The only things for certain?

THE ONLY FOR CERTAIN—

I think it was. Ben franklin who said  “the only things for certain are  death and takes.’  On the other hand  it might have been Groucho  because he said a lot of  wise things like when exiting  the house of an uppity  couple he was heard saying “I have had a perfectly lovely evening—-but this wasn’t  it.”  

Anyway somebody  claimed that taxes and death. We’re the only things  for certain and tomorrow is the traditional tax day in the U.S. —well not this year!  This year we have put off  taxes until July and if we can put off taxes...well what about  death?  Now to clarify I’m not talking about. Coming back from the dead... Easter was yesterday and so that’s already been done (according. To a lot of people).  I’m talking about not dying at all.   This brings me. To another  quote that I can’t attribute to anyone in particular, however, I appreciate it fully.  “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.”   

I don’t want to get morbid here, or be accused of taking. A serious topic too lightly and yetI will not stand silently by at this critical. Time.  

Here’s the thing about. Death.  In western cultures except. With the possibility of the Irish we take. This death thing all too seriously so in seeking peace and joy I’m offering a different  perspective today.  

Like you I’ve seen the constant news report on COVID - 19.   Every day the body count is  hammered out to let us know  we should take this seriously and every time I hear it my mind wanders down two paths.  

Path One. Life Toll?

Why don’t we have the news media seek out people who are fully engaged in life?   We could feature people who are totally in love or falling in love, who  are comfortable with. Their body, who are expanding their talents and sharing them with others.... you know people who are fully alive?  Why can’t we track that?  Why  can’t this be the highlight of each and. Every day?  For me, these are the. People I 2ould like to pay attention to and. Learn from-how about you?  

Path. Two—Exit Strategies

Well since  my friend RVR said a couple months before he died—“living is hard—if dying is hard hard  why can everyone do it?  RIP  Bob—I  have had a different attitude about  The Whole thing.  I don’t mean to be crude, hopwerver, let’s face it.  We were all a little  scared and excited before we knew what an orgasm felt like.  Many of us really wondered what it would be like to get high or drunk.  The b ottom line is there are all kinds of firsts. In life that we  are anxious about and many of them turn out  better than we could ever imagine.  Maybe death is one of those.  As far as exiting goes... we can , if we choose design our final exit even if the cause of death and time isn’t up to us.  Having said this I urge you all  to think about and make peace with your final send off.  What music would you have your friends hear and why?  Where would you have your friends and family standing to get closure?  Are there any worldly objects you’d like to take along at least  symbolically? A music group called “Family of the Year” outlines their wishes and  the most recently. Departed John Prine  made his preferneces known.  

So here are some notes I would like to leave for my survivors.  

I think I would prefer ashes to  a casket, however I probably won’t speak out in protest either way.  If it is a casket I only have three wishes.   I want it to be motorized with a remote so that little kids can drive me around the funeral home while their parents and grandparents mumble on about how peaceful I look.   Since I’ll be. In a funeral “parlor”  I would like there to be parlor games or at least games of some sort.  Maybe  sharades—but the deaf people. Can’t play and can’t have each other as partners because they would kick ass.   So maybe  have my casket  modified so that  their is some sort of board game  built in to the top.  Now I. Would think BackGammon  would be classy and try to avoid monopoly—greedy  folks have enjoyed my life enough and it takes way too long—let’s keep this. Moving there is drinking. To be done.  The third thing Iwant is a  cloud. Sewn.  On the inside or painted. On the inside.  The inside would be better as I am  wanting a silver lining in my casket and  every cloud has a silver lining  or in my case every  silver lining should have a cloud right?   

Okay..if it’s ashes I have already expressed the  fact that I want to be shot out out of. One of the World. War II surplus  guns that faces Illinoisa from Burlington Iowa.  If that can’t happen make it a river somewhere, but if not make it anywhere  except for a fireplace mantle or a Walmart parking lot.  

Well I’ve gone on way too long...the reality is there is very little certainty in life and we focus on the  tragic and end way too much when  taking advantage of living a full life  and assisting our fellow travelers in doing. So.  It’s not the days in our life that matter it’s the life in our days... (Check out  John Murray’s. Story in the Pioneer Press...I’ll link to it tomorrow and did a couple of days ago.   Fill your moments up with. Meaning.  

