Regardless of how fast and efficient we are, we cannot outrun time.
We learned at school how time is a measuring unit and were told later that time has more dimensions than just one and it can be bent just as any other dimension. All of us use time as a reference point. How would we be able otherwise to make an appointment or celebrate a birthday? Time is a deadline and time is freedom for some, and time is the reason we struggle so much fighting its impact.
Psychologically, time is a very complex phenomenon. Some people feel young at old age and some are born to never be young. Time becomes very relative with every single moment of our life. Waiting for something makes time go by extremely slowly and, especially, for young people, waiting lasts much longer than for the older ones. Happy moments make time sweep past so swiftly that the event might later appear as a dream. Sadness and fear slow the particular moment down. Desperately waiting for help in critical situations lasts forever.
Whether enjoyable or not, time cannot be stopped, avoided or disregarded. Certainly, everything still happens whether we know about that or not and whether we want that or not. Lack of knowledge doesn’t mean we can prevent something from taking place. There is also vice versa: we can change the flow of time and bend it in a favorable outcome for us or somebody else. Although, we are all subjected to impact and effects of time, we can still make it work for us and do us a favor.
To measure time, we do not always need days, months or years. Achievements and losses are excellent measuring units and reveal to much larger extent what and who we are and where we are going if anywhere. Zero movement in universe and nature equals regression that leads to the end of existence. Once the cells stop dividing and growing and we stop moving forward, we become captives of time and that’s the start of decline of any function. We as humans experience all dimensions of time simultaneously and in a never-ending manner.
We stick to general histories, but, in fact, the history has as many versions as is the number of people who interpret them. We carry around our stamp of time and we see the world in our unique way. So, how do we work towards a better outcome? How to make time not dash by, but stay with us in a meaningful, productive way?
Idleness doesn’t make any use of time. Meaningful activity makes it much more worthwhile. Meaningful activity is something different for everybody. Some will say that reading for pleasure is a waste of time and some will find it the best way of living. Entertainment is usually what we have made to believe we require, but it’s important what type of entertainment we are engaging in. Exercising can be useless time or the greatest achievement for somebody else. Relativity of time dimensions makes it flexible for us: bend it any way you can, just don’t throw it away.
The current time is a lesson in decision-making and responsible attitude. Blaming doesn’t help anybody. After all, it’s us personally dealing with the sequences. Being young means one can make many mistakes since they have more time to correct them. Being old comes with getting wiser: we have realized we don’t need everything we want and we are stricter with our choices. When time starts to run out, it does it very swiftly. This time is just as any other time period: while it feels people suffer for nothing, it’s never so. Until we haven’t learnt the lesson, we probably won’t be set free from bad experiences. Every single person makes difference today and now. I wish we went only for smart choices whenever possible.
I hope you’re cautious and staying safe during this final stretch before the improvement sets in!
Inese Poga Life School 
“Psychologically, time is a very complex phenomenon. Some people feel young at old age and some are born to never be young.” is an astute observation. My mother fell in the latter category. The perception of time and the passage of time plays a critical role in our lives.
The photos are beautiful. I am not surprised you have snow now. Around here, snow reports go by elevation. At 800 feet, we have had some very cold mornings, but no snow, yet.
As you know from the news, it has been an unusually difficult time for your neighbors to the south, and I am waiting anxiously for the new year while also being thankful for what we have during these times when so many have so little.
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Thanks Lavinia!
I had a neighbour girl, who was never young and never behaved like a kid. You could say she was very mature already at age 6 and skipped the youth years and jumped into middle age right away. What’s interesting is that she looked older, as well, and by age 20 looked like as if she was at least 50 and that wasn’t due to any disease or genetic issue. I find that upbringing has a big effect on how we live, perceive the world and our place in it.
I know kids who were raised by grandparents and who behaved as much older people with all age-related concerns. Grandparents can be also different, some are very active and very enthusiastic about everything, and then, we have people, who want to be left alone and who have shut down the surrounding world.
In later years, I studied to a big extent importance of a whole family.
I worked at high schools and colleges in Europe for many years, and it was amazing to find out why somebody is turning out like they were.
North America had already back then very advanced facial and body restructuring and altering surgeries, but we relied only on what nature had given us and on care we provided ourselves with. It was more a result of cause and effect.
The other thing is that without internet there was nothing to compare one with daily and hourly. Therefore, depression rates were so much lower. You cannot be disappointed and in frustration about something you don’t know exists.
The current dissatisfaction and desperation often arises from comparing conditions and circumstances of oneself and others. The focus has shifted from what we can do to what the absolutely best outcome is.
