves, sometimes even being oblivious to it. They imagine themselves as a great driver, never doing anything stupid, perfect husband or wife, or whatever. Yet they quickly see the faults in others.

“Where did they learn to drive?” is such a common complaint when faced with a fool that changes lanes, doesn’t indicate, or makes a last minute turn.

I have watched hundreds of games of soccer where the biggest earning players make mistakes that miss goals, cost goals, or hurt someone. Yet they are happy to chastise an official when they make a wrong call or miss something obvious.

So, my belief is that our mistakes are our own. And we should own them. Looking to excuse them or find a reason other than ourselves as to why they happened, is avoidance of the truth.

Mistakes dog our every step sometimes in life. We find ourselves unraveled by our own frailties more often than external issues.

The best learning comes from our own mistakes and this is a positive part of the mistake -making aspect of our lives.

But there is little joy in the actual mistake itself. Rarely does a mistake produce a good result by itself. We can adjust after the mistake and try something better and this sometimes takes us to where we were trying to et.

But the mistake itself is almost always a bad thing.

And avoiding them is always the best option. But how do you know what to aovid if you don’t know that you are a flawed human being.

Accepting your frailties and recognizing that you are a loser is difficult for some folks and yet self-recognition is probably the most important perspective we can have on ourselves.

Being a loser is not a comfortable place for many of us, but the reality is that for every winner in life, there are probably many losers. Finding out which one you are is a hugely important aspect of self-recognition.

If, like me, you make a lot of mistakes, then welcome to the L team. There are lots of us here.

I looked into the bottom of a barrel recently and found myself there. Me and some fishes.

It may not bewhere I want to be, but at least knowing where I am, allows me to try to find a way out.

… just a thought.

It was one of those near perfect Floridays yesterday without a single cloud in the sky and a temperature in the upper sixties. Totally perfect for a day on a trail.

The fact that it was a Monday was irrelevant to my decision and I know I should have been working. But an afternoon on the trail with my nature buddies was the therapy that was needed and I took it.

Being with nature on such a beautiful day was absolutely therapeutic and though we were there at an unusual time (normally early morning) we still got to see a lot of familiar faces.

There were several highlights but the one that meant the most was probably seeing the bald eagle. He flew past us a couple of times although most of his time was spent quite a distance away in the sky and my camera was just about able to find him.

Anyway, I put a number of pics at the end of the blog and I hope you enjoy!

The idea for the blog from this trail-adventure was quite a straightforward and simple one. Yesterday was all about picking the moment and then acting on it.

It would have been easy to convince myself to stay at the PC and though I used several arguments as to why I could leave (it’s the end of the year, there isn’t much happening, the weekend was cloudy and rainy, next weekend I might be too busy, etc.) I didn’t need to have a reason.

The moment was there. I just needed to take it.

In life we get a lot of those instances. Some of them are opportunities and I have written about that before. But not everything has to be about benefit and loss or possibilities and regrets. Sometimes it boils down to a simple “does this feel like a good idea?”

Yesterday did for me. And I was right to go with it.

But you know what, even if I was wrong, who gives a fuck? These are our moments. This is our life. We get to either choose or ignore moments and life goes on regardless.

Picking the moment is all about experiencing life in our own way. There is a lot of opportunity to live your life the way someone else tells you. But so much of life is about us/ourselves. We come into the world and exit the world on our own. We experience pain and disappointment on our own. We experience joy and love on our own. Yes, I know others feel those too but our feeling is OURS and we experience that feeling based on a moment that we have chosen.

There has been a lot spoken and written of the meaning of life and many of us will disagree on what it is all about. I like to think of it as a chaotic happening that by itself, means absolutely nothing. But as part of the bigger picture, it plays its part in a meaning that maybe we don’t even need to understand.

But regardless of its meaning, our individual lives are built around moments, good and bad, happy and sad.

Our experience is filled with many things but the underlying feeling we get is from the moments that we live through.

Picking one and doing something with it is one of the rare pieces of our life that we get to control.

… just a thought.

When I got up this morning, much of my day was already planned out and I was ready to roll right into it.

It was about 4:45 and I had just started my bowl of cereal, when Inna came out of the bedroom and looked forlorn after a night of dismal sleep attempts. Apparently she had only slept a couple hours and was now wide awake.

It only took me a few minutes to arrive at the conclusion that my own plans for a day with my cats, working on the PC in my office, was a non-starter.

I mean yes, I could have still done that, but (rightly so) that kind of day would prove a solid step in the disintegration of marriage. In any event, I enjoy the time with her, so I asked her if she would care to see the sunrise somewhere.

Within a few minutes we were on the way to feed and release the cats and then a few minutes beyond that, heading into Tampa on our way to the pier at Ballast Pointe.