Pandemic Journal Day 7–Well gee—-you may be able to tell this constant. Talk of fear and death is starting to  get under my skin a bit.... okay a lot.  Yesterday it became apparent my TV remote is broken and I can’t change the channel on my TV even though I have several hundred  channels. To pick from.  Luckily I still have the best. Choice—OFF, because 24 hours of death tolls and how we could have done things differently or how we. Are  shooting for normal just isn’t cool.  “Normal” was no party for some of us and shouldn’t we all  cherrsih and gravitate  toward extraordinary?    So on day 7 PE in my Pandemic Era... I urge  you all to reach out or  reach deep within and prove you are alive.  Let’s see. If  we can’t  make the “alive toll” rise significantly! 

https://www.twincities.com/2020/04/05/rosario-theres-a-lesson-in-how-the-world-is-cheering-for-the-marathon-man-from-shoreview/

Just Curious | Peter Leidy

Experience experiment

EXPERIENCING  THE EXPERIMENTS

Well since many of us are  “sheltering in place”—which is a phrase that no one ever used until this year—we used to  call it “getting grounded,” maybe we can. Do some  word association without waiting for the phone to ring, weaving in and out of  midtown traffic, waiting for the copy machine technician to  get rid of that irritating black streak in all our reports etc.  So here’s the word—-

Experiment

Here’s  my word association...

Scientist, white coat, Bunson Burner, chemicals, lab coat, goggles, data, microscope formula ...

Well  I suspect many people might share  these words, so  the place to start is with what I mean by experimenting IT’s the  “E” in HOPE because ultimately  in order to make things different. We have to do different things because the definition of insanity is truly  doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.     In short what I’m, talking about is  recognizing the same old stuck places and  instead of  trying harder or again—trying different and being aware of the changes that brings.   When we experiment will we always be successful—yes.   What? How’s that?  If we pay attention there is a lesson in nearly every thing we do so  as long as we learn the lesson a mistake is just a step in the right direction.  So why be afraid of trying something different?   When  we think of experiments we do tend to think of paying  close atttention in short, being aware.   In our attention economy we are pulled this way and that way by media choices, travel options, food  variety, and just think back  to a time (some of you can) to a time when we only had three channels or four to choose from and that was on a clear day when your younger brother  went outside to turn the antenna  just a little to the left to get rid of the. Snow and shadows on Bonanza.  

The point is that experimental attention allows. Us to see changes and shift course.  When we do this  we can enter the maze over and over (Persistence)  knowing that this time we might find the path, but if not we will learn. Where not to go.  

The other. Thing about us being. Experimenters is that. It will allow others to  look at the world and us differently and thus  encourage others a to pay attention and act differently.  This is the kind of thing that alters circumstances in ways that may make old tools work again or make it easier to  think of. New tools we have or  the tools we know. Other people. Have.   

To summarize, if you are seeking peace and joy be willing to learn, fall down forward, get up and look around and move some more.  Don’t wish you. We’re learning hope to make things better—-know you are.   

Well that wraps up a review of  “HOPE”. 

HARD WORK

OPTIMISM

PERSISTENCE AND

EXPERIMENTING 

CHANGE YOUR WISHES INTOHOPES AND  ENCOURAGEOTHERS TO HOPE. USING THIS FRAMEWORK—-SHANGE THE. WORLD.

...AND SPEAKING OF HOPE  

It’s time for another  “pandemic Journal  (PE). Day 6 or so...  First I have to start with retraction regarding the Easter Bunny.  Am I now claiming. The Easter Bunny. Is real?  Well.... no, however, continued research  has taught me that  “Easter”  was adapted from an AngloSaxon  pagan  celebration where the goddess of Spring and fertility came along and  healed a bird to insure life would move forward.  However in doing so the bird never  quite returned to normal and was in fact transformed. Into a rabbit that continues to lay eggs.  Thus... ladies and gentlemenand kids of all age...we have the Easter. Bunny.   