Snow has melted by now, but it’s dark and gloomy outdoors. I rely on daylight a lot for art, and this darkness is a problem.
I hope you get through this prolonged virus period in the nest possible shape. People living out of big cities and towns are at advantage currently. You have space and place to move around and there’s no threat coming into contact with infection.
Financially, it’s my worst year ever. I have cut absolutely all spending: one cannot spend what they don’t have. I have almost gotten rid of any debt, just in case.
Well, it’s good being able to have a satisfactory life using mostly things I have created on my own. We are buying only basic food, that’s all, and paying bills.
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Great post on time, Inese, casually just this morning read:
“Dabei gibt es keine zeitliche Messung, ein Jahr spielt keine Rolle und zehn Jahre sind nichts. Künstler zu sein bedeutet: nicht zu nummerieren und zu zählen, sondern wie ein Baum zu reifen, der seinen Saft nicht erzwingt und selbstbewusst in den Stürmen des Frühlings steht, ohne Angst zu haben, dass der Sommer danach nicht kommt. Es kommt. Aber es geht nur um diejenigen, die geduldig sind, die da sind, als ob die Ewigkeit vor ihnen liegt, so unbesorgt still und gewaltig. Ich lerne es jeden Tag meines Lebens, lerne es mit Schmerzen, für die ich dankbar bin: Geduld ist alles! “
Rilke. 🙂
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Thanks very much!
You know, Rilke’s thoughts and writing always feels to me as if I had said that, these thoughts feel very close and very personal to me.
I have actually been repeating frequently how important being patient is. No rushing, no pressure, as if “we have the entire eternity”.
Wonderful comment!
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No wonder Patience it’s a virtue.
Best wishes. 🙂
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I definitely believe it is. Patience is also the one thing many people don’t have nowadays. You probably know that saying about waiting long enough by the river. That’s it. I have learned patience, and I sometimes wonder whether it happens naturally as one ages.
Days are too short in December, just woke up and the supper time is already here.
Best wishes to you also!
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It’s as you say.
Here it gets dark about 5PM and we get sunrise about 7:30 AM and the day seems very short, I just can imagine at your North latitude in Canada!
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I think it’s almost the same, quite similar. Sunrise is at 7.34 tomorrow, sunset at 4.38, so it’s dark by 5 pm because we get lingering light for a while, except when it rains or snows. I’m kind of not that far from NY, we have the same time zone. To be honest, I haven’t given this much thought, but it seemed it was the same what we had in Latvia, too. December has short days. Very difficult with art and picture taking. I just start and next thing I know, it’s totally dark.
I don’t even know where you’re located at the moment. It’s a very Southern location? Probably is of which I’m envious about.
Take care
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I am way Southwest, on the pacific Coast 31.86 latitude, I do not know where you live in Canada but Toronto possibly the Southern most biggest city from Canada it’s 43.65 N Latittude,
Which means on Winter your daylight must be pretty short, and in Summer very long.
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I am not far from Toronto, in the Greater Toronto area. Toronto itself was not an option because of accommodation prices. Like I said, I don’t feel much difference from where I was in Latvia, nature is similar, too.
Pacific coast sounds nice. It must be quite warm there.
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Well, I guess compared with Canada, yes it is, right now our temperature it’s 17C, 62F but will top at 21C 69.8, tonight the lowest will be 9C , 48F. However people here do not call that warm. 🙂
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These people should try it here. We’re sitting at 2.3 C and probably going into minuses at night. You could do gardening all year, couldn’t you? That is so fantastic. Unfortunately, we won’t be moving South that soon, maybe sometime.
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We also get some extreme weather once in a while, and we may not get it for some years, usually on El Niño years we get a lot of rains in winter, and cold temperatures, below 0, but fortunately for us, it just happens seldom, and for just a few days, this year so far, winter looks mild.
I joke to a woman friend, who is entertaining ideas of moving to Canada, but she lives on the Tropics: “Do not even think about it, you will be miserable in Winter, as it is, I do not believe you will like Winter, here where I am living, even less Canada. ” 🙂
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Good advice!
Nobody likes winter, except maybe kids or people love skiing and skating.
It is fine up to Christmas, but afterwards all that sleet, freezing rain, lots of snow shoveling and need to always bundle up starts to impact mood.
We had bad weather sometimes in March, as well. I am all for mild winters, preferably with hardly any snow. My sister told they had much milder winters than before 2000 when I was there.