The sunrise itself was somewhat muted. A band of clouds hugged the horizon and made things difficult for anyone with a camera. But it did give a warm glow to the morning start.

Having Inna with me brightened the experience considerably. Yes, there is a wonderful aspect of getting cool pics when you are out on your own. But having the person you love with you, doubles the joy and gives your purpose there much more meaning.

We did get one cool pic in particular that I liked. Kinda sinister, or foreboding even. Here it is:

Anyway, the rest of the shots worth keeping are at the end of the blog. I hope you enjoy.

The thought that I was left with (hence this blog), when all was said and done was how sometimes we set our own plans and map out a direction that we decide to follow. But then an outside influence comes along and spins our idea in a different direction.

At that point we can stick to our original plan and do things the way we had initially decided, or we can open ourselves to that influence and see where the new direction takes us.

There is no real answer to the dilemma. No simple “always” or “never” in the answer.

Sometimes the initial plans are good and sticking with them gives us good affirmation that our initial idea was solid. Conversely, if we stick with them and they turn out badly or are merely a dud, then we only have ourselves to blame.

Sometimes modifying the plans due to an influence or a change in parameter takes us on a new exciting venture that is much better than the original idea we had. Other times, not so much and we regret not having done what we originally setout to do.

When something else appears in the mix and we try to determine if we should stick or twist, there are a number of reasons that extend well beyond the plans themselves that we should consider. For example, there might be other people involved and their preferences might be different to your own.

Or perhaps (like me yesterday), just exploring a different option with someone in whose company you enjoy, is enough. Whether or not it results in a better or worse result.

Sticking to our plans, regardless, is admirable when you are working on your bucket-list and feel that death isn’t very far away. But other than that, there are many reasons to afford your moment a flexibility that takes you in a different direction.

Doing everything “My Way” was a good Sinatra song in the late 60’s but the reality is that the best way isn’t always mine.

… just a thought.

At lunch yesterday, I heard that a very good friend has terminal illness and couldn’t shake the thought from my head the rest of the day. It was still there as I woke up this morning and so, after feeding all the babies, I decided to try to cleanse my mind by watching the horizon for this morning’s twilight.

So, I headed on down to the lake side and set the camera up to catch whatever the horizon might do for me.

I used to go to this particular spot on Lake Parker quite a lot but then they stuck a big light-pole right where I was shooting and screwed it up for me. Sure enough, I couldn’t take anything that had the pier in it as it was far too bright. This morning, it sent me out to the end of the pier to capture whatever I could there.

It was mostly a clear sky twilight but there was still a little bit of color that I managed to get and I have added some pics to the end of this blog.

I have to admit though that it didn’t really do much to clear my thoughts and as I drove away, the thought for today’s blog was still pretty clear in my head.

There is a phrase we often use in Ireland which consists of two words “in fairness”. Put it at the beginning of a statement and it makes it sound like you are attempting to establish fairness as a reason for whatever happened.

“In fairness, he deserved to win after all the effort he put in.”

“In fairness, we deserved something from that game the other night.”

But the unfortunate truth is that there is no such thing as fairness in this world. It is only a concept that we cling to when we are hung up in some kind of hope. We rarely look to it when we win or when something goes our way.

That life is inherently unfair should be no surprise to anyone. We experience life differently to where some people are born into wealth and power, others into poverty. Some people get great reward for their efforts in life while others don’t.

And some people live long lives while others don’t.

This is a simple reality, yet why do we think that fairness should play a part in any of it? As concepts go, it is about as flawed as humanity has come up with.

In fact, as I wrote, it is difficult for me to come up with one that is even a tad more ludicrous. Human nature with it’s sad clinging to unbridled hope, seems to pray for fairness at every turn.

I have written about the nonsensical nature of hope before, so I won’t talk about that again here.

People don’t get their just deserts. It isn’t all about swings and roundabouts. And things don’t all even out in the end.

These are fallacies that we try to console ourselves with when things don’t work out the way we want or need.

The prospect of fairness somewhere out there in our future gives us a false horizon to walk towards. For the vast majority of us, this only leads to further disappointment and discouragement.

The gate to hell is spoken of as having the words “abandon hope, all ye who enter here” but what they don’t tell us is that any sense of ultimate fairness needs to be abandoned too.

… just a thought.

Morning fog and overhead cloud didn’t stop us today as we made off for Circle B to see what we might see. I think, inside, we were both hoping that the trail that has been shut off these past few visits would be open again.

But if that is what was being hoped, then I am afraid it was in vain. The morons that had been throwing sticks at a mother alligator were still successful in their rendering one of the two main trails inaccessible.

So, we headed off down Marsh Rabbit Run for the fourth time in as many weeks and though it was alarmingly quiet, we still enjoyed every minute of it.