So put aside all the stuff I said about the  Easter Egg. Thing being. Brought here from  Germany in the 1700s... this hopping  holiday. Has deeper roots than I was led  to believe so I guess  I should prepare to learn that the tooth fairy will soon be  terminating the process of putting money under the pillow and. Will from this time forward use Apple Pay.  

So what else is in today’s journal?  It’s the day. After Easter and  some folks had wished things would return to ‘normal” by  yesterday.  We can sit here today in a state of disappointment or we  can learn that things don’t always go like we. Expect and that it may be  time to experiment  rather than to expect when seeking peace and joy—except in one way....

Expect this blog will be here in the near future and. Its writer will  be “hoping” your saearch for peace and joy will continue then...

HOPping into persistence

“HOP”PING  into  Hope

So  the last few days have  covered—

H—-Hard work

O—— Optimism and now 

P——Persistence

If we just stopped here on Easter the acronym would be “hop” and somehow  the universe.made that work out for another one of our “legendary” holiday characters.  So in honor of this—before I launch into persistence—a few. Fun facts about  said. Bunny are in order.  

It is said  that the Easter Bunny was. A German tradition that first crossed over into the United States in the 1700s with the oldest reports of stories. About the bunny ranging back to the 1680s in Germany.  Seriously, I believe the holiday is rumored to reflect some rite of Spring but I can’t help but think after. The first years of  using real eggs some mafia  dentists gathered together at Big Dinos  and said let’s bring in candy to make some green on the side.  But of course there was  some disagreement  among the five major syndicates  so they had to parlay  for some time when they came up with a solution.  Kids and parents wouldn’t like going to the dentist so much...but if we  got the “tooth fairy” consp[iracy going we could buy off the kids a for some pocket change.  

Okay ...it may not have happened exactly  like that, however. Here are some things that the data show to be true.  

Americans spend about 1.9 Billion on Easter Candy each. Year.  Over. 70% of this  cash is spent on chocolate.  In that category, about. 90 million chocolate bunnies are sold and while we can’t agree on much in our  country a whopping  76% of citizens agree that the proper way to eat a bunny is ears first.  

While it has  not been studied scientifically, green shredded  “Easter Grass”.is now replacing  Tinsel as the number one holiday substance you can still find in your furniture or vacuum far into the Summer.

Well it’s time to take the leap (or at least a small hop)  from that fun to PERSISTENCE as the third component of “HOPE.” 

Hard work is a critical. Part of hope otherwise all you have is a wish.  Optimism means  creating and believing  in options so that choices guide  the emotions and actions you choose.  Not there is “persistence.”  

In the context of hope persistence is  a concerted  effort towards changing. A state or achieving an experience.  At the end of this post there is a  link that has been featured a couple of times and needs to be  clicked if you haven’t done so.  It’s a story about John and his father Tom who are dedicated to the intention of completing  the Boston Marathon.  You see John is now a “cancer survivor” and if he had  not persisted after his treatments, there is no way he would be preparing to run and raising. Money for a good. Cause as a result.  John does all the running, however because.Tpom and John. Understand hard work and optimism (the belief in maximizing. Options)they chose to continue training  for this marathon in spite of some significant  barriers including uncertain health and  the COVID situation.  I like to think persistence as moving toward something incrementally while stubbornness (often confused with persistence) is a refusal to change due to  weanting the status quo or more often the fear of. Change.  To persist is to claw forward while to be.stubborn is to hold on or even reach backwards to remain comfortable or in power/control.  Persistence is an active  action that you can practice in lots of ways.  For example you can shoot free throws until you get better.  You can practice a musical instrument unti you get. Faster.  You can bake desserts  until people are clammbering  for them (remember that even Betty Crocker. Burns a cake now and then).   

If  persistence. Doesn’t get. You there  well the answer is. Coming in the next  blog.  You can persist and if you are wondering  if things will ever change it might be time to move to the k”E” stage again.  

However, I have persisted in sharing my ideas enough for one fine Easter.  

