Monthly Archives: October 2013

#trending

Posted on by

0

             Be it Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or Instagram, most of us are following what someone else is doing on the Internet. We want to know what’s “trending.” Which topics are relevant, current, and significant; what do I need to know to be in-the-know, savvy, with-it? Who’s hot; who’s not? Who’s IN: who’s OUT? What’s the latest trend? What’s going on? [Pigs Fly! Now trending on GEICO.]

It used to be that we could get all-the-news-that’s-fit-to-print from a newspaper, or from “The Evening News.” Now, there is more information available than we could ever access. So we follow trends. We turn to the Internet for up-to-date news about what happened anywhere in the world just minutes ago. Or, we tune into what’s happening in a streaming live-feed from Vladivostok directly to our cell phones.

The question is, Why?

There is a hazardous repercussion from trending. We are so immersed in what other groups or individuals are doing that we forget that we have things to do ourselves— namely, to be creative and ingenious, or to invent or design new innovations ourselves. Sure, the Web can spark ideas as we browse through its pages; but to settle on following 5-6, or 15-20, or more, trends has the debilitating effect of encumbering us with an over-load of too much information. TMI. Some useful; some, not so much.

Do not let all the vast amounts of information available consume you to the point of stifling your own imagination! Be, not only what you learn, but also what you create. Start your own trend and let others follow you. ‘Nough said.

For what it’s worth,

Gary

Test yourself, Change your future

Posted on by

0

Test Yourself, Change Your Future!

During one WEBrowsing obsession I came across TEST YOURSELF, CHANGE YOUR FUTURE, by Richard Stephenson. (http://richardstep.com/self-help/48-core-values-motivation-for-work-satisfaction/ ). Some of the qualities he admonished us to cultivate were those such as achievement, aesthetics, deeper affiliations with people, balance in work & family, challenge, compassion, creativity, hearing diverse perspectives, nurturing a rich family life, maintaining good physical health and mental/emotional well-being, a genuine spirituality, tempered wisdom. Richard’s full list is far more extensive than this offering, and it would be worth your while to read the whole article.

In fact, his list was so insightful that I am here passing its observations on for your perusal and pondering. As you go through this list of life values and motivators check off which ones describe you as a person. Then ask someone else to concur…, or not. Great fun.

My deepest thanks and appreciation to Richard Stephenson for creating such a comprehensive list.

For what it’s worth,

Gary

Thimk

Posted on by

0

Yes, the title of this article is intentionally misspelled. Why? Because it forced you to think about it; to wonder if the writer knows how to use Spell Check, or to conclude he is just stupid or lazy.

One of the easily observable facts of our time is that the average American finds thinking too tedious. The most difficult question we often face is— Large or small fries with that? Part of this situation is due to our 8th grade reading level being supplanted by sound-bytes on television. Thinking about issues is just too much work; just observe and absorb.

Thus do we leave thinking to the experts— science says, logically speaking, whatever the pastor says, leave it to the government to figure it out (well, except maybe during this present shutdown, or the next one), trust your doctor. Really?!? Have we actually entered a time when trusting the specialist, the expert, precludes our entrance into the conversation!?!

Our passive compliance to leave the thinking to others yields a dangerous dilemma. First, we tend to leave the resolution of complex issues in the hands of our elected officials, the scholars, the MDs & PhDs, or the religious elite of our era. Secondly, over time, we actually lose our ability to think. We simply listen and numbly respond, “Well, that sounds OK. Right?” and we never consider the other side of the debate.

This becomes distinctly evident in a person’s search for life-meaning, or life philosophy. Or should I say, the lack thereof. Considering the possibility of meaning, a meta-narrative, a life-purpose, has become, yes, too much work. Leave the difficult questions to the elite, the intellectuals, the government (well… ).

One of the primary reasons people do not want to consider Christianity is that it is just too much work. They are not against the Christian faith; it just seems superfluous to think about it, or any belief system, for that matter. In the grand scheme of things, I’m fine!

When we cease pondering the deeper questions of life, we will become a nation of neurological numb-nuts, blindly accepting whatever truth is handed down to us by the intellectual aristocracy as Truth. Investigation of Truth will be lost to the few who decide for us what it is. Brilliant!

[Note: To the genuinely Christian among us— get your brains in gear.]

For what it’s worth,

Gary