I’m not a winter person, I wouldn’t miss it one small bit.
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I cannot blame you.
I grew up on the tropics, but I moved North at seventeen years of age, now do not care for extremes, neither cold, neither too hot, fortunately where I live we have a Mediterranean sort of weather, it may get a little bit hot sometimes, but it doesn’t last, neither the cold spells. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 50°F to 85°F and is rarely below 43°F or above 92°F. 🙂
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That’s the possibly best climate one could live in. I usually do not know the Fahrenheit temperatures, but it seems it is something mild and not too hot.
I’m used to the metric system, and I had absolutely no understanding of sizes and length in inches or lbs when I arrived to Canada. I still don’t.
The most I know is sizes of paintings because I have to deal with that daily. Lb I take as a half kg which is not completely right, but all yards and miles, oz and others, I will never learn since it’s so easy to know 100 ml or 1 meter which consists of 100 cm. Way easier!
I cannot even understand how it can be so different all around the globe. Lucky me, I was born in a place where there are meters and kg. LOL.
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Believe me I am with you, and I am glad Abu’l Hasan Ahmad ibn Ibrahim Al-Uqlidisi wrote the earliest surviving book on the positional use of the Arabic numerals, Kitab al-Fusul fi al-Hisab al-Hindi (The Arithmetics of Al-Uqlidisi) around 952. It is especially notable for its treatment of decimal fractions, and that it showed how to carry out calculations without deletions.
Can’t figure out why in the USA they still cling to the outdated Imperial British system when even the British abandoned in 1965!
I still remember with glee, how some friends of mine in the USA thought I was a genius, when I could come fast with results without using pen, and paper to calculate using the decimal system!! 🙂
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Interesting!
I’ve never spent any time researching the origins of numeral systems, but it is definitely an amazing subject.
These different systems are so outdated, really. In Canada, you’d often see even both, like conversion from kg to lb on a price tag, but temperature is reported in Celsius degrees, thankfully, and that suits me. It doesn’t stop there, we had this old Latvian measurement system, too, and that was like a completely different approach which I never learned.
It seems you’ve researched the numeral systems and are aware of the important names within the field which is one more encyclopedic feature of you: to sort out and know so much about things which other people wouldn’t even notice.
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I was taught the decimal system on elementary school, my country of birth adopted the Decimal system since 1860, besides I am just a curious person, and like to read, to know about things, and be informed, but this, as a child I was taught at school everything about the decimal system and even know that the French and Spaniards come up with the meter. The meter was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole and that they kept a bar composed of an alloy of 90% platinum and 10% iridium, measured at the melting point of ice, and kept at a constant temperature in Sevres France, but today they use a as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in
1/
299 792 458 of a second.
The amazing thing, it’s that at school I paid attention, and still remember it! 🙂
Except for the last part about the speed of light in a vacuum, that I learned of lately!
Take care, Inese. 🙂
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Amazing! I don’t think they ever taught that at our Latvian schools, but it was 60s of the previous century, in 70s, I was already at University studying German at first.
I also remember lots of things from school time still. I suppose my focus went more for other things, even though, I had excellent grades in all subjects, I never loved Physics, Math, Chemistry too much. The interesting part is that I participated in state competitions in these subjects, we had such.
I really loved foreign languages because we had to study Russian from the first grade and obviously Latvian, the native language, so German and English was exciting, opened the door to other cultures. And I was protesting against everything that was mandatory. Oh well, that didn’t work out too good, but as Latvian in Soviet Latvia, you had a very different perception, you had to fight for your native language and culture because everything was prohibited, that includes Christmas and other celebrations like Easter or Latvian Midsummer.
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I was young, and had very good memory unlike today, I could remember entire sentences in a book, and in what page they were, I hardly studied my assignments, because relied on my memory, during the class when listening the teacher explanations, and could write them as answers, almost verbatim.
I was not a lazy student, just interested in many things, and read a lot, but very few regarding the assignments, I could get away with a B, or in the worst case a C, I was too busy reading topics I cared for at the time, but very little related to my assignments in class. 🙂
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It feels like you have a very good memory, actually.
The same here.
I never studied for hours because I could remember everything by heart. I only had what you call in America A and A+, in all subjects. In Latvia it was numbers, at my time, excellent was 5, later became 10. The University was easy, too.
I’ve been writing about that a lot on the art blog, how the memory stays very good when one has to do daily drawing from real things. It’s like photographing the subject and then drawing it. During University years 1976-88, I supported myself with drawing portraits of whoever wanted them. I won’t go into depth of it because there really many articles I’ve written about the scientific side of it, but it really works for some people, maybe not all. Research also finds that people remember what they have drawn even if they cannot recall anything else.