Have an eggs-Ellen’s  Day. 

https://www.twincities.com/2020/04/05/rosario-theres-a-lesson-in-how-the-world-is-cheering-for-the-marathon-man-from-shoreview/

Opt for optimism in seeking peace and joy

OPTIMISM IS AN OPTION

well ...and I hope you are all well....we are knee deep in the ideas surrounding  HOPE —Hard work, Optimism, Persistence, and. experimenting—And since I usually dive in head first knee deep is  pretty committed which reminds me of one of my favorite  Iowa farmer’s jokes.  Well..it reminds me of two of my favorite farmer’s jokes, but  I’ll only share one now.  

A pig and an chicken were walking down Main Street when they passed the. “Hometown cafe”. A sign on  the window said Country. Breakfast  with Ham and Eggs $2.99.  The chicken shakes. Her head and  says—-Oh great they’ll be expecting. Overtime from me.  the pig dipped its head and said “don’t  complain.  They’re only asking  you for a contribution...they’re  asking me for a commitment.”  

In some ways optimism is a commitment to  seeking. The good or the assets you have to accomplish things or to seek peace and joy rather that to focus on the  gifts you lack.  a whole lot of people confuse  optimism with happiness, and maybe optimistic  people are more likely. To stumble into happiness, however that’s not all that important here.  

Optimism opens the most paths toward peace and joy much like a row boat.  Like a rowboat?—-you ask?  Well. Look at it this way—-you come to a river that needs to  be crossed.   Life often has barriers like that you know.   Now you can stand on one side and look up and down to see where the nearest. Bridge. Is because that is a very safe way to cross a river and you can ask. Someone  to build you a bridge and maybe  they will and name it after a famous general or something.  On the other hand  maybe you’ll spy a rowboat and think I could row across the river if I were stronger or if I had help rowing and then you. Have  choices.  You can start working out and get strong enough and if someone  comes along to row with you at any point you both stand a better chance of getting. To the other shore.  The pessimist would more likely  just keep looking for a bridge and thinking I can’t get there.  Which.reminds me of a quote that is attributed to  LHenry ford—no it’s not  “you can have any color you want as long as it’s black.”  The quote is “If you believe you. Can or if you believe you can’t, you are probably right.”  

for me  being optimistic  is not always being positive or happy—it is believing in the existence. And value of options.  If you are willing to. Engage in. Finding alternatives and taking responsibility for pursuing them the odds of influencing your current. Mindset and situation increase significantly.  

So support and explore options with enthusiasiasm.  

to summarize...so far Hope takes. Hard work and a belief in available options—tomorrow we will take about persistence—but now Pandemic Journal Day 5  in the PE (pandemic Era.)

The  Pandemic Journal day Five 

Right. Up above. Here I wrote about. Optimism and options... So today I got to thinking about options and how many we limit by  our expectation of others and of ourselves and  how that influences our functioning during this. Time when  we are being asked to limit things like travel and social contact etc... The toilet paper hoarders  even limit our choice between.two-ply and “super soft.’  The question that comes to mind is how often do we encourage  others to create  options for our communities and how often do we strive to do so.  Sure we have some actions and behaviors that work for us and so they are obviously the “right thing to do”, however do these. Options allow others to shine with their. Skills and their abilities to contribute to your journey.  Do we think  about  optimizing things when they work for us?    

 How often do we dive in knee deep instead of getting ankle deep in  making things  available to others??? Remember I expect you are thinking diving in head first!

More Tomorrow

 P.s. A great way to get and stay connected and optimistic is to listen to the toilet paper monologues related to the pandemic by searching. For Peacer and Joy 505. The Podcast or by  going to  peterleidy.com and reading  a blog there. Called just curious... You see  you are part of a very powerful tribe during this  challenge.  You believe in your fellow human bing—you are not afraid to think—you know ther value. Of questioning answers is usually as important as answering questions and you have refused to let apathy win.     Keep on Rockin’ if the Free world

\https://www.twincities.com/2020/04/05/rosario-theres-a-lesson-in-how-the-world-is-cheering-for-the-marathon-man-from-shoreview/

PSS here are some links to the things I talked about it and I think this time they work LOL enjoy

https://www.twincities.com/2020/04/05/rosario-theres-a-lesson-in-how-the-world-is-cheering-for-the-marathon-man-from-shoreview/

c

Turn a wish into a hope and a hope into a reality

Hope Begins with “Hard” Work

Hope Begins with “H”are Work

Yesterday Peace and Joy 8 introduced , or reintroduced” the acronym  for HOPE  as Hard Work (by the way why is hardworking one word and Hard work two words?   English what a language..I guess guess it’s for the  same reason  that comb and tomb and bomb don’t rhyme?   Okay... Hard. Work, Optimism, Persistence, and Experimenting.  Hope is not just sitting waiting for the universe to deliver.  It is  an activity we can chose to become engaged in.  