Creature-count was less than 25% of what we normally see and with the fog and cloud combination, there was also little to see in the way of epic scenic views.

But that didn’t take anything from our visit. The walk was wonderful, the breeze refreshing, and the company excellent.

And yes, though the creature count was terribly low, we did get to see the most beautiful red-shouldered hawk. This is a close-up of him (before I continue with my ramble)…

Isn’t he gorgeous?

That shot was against a bright sky so the coloring is slightly off and there are better shots of him in the gallery at the end of this blog.But, I wanted to bring him into view quickly in this dialog, as the hawk was my Dad’s favorite bird and I often get the feeling that he flies in and visits me on these trails from time to time.

This guy flew ahead of us twice and found another perch in a tree almost as if he were watching us. Sometimes, my mind goes to comforting places and this was one such trip.

In any event, I hope you enjoy the collection at the end of the blog.

So, the thought that ran around in my mind was along the notion of grey days and what we do with them. Sometimes they find a welcoming home in our mood and we nurture them and use them as a source with which to feed our own depression.

Living in Forida , where we get an abnormally high percentage of blue-sky days, we probably don’t experience this phenomenon as much as people living elsewhere.

It is difficult to find food for depression when you get out of bed each morning to gorgeous skies and warm days. There is a natural cheering up that happens when we live in an environment like Florida.

And no, I am not naive enough to think that Floridians don’t get depressed; Of course we do. But we just have to work harder at it. There are more than enough stimuli for depression in Florida. I mean, we have an inordinate number of complete idiots here (and no, I am not just talking about our moronic governor). Every day, I see the most asinine example of what makes our people the butt of national jokes and I genuinely would laugh if I didn’t live here too.

In any event, I have wandered off on a tangent. Sorry.

Where I was really trying to go was down a path where the environment we are in can be a real source of help/hinder to our state of mind. If we waken to grey skies and rain, does it not seem less wonderful a day than one that begins with blue skies and the chirps of birds in foliage-filled trees?

But, what happens next in our mind is more important than the initial feeling of let-down or uplift. It comes down to the question that we ask ourselves and the answer we give.

“What do we plan to do with our day today?”

Answer that one with a modification or cancellation due to the weather and you have already resigned yourself to less of a day than you could otherwise have.

Embrace the weather you wake up to and look for ways to use whatever you are being challenged with and yours is a day that can move with you in as positive a direction as you care to take it.

For my part, when faced with a cloudy day, I look for ways to use the cloud to my advantage. Whether it is taking a certain type of photo or even just being able to go somewhere without worrying about getting sunburned. Whatever the weather brings, there is always something to do.

I even have one dear friend who relishes the possibilities that rain brings and she routinely takes her children with her, exploring puddles and getting muddy.

Even on the extreme, when hurricane’s come our way, I try to find a way to have it add to my day rather than seeking shelter and hiding from it. I remember a few years ago, when the eye of a large hurricane came right through my yard, Morgan and I rode out the heavy winds that rocked the home. But then, when the eye itself was on us, I walked out into the yard and just stood there in total silence and a yellow hue around everything. It was one of the most moving moments of my life and I will never forget it.

So, whatever the weather you wake up to, try to find a way to make the day special. If you were to treat it as your last day on earth, you would find a way to play in the fog, dance in the rain, or dream in the clouds.

What I am trying to say, is that our day lies within us and while there may well be a number of things outside our control that happen to us in the process, how we deal with them is really up to us.

… just a thought.

We opted for a walk around Hollis Gardens yesterday followed by a circuit around lake mirror and though it wasn’t the normal adventure along a wild trail somewhere, it turned out to be a lovely wander anyway.

We were able to let our senses out of the bag and run free among some things neither one of us had been around before. That’s one of the lovely things about Hollis Gardens. Regardless of the time of year there is always something that appeals.

Other than taste, each of the other senses were satisfied along the way. As soon as we entered the gardens, the sound of gentle classical music accompanied each step we took. The sights of each color and shape were amazing and we touched some of the most velvet-like leaves that just didn’t even seem real! And as for the smell; well, you just had to be there. Words do not describe the different scents that drifted aimlessly with the gentle breeze.

Though I failed on some of the shot-attempts, most of them were decent enough and I have added them onto the end of the blog here.

Hope you enjoy.

Honestly, it was this morning when I was going through the images, that the thought for today’s blog occurred to me. In essence, it is about how important it is to feed each of our senses on a regular basis.

Most of us routinely feed our sight and sound and judging by the size of everyone here in America, taste is also being taken care of.

Unless you get out and about in a natural environment, smell is really being fed artificially and although that isn’t necessarily ideal, at least it is something.

But it is the fifth one that I really wanted to dwell on here for a moment; touch.