Using memory helps maintaining it in a good condition, that’s the point.
There are things which one doesn’t need to remember and then again there are the crucial, important things, and we work out a system.
Thankfully, I cannot complain. I don’t make or need any lists and pretty much keep my appointments in my head. Better memory also comes from translating insanely difficult texts. I am still learning some new words in English every single day. For my writing not to be native in EN is limiting, but for my memory it’s excellent. Just 15 years ago, I first looked up the German word, then its translation into English. There weren’t Latvian>English dictionaries online then.
So, we just keep memory busy and going!
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Bottom line the brain, its like a muscle, and we need to keep busy doing mental exercising, the moment people go soft, and complacent, the brain, as well as the muscles go to waste. 🙂
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That’s correct that we need to keep the brain engaged to a high degree, the more we use it, the better for us. Using it not only makes longer the communication pathways, synapses longer, bt also takes care of lifespan of all the billions of neurons.
I also believe that age shouldn’t affect the ability to process info and memory. Certainly, aging touches every part of us, yet, we have seen how in a crashed body the brain can still function and do it quite well. In fact, with all the huge discoveries and technical advances in exploration, there are extremely many things we do not know about our own brain.
The brain consists for the biggest part of fat, a quite specific fat, therefore, I’m a big believer also in consuming natural fats. It probably comes to the highest stage of naturalility and the lowest modification level of fats which is so difficult to find in developed countries. People discontinued fat consumption because they believe that’s what is causing all diseases when the truth is that consuming artificial and highly modified, genetically altered food and supplements is the worst part of our diets. And what happened is we got the epidemics of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
It’s a very extensive subject, we better leave it at simply using the brain and doing it hourly and daily and every single day of our life. You just get me going on the medical stuff and I won’t shut up for a year since that’s what I’ve been working on for the last 35 years.
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merry Christmas
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Thanks! I hope you had a cozy Christmas and the year has started on the right foot!
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Too true! I feel very strongly that we end up where we’re meant to and that we’re given what we need to get there. We can’t change the weather but we can choose how it will affect us!
What a wonderful post!
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Thanks!
I am a realist, and, therefore, I’m trying to reflect on everything realistically. I wrote this particular article back in last November. I had to stick it to the front because I’ve been slow with new posts, yet, there are some. 6 months have passed since November, but we are in the same spot regarding virus in Ontario.
There’s hope that by the fall, possibly winter, things will improve. Time will show how permanent is the protection from vaccines because that’s what we didn’t have yet: enough time to see the results.
I’m pretty certain, we have better, more enjoyable times ahead of us. The insecurity is the deal breaker here, especially, since we don’t know a lot about vaccine and virus-related outcomes yet. Next 5 years will reveal how wrong or correct we were.
I hope you are safe wherever you are!
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It’s incredible how little people understand about how a virus, much less a pandemic, actually works. The reality isn’t something history could’ve prepared us for.
And I think a lot of that insecurity and fear stem from a lack of information because, you are so right, we can’t predict how any of it will progress.. but let’s hope we’re able to adapt quickly. Five years can feel like a life time.
Safe as you can be these days! Take care as well!
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We have to be patient. It’s understandable that we want to get back at least where we were, but that will probably never happen. Everything changes, and we have to change with it. That means adapting, just as you mentioned.
I’ve experienced numerous devastating situations, caused by all kinds of forces, and solution arrives at some point, better or worse, life goes on. This current situation is so bad because it’s global and affects absolutely every single person. However, storms pass over and we resume as we believe is right.
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Agreed. As Jurassic Park so eloquently put it ‘Life will find a way.’ Things will never return to the way it was before Covid but, as humanity has done time and again.. we will stubbornly prevail!
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We will prevail, but it’s going to cost.
I wanted to post something new, I’ve written a few articles, but there’s garden work at the moment and I’m also painting during the day.
Stay in touch and all the best!
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It’s a constant compromise between what you can do, what you want to do, and what needs to get done!
Enjoy painting! Art is such a wonderful way to get out of your own head and relieve stress!
Thanks so much, you too! 🌹
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Art is great, just as reading and gardening and some other relaxing things are, except one needs supplies. The day was too short again to post the new articles. Oh well, maybe next week.