Fear is a stimulus  that creates a need to respond or react—we can. Choose and strengthen hope.   

Anyway  let’s get to. “Hard Work.”  

A wise. Former. Professor of mine told me that “opportunity often knocks but comes dressed as hard work.”  He also  said that hard work does not have to be tedious  or drudgery and that is simply  has to invite and sometimes demand that you grow and stretch what you are currently. Doing.  This type of effort requires attention, intention,and more often than not  repetition and reflection.  Without these you simply have a wish—Nothing wrong with wishes by the way, but in these days Fairy God Mothers are sheltering in place and Prince Charming  hascanceledthe ball until further notice.  Oh and try to. Have a dance using Zoom...it doesn’t  work unless you show a bunch of freshman boys sitting. Together  up against  a wall looking pretty. Nervous and watching each other to see who will ask someone to dance.  anyway if you want to experience  hope then get ready to stretch and sometimes  move slowly toward your vision.   Down below you will find a link to a news story about a remarkable. Person and his  pretty outstanding  father who understand that you can hope to do something that is very meaningful and thus are putting in the work needed.  

a lot of us  right now are “hoping” that this  pandemic goes away soon and are willing to do what it takes, but are finding it very hard to change our habits and reconsider our routines.  Many I are fearing that  uncertainty. Will remain  for a lot longer than we are comfortable with.  Well what if you lived in. A war-torn country like Vit Nam or Afghanistan?  How much uncertainty did and are you  living with for how long?  I am not suggesting a comparison  model, however,  I am suggesting we personally establish  what is “routine and normal” and need to work hard to own it if we. Want to hope things will change from the current way thiunbgs are.   

To summarize —-sort of—Hope can be an activity that we can have some say over and that is a rare. Commodity in some senses these days.   It requires  intentional action and that action will take some “hard” work.  Do not be afraid to share what you hope for with others. Because  often times two. Or more people have similar or related hopes and  in addition to being willing to share some of the work these folks may also assist in the other elements that  make up  “HOPE.”  

Wellthat’s all the  thoughts I care to share right now.  Tomorrow  we’ll launch into “optimism and whyitisacritical element  in this equation and in seeking peace and joy.   

Until then..I have some more things to do  today...so HI HO HI HO it’s off to work (hard) I go.  

https://www.twincities.com/2020/04/05/rosario-theres-a-lesson-in-how-the-world-is-cheering-for-the-marathon-man-from-shoreview/  I hope this inspires all. Yesterday Peace and Joy 8 introduced , or reintroduced” the acronym  for HOPE  as Hard Work (by the way why is hardworking one word and Hard work two words?   English what a language..I guess guess it’s for the  same reason  that comb and tomb and bomb don’t rhyme?   Okay... Hard. Work, Optimism, Persistence, and Experimenting.  Hope is not just sitting waiting for the universe to deliver.  It is  an activity we can chose to become engaged in.  

Fear is a stimulus  that creates a need to respond or react—we can. Choose and strengthen hope.   

Anyway  let’s get to. “Hard Work.”  

A wise. Former. Professor of mine told me that “opportunity often knocks but comes dressed as hard work.”  He also  said that hard work does not have to be tedious  or drudgery and that is simply  has to invite and sometimes demand that you grow and stretch what you are currently. Doing.  This type of effort requires attention, intention,and more often than not  repetition and reflection.  Without these you simply have a wish—Nothing wrong with wishes by the way, but in these days Fairy God Mothers are sheltering in place and Prince Charming  hascanceledthe ball until further notice.  Oh and try to. Have a dance using Zoom...it doesn’t  work unless you show a bunch of freshman boys sitting. Together  up against  a wall looking pretty. Nervous and watching each other to see who will ask someone to dance.  anyway if you want to experience  hope then get ready to stretch and sometimes  move slowly toward your vision.   Down below you will find a link to a news story about a remarkable. Person and his  pretty outstanding  father who understand that you can hope to do something that is very meaningful and thus are putting in the work needed.  

