::This is from my trip into Norwich, England for the first time. It got lost in my drafts folder.::
I’m writing this from a train headed for Norwich (don’t pronounce the w). I’ve got a bit under an hour and a half on the train, so I’ve got some time to rest and collect some thoughts while being soothed by the sounds of the train and the three English businessmen to my right who frequently interrupt their friendly conversation to speak very forcefully to someone on their cell phone. I’m amused by this. Also, about 20 minutes into the trip, a kid ran into my car, stopped, and yelled back, “There’s another one coming this way!” Then he ran back through the door and another kid walked out real casual-like. He walked into the space between cars and disappeared around a corner until the conductor caught up with him. At the conductor’s instruction, he walked back up the isle and then back down again – this time followed by about 5 of his friends. Stow-aways. Sweet.
The flight on Air India was very bearable. Turns out, not a lot of people enjoy overnight flights so there was lots of space to stretch out (not to mention the extra airline pillows). I did manage to nod off for a bit in the middle of the flight, but otherwise I was kept company by a guy named Phil who was headed back to London after an extended stay with friends in the US. So we chatted for a while about travel and the differences between our countries and “What is that between the salad and the yogurt?” and “What in the world is going on with this Indian television they’re showing us?”
Side-note: We just passed between a water-treatment plant that looked exactly like one you might find in the US and a field of cows. Ah, home.
I’ve just started reading The Art of Loving
- That humanity progresses – that is we evolve, learn, and transcend through our timeline.
- That Love is an action, an art which is probably why he uses the term “Loving” instead of love. As an art, Loving must be studied and practiced and mastered.
He says there are several premises that people hold to be true which lead them to conclude that love does not need to be learned, but is in fact very easy. The first being that people believe Love is about being loved rather than loving.
I’ll buy that. I’d say that most conversations I have about relationships are focused on how well my friend’s partner is loving them, not on how well my friend is loving their partner. Think of all the complaints – they don’t treat me right, they did this or that wrong or don’t do it well enough, I’m not attractive enough, how can I make myself sexier or more lovable?
If we believe love is about being loved, then we turn our partners into performers and we turn ourselves into commodities. The groundwork is laid for unhealthy expectations and unhealthy self-image. It denies the worth that is inherent in our humanity and the respect that should come from that. It denies the depths that lie within ourselves and those around us.
I believe that every person is worthy of a basic (and strong) level of love and respect simply for the matter of them being human. This respect cannot be lost to character or crime. It cannot be weighted. It cannot be tapered or buffered. It just is. Any affection or relationship – positive or negative – has to be built on top of that basic love and respect of human life. From what I’ve heard so far, that’s the basic direction this book is headed and I’m excited to read what Fromm has to say.
Apparently, there is a conference held every year is Davos, Switzerland called the World Economic Forum where some of the top world leaders (not sure who that includes) meet to discuss how to make the world a better place. This year, The Goog has decided to open up the discussion to YouTube users. You can submit a response to their question and the highest-rated responses will be viewed and responded to at this year’s conference. Videos must be submitted by Junuary 21, 2008 and will be reviewed at the conference starting on Wednesday of that week.
So…what do you think countries, companies, and individuals can do to make the world better in 2008?
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDqs-OZWw9o]
found via The Official Google Blog
“We’re connected, I meant it, the hype won’t get you through.”
Oh! Gravity. kicks off with its title track and gets straight to the point with images of scars and fractures in shady, dimly lit spaces – liquor stores and back seats of cars. We’re broken and worn-down and we’re falling apart. It’s a plea to Gravity as if it were a Greek god who could bestow on us the power to come together. Instead we divide in order to concur, but we divide ourselves. Hatred gets passed down through bloodlines and we draw lines in the sand with the blood we spill.
Even when we unite, we unite against other people. We divide in the name of race, country, class, religion, and love. So what else can we ask to reunite us besides a universal law of nature?
Some have just given up and labeled humanity a violent, divisive race, but I think that’s too easy. We are sloppy and uncommitted to reunion, but we ache for it. We grope for it in the back seats of cars and in front of cameras and on barstools. We strip down and show off our scars in hopes that someone else will have the same ones and love us for it. Or maybe we paint ourselves to cover the flaws and try to present a perfect, unbroken skin. Or maybe we hide and don’t let anyone in at all.
Now I’m not a total cynic – I have some really good relationships. It’s not all rain-clouds and mud puddles, so cheer-up, Grumpy Bear!
True – there are some incredible displays of love and unity and family to be seen. Those are things to hold onto and strive for, but I can’t help but think it would be naïve to think that’s the norm. The number of people who live alone is increasing and the older we get, the lonelier we tend to be*. We’re also seeing health and psychological consequences of our loneliness. And I shouldn’t even need to cite examples of the schism in politics and poverty.
So here’s the question I feel I’m left with: Am I a uniting force or a dividing force?
Does the way I live my life bring people together or cause quarrels? Do I point to the poor and the victims of injustice or do I turn my head? Do I ignore or do I put on my gloves and dig in. When I fight (and by all means, do fight) do I fight against or do I fight for and with?
*Schnittker, Jason. “Look (Closely) At All The Lonely People.” Journal of Aging & Health; Aug2007, Vol. 19 Issue 4, p659-682, 24p
Oh! Gravity.
by Switchfoot
There’s a fracture in the color bar
In the backseat of a parked car
By the liquor store where the streetlight
Keep her company ’til the next night
In the same town, there’s the same scar
In the same glow of the liquor store
By the freeway, where the headlight
Keep her company ’til the next night
Oh! Gravity.
Why can’t we seem to keep it together?
Sons of my enemies,
Why can’t we seem to keep it together?
In the back room of the Pentagon
There’s a thin man with a line drawn
With a red jaw and a red bite
Watch the headline on the next night
Why this tragedy?
Why can’t we seem to keep it together?
In the fallout, the fallout
We found out the hype won’t get you through
We’re connected, connected
I meant it, the hype won’t get you through