I don’t rush anything. If I didn’t complete something, didn’t accomplish one or another thing, so be it. Some 30 years ago, I read an article in a magazine, that was a Latvian magazine, a real one, nothing like nowadays, and the main idea was that people who rush everything, run everywhere and are always feeling they are late for something, eventually have also a shorter life. The message they send out to the universe is that they are in rush since there is no time.
I have to admit that stress is absent in my life unless somebody insists on interrupting me with some silly demands or causes disbalance. Besides, there is healthy stress which moves us and chronic stress which activates the HPA axis and we eventually have hormonal disbalance, and that in turn causes adverse effects both, in the brain and body.
I have somewhere on this blog a poem “What does he see?”. The idea of taking time, enjoying its slow flow, is frequently present in my writing and even paintings.
So no rush, just advancing at our own pace.
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Almost everything not only requires time and energy but a good deal of money, too. All of which seem to be in short supply these days.
And.. That makes a lot of sense to me, that rushing around could send out the wrong message to the universe.
I think the energy we put into what we do is felt by everything around us and, in a sense, is then effected by those actions.
But I am constantly keeping myself busy with one distraction or another, whether it be while sitting, or rushing around. Guess I’ll just have to see how the universe responds as I go..
My dad says you just have to take what life throws at you and keep moving anyway.. so that’s what we do. ❤
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That’s all correct and fine, and it’s not that we can always choose everything to our liking.
The best advantage you have is time. You have more of it.
With every passing day and so many of relatives, classmates, friends, acquaintances who have already passed away, one learns to abnormally cherish every moment. I do hope for some 25-30 more years, certainly do, but I have also conditions that require daily attention, and so I’m not rushing. When I was in 40s and even 50s, I was rushing many things also.
Well, the best about life is that it has to be lived whatever one wants to put in this term “live”. It would be something different for every single person.
I never thought about how universe works until I started to see clear patterns, clear cause-sequence events and until I understood that things which seemed to be the worst disaster and end, actually became the beginning. Well, I have enjoyed a lot of help which comes from who knows where. It always does. The God, the universe, the guardian angels, I think they all are for real. I am a strong realist with very much of scientific background, clinical health care experience and have done medical research for about 35 years along with anything else, but there are certainly chains of events and things which cannot be explained. I have experienced them many times. I should write a special book about that maybe. One thing I learned is that we are rewarded for good things, thoughts and actions and all the bad words, things and actions go back to the person who was their source. It can take years, but that happens.
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I really enjoy the way you see life. It seems like such a calm and accepting way of believing in the world. And I can deeply appreciate feeling like everything has a purpose, that the things we need come into our lives somehow, and that what we do and who we are makes a difference in the world around us.
Let me know if you write that book!
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Thanks Sheri!
It’s simply experience, I’d say and the fact I love learning, always have. I still learn every single day.
I have a very strong feeling of some protection. The chain of events in my life is truly amazing. I wasn’t able to see it until about 25 years passed, and then it became very clear how everything was connected.
Well, normal people do not get to experience all kinds of extremes like I have, but there’s still very strong lineup of events which depends on that particular person and their choices. In comments under my latest post I mentioned, it’s good we do not know what happened if … because we might not like that at all.
Take care!
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Any time!
And it sounds like you’ve lived such a full life and conquered so much opposition, you must have some fierce guardian Angel’s!
If we would slow down enough to learn from our mistakes the first time, it might save us some trouble, but it would also deprived us of the journey. We’ll get there, all of us, in our own time.
And, there’s no way I would’ve wanted to know what was coming.. Let’s leave it a surprise we can stress out about later. 😆
You take care, too, stay safe!
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You know, I wouldn’t call anything we were doing at some particular moment a mistake. At that time it may have been the only favorable option.
Or, getting into accident? It is just being literally in the wrong place at a very wrong time. Yet, later I could see that it was necessary in order to activate and complete the chain of events.
I Published a while ago pictures of my tulips. They’re already done. But lilac is going crazy and forget-me-nots in the garden corner shine like blue starlets.
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Ah, but even if you call them ‘life lessons’ later, instead of ‘mistakes’, they’re all bumps in the road to where you are now. We can’t change the past but we can(hopefully) learn from it by looking back on our ‘failures’ and choose a different path this time.
Oh, that sounds beautiful, I love tulips. Our blackberries have all blossomed with beautiful and fragrant white flowers, and blended with the sweetness of the honeysuckle, everything outside smells amazing. Like new life.
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Bumps would be still very fine, but I don’t think we can avoid the worst or best events in our life.
I know occasions when somebody jumps from the 7th floor on hard road and survives and then some people fall from tiny heights, like balconies of the base floor or chairs and pass away.