a lot of us  right now are “hoping” that this  pandemic goes away soon and are willing to do what it takes, but are finding it very hard to change our habits and reconsider our routines.  Many I are fearing that  uncertainty. Will remain  for a lot longer than we are comfortable with.  Well what if you lived in. A war-torn country like Vit Nam or Afghanistan?  How much uncertainty did and are you  living with for how long?  I am not suggesting a comparison  model, however,  I am suggesting we personally establish  what is “routine and normal” and need to work hard to own it if we. Want to hope things will change from the current way thiunbgs are.   

To summarize —-sort of—Hope can be an activity that we can have some say over and that is a rare. Commodity in some senses these days.   It requires  intentional action and that action will take some “hard” work.  Do not be afraid to share what you hope for with others. Because  often times two. Or more people have similar or related hopes and  in addition to being willing to share some of the work these folks may also assist in the other elements that  make up  “HOPE.”  

Wellthat’s all the  thoughts I care to share right now.  Tomorrow  we’ll launch into “optimism and whyitisacritical element  in this equation and in seeking peace and joy.   

Until then..I have some more things to do  today...so HI HO HI HO it’s off to work (hard) I go.  

https://www.twincities.com/2020/04/05/rosario-theres-a-lesson-in-how-the-world-is-cheering-for-the-marathon-man-from-shoreview/  I hope this inspires all.

Renewing HOPE and what it can mean for seeking peace and joy

Renewing  Hope in Strange Days

About a year ago this blog featured a couple of entries  on  H (HARDWORK)  O (Optimism)  P (Persistence)  and E (Experimenting or HOPE  for short and I’m going to go back there  in a few  paragraphs—however—-maybe you don’t care for this. Acronym  and I get that so let me present (just for fun)  some other possible contenders.  

Submitted for your. Approval—

Holidays Overwhelm Pregnant elves

Hockey Offersa Pucking Enjoyment

Hillbillies  Oppose Public Education

Hawaiians Open Pineapple Extravaganza

Hundreds of Penguins Explode

Holland  Outlaws Pepperoni Exchange

Hindus Outnumber Pre-historic Elephants

Holy  Ones Perform Exorcism 

Half-sliced  Oranges Provide Energy

Handfuls of Peanuts Enjoyed

Hairy Old Protestant  evangelists

Okay okay.... My  quartet of 

Hard work, optimism Persistence and Experimenting  don’t seem so bad do they?

Now I’m going to go right from  my  acronym to the Pandemic Journal   For today (PE) Journal number 4 4 I believe..you see it’s easy to lose track these days— and let me add one more “hope.”

Help Other People enthusiastically d—

And Hand out positive expressions—-

In this uncertain era (and during uncertain time  it helps if we can choose curiosity or experiments  as often as we choose fear)..

Yes...over the next three of four days. I’ll be talking about. Hard work—the hard work of staying connected and  extending a distant  hand to our neighbors and friends.  I’ll speak of the Optimism  needed to. Fully embrace change, because this is a significant social. Event that will  create  change opportunities far beyond any  of this century.  I’ll praise  persistence  or more accurately choosing a limited. Range of  things and the pursuit of mastery and yes I’ll once again encourage experimenting and reflecting right up to the point of disciplined  chaos.  

For now...you can just play around with the words and come up  with your  own “hope.”   

 The “Hard Work”. Begins tomorrow

Feeling groovy or just in a rut?

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GROOVE AND A RUT—(AND PEACE AND  JOY)

Several times during the day, I interrupt. My activities. To listen to part of a book or a podcast.  Doing. This  keeps my. Curiosity cranking at a fever pitch which is exactly where  I like it.  How is this  simpatico  with seeking peace and joy?  It is  myway of learning and learning keeps  me flexible and humble.  Humble because there is so much others have to share with us and. So much we can allow others to teach us  if we stay open  That allows us to  in turn teach each other and value each other’s talents and that to me is a path to finding a little peace and joy on a daily basis.   Anyway back to this. Podcast—-

The presenter was instructing. The listener that in this “pandemic” time it was very important to quickly establish  a routine and stick to it.  