You see, the more virtual our world becomes, the less we indulge this sense and it is such a shame. Of the five senses, it is often the least thought of and very few people seem to be worried at all about losing it. I mean people would moan about the possibility of going blind or deaf, a little less-so about losing their sense of taste or smell. But no-one seems to worry about the sense of touch.

I can’t remember where but I recently read a statement that said “marriage can still thrive without sex but not without touch” and I hasten to broaden that statement out beyond marriage and offer that we, as people, can’t survive without touch.

Touching is an intimate act. Whether we touch a person or a leaf, our experience is uniquely personal. We experience it as a lone act whereas communally we can share a smell, a taste, a sound, or a view.

The main reason that a cut on our finger tip can be so painful is because we have evolved to have so many nerve endings there and it gives us the ability to sense small fluctuations in what we are touching.

When we run our fingers across a soft textured leaf, we feel a beauty. When we run our fingers across our love’s face, we feel a connection and their face allows them to feel one too. When we pat someone of the back, hold their hand, or caress them; these are all important use of our sense of touch.

Virtual cannot and should not ever replace this important human sense. And to allow ourselves to drift into a virtual world eventually starves us of one of the main components of our humanity. Our sense of touch.

… just a thought!

From boat racing on Saturday, we found ourselves within 24 hours returning to the other end of the spectrum back on a trail at Circle B on Sunday.

My camera may have been confused but I returned to the comfort zone of innocent little creatures and a near-perfect weather day that filled my lungs with fresh air and my ears with the simple sounds of nature.

We were there bright and early and other than wild birds on the trail ahead, there were very few humans about (thankfully). With a section of alligator alley still closed, we took the marsh rabbit run and though it was much quieter than normal, we didn’t care.

The last trip there spoiled us with endless creatures that seemed to be in every corner, but this time there were long sections where we didn’t see a soul.

By the time we had finished, I had still managed to collect a diverse offering in images, so I wasn’t bothered. And my favorite shot of the day didn’t happen until the very end when a little Thrasher was singing to the skies above and I was lucky enough to catch him mid-chirp.

It was a lovely day and after the crazy excitement of the previous day in Englewood, it grounded us perfectly and our souls once again felt at one with the world we live in.

I have added the collection of images at the end of this blog and I hope you enjoy!

The contrast between both days is what led to today’s blog thought which is that no matter what life we live, someone else is likely to be living one that is extremely different. In fact, extremes seem to be the norm today with the middle ground occupied by fewer and fewer people.

Politics here in the US is an easy one to spot with the gulf between Democrats and Republicans at an all time high.

But I am trying to talk about something far wider than just politics. Look at the extremes of those that have and those that don’t. For example, the “boys with their toys” comment from the policeman the day before shone a light on a world that I will likely never be a part of.

Rich people that pour their money into self-entertainment is in shocking contrast to that of friends of mine that can just about afford their mortgage or for whom rent is a monthly challenge that they are never sure of until they have pieced it together.

The gulf between the rich and poor has never been wider and there is even greater acceptance among the rich that the financial raping of the poor is something that is ok. For example look at that comment by the CEO of Dollar General recently where he boasted that the company does well when times are good and “fabulous” when times are bad. True or not, how can the super-wealthy feel justified in boasting about exploiting the poor.

Look at the accumulation of super-wealth by cunts like Elon Musk to where he accumulates over 250 billion dollars while trimming down the staff at his companies in order to make them “more profitable”. I mean, how much of “more” do these people need?

Capitalism is in theory a good method of creating a dynamic and innovative world. But greed and exploitation have to be reined in to the point where the perpetrators should be vilified and not glorified.

Extremes also exist within our mind in how we live our daily lives. Our mood swings are tied to our beliefs and goals to where we are always either happy or sad. If we answer “OK” to the question “how are you doing?” or “how are you feeling?” it is generally taken as something negative. Because OK is no longer accepted as enough. Yet, the truth is our lives spend more time in the “OK zone” than either happy or sad as it is by definition the median of our lives. So, why then do we feel we have to apologize for it?

It is the same with our aspirations and the dreams of those about us. Why do we always have to wish for the stars and dream big? Why put this pressure on our kids also? Why can’t we just be content with being average? When we find average unacceptable, then we create the basis for unhappiness and how is that acceptable to us?

No, the simple truth is that all around us, extremes fight for our attention and we ignore the ok stuff. News is always sensational and demands are always excessive. We are continually marketed to and manipulated to where we are told never accept less than the best. When did standard and average become such bad words?

I guess what I am trying to say is that life in the extreme is a fools errands and when we join that rat race, it inevitably creates far more losers than winners. Life away from the extremes generates more harmony and peace within oneself.

And that kind of life is perfectly OK in my opinion.

… just a thought!