After many years and the distance which allows clarifying everything, it becomes obvious where one shouldn’t have gone, shouldn’t have been, who one shouldn’t have met or vice versa. The chain of events usually involves other people, as well, and even far away events like wars or earthquakes, flooding and similar.
The people who board the flight, or take a boat ride or simply go out in their car, never think that’s something extraordinary until it becomes such an event. You wouldn’t say it was a mistake, but it certainly was a wrong move.
I am often wondering why somebody wants to identify themselves with their disease, as we can read in many blogs and what is called inspiring stories. I was in medical research for a very long time (data were very upsetting frequently), and there are so many things which can go wrong in the human body and with our mind. Yet, we cannot focus on them; Live with, understand, yes, but not make them the central subject of one’s life. Oh, I know it’s tough and can consume one entirely, but that’s why we do not focus our dialog with universe on such matters.
Have a good week and thanks a lot! Judging by your diligent responses, I know why you have to stay up late at night. You must be responding to numerous people, and it is very time-consuming.
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Oh, but these bumps become neon signs in our pasts that can direct us to moments of change, of growth, of finding new direction and purpose. Every trial we face becomes a strength we gained. There is always good mixed in with the bad, you just have to be open(and willing) to see it.
And every person overcoming their own mental or physical condition should be proud of each day they get up, they fight, and they continue on. But no one thing should be your sole focus.. that’s not healthy. Be proud of your bravery but there’s so much more to life.
I do tend to respond later at night, most of my day is pretty full and there’s just never enough time to sit still for this.. it is pretty time consuming though, isn’t it?
Take care and thank you so much for always taking the time to comment!
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That’s theoretically and very much not how it was. I do not expect people living in normal conditions and nowadays to understand what it takes to go through such recovery. It lasted decades, not months, first learning to sit, stand, then walk and that took about 2 years. Life on crutches is beyond difficult, especially, with no conveniences where one lives and zero money. I never had any mental issues, still don’t, it is as simple as that; if you want to live, you just do whatever. I don’t want to expand this subject, I have forgotten most of these 19 years and do not want to even recall. No heroism there.
People describe things like that as some superb achievement, but trust me, it’s simply trying to stay alive, that’s all, no hidden meanings there.
I’m always living in the present and figuring out it’s challenges, no point in dwelling on some suffering in the past. It helps tremendously not to ever mention the problematic or bad past issues. Live on. Treat the new day with respect, deal with whatever it brings. Present is the tiny period of time when we have a choice. I’d love to go and paint now, then, I have to still plant some seeds.
Stay safe and take care!
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I apologize. I can see how not holding on to the past would be best for letting go and moving on.
I hope your painting went well!
And thank you so much, you too!
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Thanks Sheri!
I think that’s the problem that people frequently hold on to and keep at old offences, past issues in bad relationships, anything that made them feel bad some time ago.
No need to apologize, I think nobody ever can experience the same joy, or vice versa, horrors that we have. We are a unique universe, each one of us.
Have a great day!
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I hope you know how much I’m taking your words to heart. I’ve noticed that it tends to do more harm than good to hold on to things.. so learning to let go and practice acceptance has been something I’ve been working towards for a long time.
Thank you so much for all of your kind and helpful words.
I hope you enjoy your day, too, thank you!
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Living in reality is good. Less disappointments, less needless worries.
I’ve been always wondering how people keep grudge for decades, do not talk or interact with their family because of something that happened long time ago. I just don’t know. I tend to forget what I feel I don’t want to remember. End of story. I never worked towards acceptance or something similar, I think it’s how realists see the world: in present. I’m writing about that, too, in some posts, cannot recall which ones.
Take care and take everything easy. Life is simple. Humans make it complicated.
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I don’t think that’s something that can be accomplished by trying hard enough, it sounds like something you have or don’t..
If only making it that happen were as easy as wanting it badly enough. I’m working on it! Thank you!
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We do need to simplify everything and evaluate it realistically, and afterwards, feel good about it. Simple, organized and clear life.
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Oh, that would be fantastic, it would cut down on quite a bit of the drama.. but probably isn’t realistic. It would have to depend on everyone cooperating.
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It is very realistic, because after all, everything depends on you, where you steer it and how you act and react to others.
The constant positivity was driving people into unsolvable situations because the real life is everything and one needs tools to cope with that. We need to be realistic in expectations, in potential outcomes, etc. yet, we should never be fine with what we already have and always try for more and better. The usually saying “be happy with what you have” is only true about our body which functions and our mental abilities which do not decline, but become more sophisticated over time. The rest and how far you go and where you get is what we want or straight the opposite, do not allow ourselves.