‘Well... I sort of—- make that violently—-disagree.   Why not use this time to be curious. About what we have done routinely day after day for year after year and to examine and experiment with different activities and responses to  the world.  Now is an ideal time to do this because the social expectation  is. That “nothing iOS normal these days.”  You can always return to a groove you were in—but if you fight  hard to maintain the groove you are likely putting a lot of pressure on your life and what happens. When you put a lot of pressure on a groove?  Well it becomes a rut.  What happens when you get into a rut?  Well I would argue two things happen.  It becomes hard to see much beyond the rut and it becomes hard to depart from the rut even when you see a better path.  So I say don’t hurry to get into a routine when you have the perfect time to float, experiment, and respond actively instead.of reacting reflexively.  There will be plenty of time to  refine and systematize  your behaviors soon enough and believe me. You will be expected to do so.  For ow try a few new grooves and get a little funky from time to time.  Comfort  is  important from time to time, however, however if you do the same thing day after day from the time you wake up until the. Time the evening stars are emerging it   seems that  you will always. Find yourself in the “twilight zone” at the end of your. Day, week, month, year, decade...oh you get the picture.  By checking out some new grooves and paths you will likely affirm those that are critical to you and that match your values and maybe you will discover some new seeds to grow some. New beautiful  plants, flowers, and friendships.  

Pandemic Journal —Day  4... Well I skipped yesterday because the pandemic didn’t care and I  didn’t either.  Even Disneyland gets  boring if you go there every day and even if you are Snow  White you wish  there were a few different  elves.  Maybe Spivey and Sparkly  could drop by just to say hello.  So today in the  journal I started thinking about  making a mask to wear on my walks.  I might  make one with. A big ear printed on it noting that now is a great time to listen to oneself and others...not to mention mother  nature and the rest of the universe.  

Okay and speaking of listening.... I’m off to do some.   

The pandemic journal building blocks style

If Newton’s Law Applies...

Well I’m not worried about all his laws—after all there were a lot of universal truths he didn’t point out.  for example, you will always spill dark food on light clothing and light food on dark clothing.  It will always rain within 23 hours of when you wash your car.  You will break a shoe string only on days when you are already running late—he didn’t mention any of these things.  He did however believe in alchemy  thinking he could change  other materials into gold and while he learned a lot from an apple it wasn’t a cell phone iPad or Mac Air Pro.  

The law  I’m interested in is  the one about. Every  action having an equal and opposite reaction.  

So on a daily basis these days (actually on every day ever but we will get there later...a new change, a significant change seems to fall into. Our lives.  Our favorite restaurant is closed in fact all of our favorite restaurants have changed the way they are. Operating if they are operating at all.  We can’t. Go to a lot of our favorite  places where we see so many familiar faces.  In short our routines are  all being revealed because they are being denied.  So as some parts of  our lives are getting dismantled and maybe destroyed my equal and opposite. Reaction is to create and explore new routines and to really examine  my patterns of action and thought to see what parts of life I’ve been phoning in for a while.  

One of the habits I’ve been trying to. Build is sharing some verses/poetry  that may eventually  make it’s way into a song.  So on this fine day I offer the first two stanza of a poem or verses of a song that will work on me for the next couple weeks and invite. You to let curious thoughts fill in the spaces where fear of losing your  “taken for grantees” fall down.

Well. The world spins in a wobbly  spiral 

COVID 19 has gone viral

So we can’t. Haunt the same old places 

See all those familiar faces

As each routine fades or fails

We must  build in new details

Some amongst us will be frozen As they face the paths they’ve chosen

Well that’s enough for today... Now  a few notes from my Pandemic Era Journal Day 3

I was informed  today that our city was implementing. A “burning ban”. I’m not sure why this is. Happening.  Maybe. It’s because  the fire department doesn’t want to be exposed to  more of the public than is absolutely needed—I get that.  Unfortunately with a lot more people  preparing their own food for the first time in a long time there will more burning than we’ve. Seen in quite some time.  I wish we could enforce this no burning thing in the kitchen .  How would that work?  Would you dial 911 and  scream  out “You’d better get out here—Aunt Mildred is baking the crap out of. This meatloaf?   Then the officer would come out and ask about the nature of the crime.  She’s a re[peat offender you’d say—she hasn’t made a decent  cake in 20 years and  her burgers?  Let’s just say the NHL calls when they run low on pucks.  