My theory which I’ve been developing for so many decades now, is very distinct from mainstream ideas which are oh-so-popular, as well as from any type of self-help books. I’d like to repeat it again that everyone of us is a separate universe. We cannot and shouldn’t try to be like somebody else. Sure, as humans we have all human features and so on, but the variables exceed the constant parameters enormously.
The global society wants an individual to be an average somebody with an average purchasing power and an average taste who joins millions of others in their intentions, goals and objectives. That means averaging a uniqueness and potential for distinction, especially, potential for growth in areas which are not popular or widely advertised as such. Look at the blogs: so many just repeat the same thankfulness, gratitude, happiness and motivation basics over and over again. Everybody knows that, and I am personally not convinced that this approach has taken us anywhere. Because if it has, why are there so many unhappy, sick, tired, exhausted, desperate people? Majority, I’d say judging by results of medical research, especially, the one that deals with human mind, brain and self-assessment.
We got to admit that there is no single formula which can make everybody a good person who is satisfied with life. It really doesn’t depend on 10 steps to make your life happy, 10 things you should or shouldn’t eat, and so on.
So, everything is achievable if you are sure about it and are tough enough to be different.
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So.. basically, think it and it shall be so? We are each and every one of us responsible for our own reality.. and we choose how that reality functions for us as individuals?
The thing with mental illness and emotional distress is that there’s no clear answer to anything, every person is unique so.. every solution should be unique as well.
I could be bungling this all up but.. you cannot expect that our brains, which are the equivalent of super computers and still widely unexplored, can be lumped into categories to make the unknown more explainable and acceptable. But people do. And it’s easier to look for an easy answer when you don’t want the hard truth. There are no easy answers.
I hope you don’t mind my saying.. You have such an amazing mind. 😆
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Thanks!
Ha, ha! I’ve worked intensely on memory, brain flexibility, etc.
It comes from drawing and lots of reading at early age. Drawing, the type what I do, creating realism, requires observation, excellent eye-hand coordination and so forth. It results in photographic memory eventually.
Many decades ago (almost 6 decades now), I was reading a book a day (I spent lots of nights reading) and created a realistic drawing a day. Nobody asked me to, I just felt like it. I went through all centuries starting with ancient Egypt and continued up to nowadays.
Literature was limited. Nobody had even heard about possibility of internet. I was writing poems later, too, about what I would say the book character or what conclusions I made.
They initially didn’t want to give me adult books at age of 8 at the library, but I convinced them.
You have to understand that was Soviet Latvia, Latvian Socialist Republic with Russian as the main language while my native is Latvian. By 12, I had added German language, at a native level, won all kinds of state competitions, etc.
The truth is nobody cared what I did. It’s not like nowadays, somebody makes a real simple or amateurish drawing and they post it on all social media. I would describe as the most important part that this was my internal requirement, not parents, not teachers, not anybody ever asked me to do anything. So, yes, one works the brain and they can avoid lots of bad things.
Brain must used, used to very high level, very intensely, learning every day, learning serious challenging things is very important.
We have so many brain issues because we have delegated 50% of tasks to devices. Sometimes even more. The most important part of life is entertainment now. Profit and entertainment. The mental abilities and mental potential suffer because of that.
Have a good Sunday!
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Wow, it sounds like you were a very precocious child. It must have been a struggle to keep yourself challenged intellectually.
You don’t see that kind of initiative very often in the young, especially not now, with technology making everything almost instantly accessible. Our brains are the most valuable resource we have, how can they be wasted so flagrantly?
I was once told, by someone I respected very much, that ‘knowledge is a gift to yourself’ and that I should ‘Go out and learn something, learn everything, and if I found something that interested me.. I should learn some more.’ He believed that we each had a responsibility to ourselves to seek out knowledge and expand our limited worlds.
I apologize.. it’s rather late and I’ve gone off on my own tangent.
Take care and be well!
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Oh, no, your response is straight on point.
I don’t see that type of activity in Canada at all. Parents decide what kids should do, and so it goes. When parents enquire for art class for a person who is 21, I really don’t get that. That’s a responsible adult. I lived on my own since I was 17.
Devices also make one feel as if they are smart, but eventually devices take away every function our brain normally executes. AI is used for everything and I so much don’t want humans to lose this race.
Well, I come from the previous century and an absolutely different place. I had to learn or I wouldn’t have what I wanted. You couldn’t buy anything at the store, so you had to make it. I started sewing my own outfits at 12, and by 16, I was an excellent fashion designer and dressmaker. That type of thing. I believe necessity pushes people stronger to learn something new.
Knowledge is everything, although, financially it might not benefit one. Yet, it is a very worthy thing. What matters all financial wealth when one has lost their memory and cognitive function to experience life? Therefore, certainly, you, just as everybody else, me including, should always stay curious and willing to learn.
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Welcome to future, where work is no longer valued, and effort isn’t required. We now have a device or gadget that can do almost everything you could do for yourself.. It’s insane. Hopefully our civilization never comes to regret becoming so dependent on technology but.. not many will know how to function. It’s disturbing how addicted** we are to the phones and computers and tech toys.
We’re literally taking humanity out of the equation. And what would we be without our dressmakers? Without our artists? Without the people who are still interested in knowledge for knowledge’s sake.
But it has also opened the door to many amazing new creations and inventions. Because of their access to the internet, kids are learning incredible things at very young ages.. as with all things. It is a gift and a curse.
Too many remember that ‘curiosity killed the cat’ and not enough know that ‘satisfaction brought it back’. Those who remain curious will always come back stronger for it!
Have a beautiful night, Inese!
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That’s all true, and there are innovations.
However, who was stopping kids from learning at a very early age before? Nothing really.
They have learned using computer and devices, that’s great. The only thing I am worried about is our brain, our eyes, our ears and eventually, the entire body because all of that becomes less efficient. Eyesight issues are huge, mental disorders are highest ever, so on. We can have everything, but we always pay for that.
Have a good weekend! This post has too many comments already. Thanks!
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The convenience of technology Now has been deemed more immediately beneficial than the ‘potential’ for health risks and other problems in the future. People of all ages, not just the young, are willing to sacrifice their welfare for the benefits of tech.
We’ll continue seeing the ramifications of continued exposure to all these devices on mental and physical health as we go because you’re definitely right. We can have everything.. but it will cost us.
Thank you, you too, and so sorry! I’ll stop clogging up your comments. 😅
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No problem! Thanks! I meant, there are way newer posts. For the same reason we discussed: this one goes up in ranks now, the newer do not. Absolutely no need to be sorry. It was such a great conversation! I certainly appreciate your input a lot!
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Of course! I have a tendency to get caught up in what we’re talking about and don’t think to move on, I’ll try to be more aware in the future. Thank you so much!
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Thanks! I should actually post something new, it’s been a while. I was just too busy outdoors.
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I don’t blame you, it has been beautiful outside lately.. It looks like you might be getting some of this rain though!
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We got rain and it’s heat today. Have a good Sunday!
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That’s great, right? I bet your garden is loving it!
It’s been raining every day for over a week here.. we’re pretty over it. The air is thick with moisture and it’s just become uncomfortably humid.
Thank you, have a great week!
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We are back to heat. I posted a new post about Latvian Midsummer and Song and Dance Festival which is recognized by UNESCO. It’s a very unique thing, especially for a tiny nation which hardly reaches 2 million people and that’s it. Probably doesn’t reach 2 million after the pandemic.
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Record high temperatures breaking out all over the place. Guess we’ll see what that will mean for storms this year.
I tried to check out your post but wasn’t able to find it.. where would it be on your blog?
Wow. That really isn’t that many people for an entire country.. but it doesn’t take numbers to create beautiful traditions.
Have a wonderful week, Inese, stay safe!
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It is the first post, as in newest. From Blog or clicking on the site title. Maybe you check it on your phone and something isn’t visible: https://inesepogalifeschool.com/2021/06/23/june-the-midsummer-thoughts/
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I did use my phone, actually, but thank you for supplying the link! I’ll be sure to remember from now on that the varying devices will probably have differences.
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Phone doesn’t show the sidebar. Therefore, the Recent posts list is absent when you just look at a site, and the sidebar is most often under posts. On the phone, that’s a lot scrolling depending on settings. While I know how it looks since I check my sites on the phone, I use only computer for blogging, like I said, everything on the phone is way too small for me, puts pressure on eyes, as well.
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I prefer to use the computer, for simplicity’s sake, but I use my phone sometimes when I’m trying to get other things done as well.. These screens really do mess with you.
Thank you! I’ll know where to look next time!
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Sure. NP.
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I didn’t see the comment until later. Thanks! We have heat, too. I’m still trying to get the second dose, just no way to get it.
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Rain all week again here. And there’s no way to get the second dose?
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