Anyway... what I’m getting at is that  we will have a lot of new rules designed  to keep us healthy and calm.  Some of them will not work and some of us will try to become Barney Fife  and enforce them with enthusiasm.  In a world of peace and joy it might be productive to approach things with a good deal of curiosity, respect, and flexibility and to understand that we are walking into anew forest here.  Let’s not worry about. Proving  who is right  or wrong so much as  proving. That together we can build beautiful. New patterns in  many parts of many lives and if you don’t like the way Aunt Mildred makes the meatloaf... volunteer to make some stir fry instead.

The toilet paper monologues people just can’t get enough

Don’t Squeeze Me—It’s My 15 Minutes of fame.

This blog often features everyday  items so it’s not really all that unusual that this entry goes over the top (or is it supposed to  be hanging the other way?)  when it comes to one more household item.  Just because. This has become  the topic of the month doesn’t mean I’m taking advantage of circumstances—okay I am..but since this  an entry in the “Pande3mic Journal” and Day 2 in the Pandemic Era for commentaries (PE-D02) it’s only responsible public discourse to “go there.”  

toilet Paper —the “Back” (or a little lower) Story

Well as I have noted so many times the Chinese  are credited with the invention of toilet paper—or they first recorded it’s use in the 6th century.  Now don’t get all excited, this tolet paper  came in  two foot by three foot sheets not on a roll and was not  the soft  stuff we. Use today.  How we got to  the place we are today is a little scary but worth  knowing.  For instance many substances have been.used for the purpose of  cleaning up after so to speak.  Among these are rocks, sticks, leaves, corn cobs and a variety of catalogs and new2spapers.  I know some. Newspapers  that have devolved to a point where that is a fine use.  However, these substances don’t shock me as much as  two other options.  The first  is the use of a sponge on a stick.  Well that doesn’t. Sounds bad you say.  Oh  but I failed to mention this  sponge was  shared by  all the members who used that particular public or private facility and  it was traditionally kept soaking in salt water.  The other  alternative that makes me cringe a bit was the use of  not paper, but wood shavings.  Now this conjures a whole new perspective to Grandpa sitting on the front porch whistling  away to make some  fancy duck decoy knowing the shavings were headed for the outhouse.  Oh you are thinking what ab out the splinters?   Well ...keep reading

Up until the late 1920s and early 1930s modern day toilet paper often contained splinters.  While  what we call toilet paper first came on a roll in about 1857 it wasn’t squeezable soft  by any means.  In fact it was full of pulp and splinters and  the user had  to. Be very careful using it.  It is not  certain whether the paper we used. Back then would have evolved except that paper did not work well with indoor plumbing.  People needed paper that would resolve easily in water instead of burn in their stoves and fireplaces.  

How much is too much?

Well here are some numbers.  It takes a a forest or a small wooded area to supply. The people who used TP.  Only about half the world’s  population have access to it and can afford it.   Anyway each person who uses it consumes the equivalence  of 384 trees in the course of a lifetime which averages out to somewhere close to 100 rolls a year.  On average a user flushes. About 8 sheets per time.  For a while the trend was to produce colored. And printed. Toilet paper to. Make it more decorative.  There  have been periods when it has even been scented.  Now we have settled back into white for the most part because no trained chemist or artist should have to present something to a boss seeking approval that states “your design isn’t good enough for  toilet paper” or “your brother the chemist is working on a cure for  cancer and you’re working on what?—the smell of early morning  Everglades for White Cloud?”  

Wrapping  this up so to speak

Our household has enough and we did not hoard it.  Do I appreciate being born at this point in the evolution of  bathroom products?  Oh yes!!! I guess the question I must ask is how many other things. That I might. Appreciate more just  slip through my hands and  wind up going down the drain?  Maybe we could all spend a few moments pondering just that.

Well I’m wiped out so more soon