"Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive" - Andy Grove Fighting Complacency Today marks my 69th anniversary of my initial polio diagnosis. I had thought of putting my meanderings to bed and hadn't really planned on writing these anymore but here I am. I have spend the last five weeks trying to … Continue reading A Confluence of Events
Category: Philosophy
We Don’t Know What We Know Until We Realize
Cognitive psychology has shown that the mind best understands facts when they are woven into a conceptual fabric, such as a narrative, mental map, or intuitive theory. Disconnected facts in the mind are like unlinked pages on the Web: They might as well not exist. - Steven Pinker I have spent the last five days … Continue reading We Don’t Know What We Know Until We Realize
And the Contrary Continues
Like any good beginning I still like to open with a little quote. Today is an example of how I am viewing the contrary nature of these so called "Freedom Rallies" I quote Albert Camus with "Truth, like light, blinds. Falsehood, on the contrary, is a beautiful twilight that enhances every object." Going out on … Continue reading And the Contrary Continues
The Contrarian Community of Calgary
A community is democratic only when the humblest and weakest person can enjoy the highest civil, economic, and social rights that the biggest and most powerful possess. - A. Phillip Randolph 1969 Polio protest for the right to live independently For the first time since the pandemic was declared I am now sitting at Kanpai … Continue reading The Contrarian Community of Calgary
Okay Let’s Talk
"The worse kind of sad is that which you can't explain to others because you are a survivor" 17 years old and leaving on my first jet to Montreal Today is the national day to discuss mental health, known best as #BellLetsTalk day. A massive corporate fundraising day and a chance to get people to … Continue reading Okay Let’s Talk
Stop Giving Us Grief
"Tears shed for another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart." - José N. Harris Rethinking life Grief is a strong, sometimes overwhelming emotion for people, regardless of whether their sadness stems from the loss of a loved one or from a terminal diagnosis they or someone … Continue reading Stop Giving Us Grief
Pandemic Fugue
"The problem with the idea that history repeats itself is that when it isn't making us wiser it's making us complacent" Lisa Halliday, Asymmetry Rethinking life Fugue is defined as "a state or period of loss of awareness of one's identity", often coupled with flight from one's usual environment. After almost two years of this pandemic … Continue reading Pandemic Fugue
History Repeating
"Liberty has been won. The battle for Equality is still pending" - Charles Sumner, June 1, 1865 Lost in thought Somethings should never wake up while other have to erupt in order to handle change. I would never have thought I would be writing about this but then I never realized just how many "buried" … Continue reading History Repeating
Decade by Decade – True Change is Slow
Approaching my first New Eve's middle of the century Yes that little lump of flesh was me on my first New Years. That year was also the decade that marked the halfway point of the 20th century. I now measure societal advances by the decade rather than the year. A year doesn't really provide a … Continue reading Decade by Decade – True Change is Slow
Just Because It's Buried Doesn't Mean It's Dead
“Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that’s good.” - Elizabeth Edwards Attending my dad's employers Christmas party (1958) when … Continue reading Just Because It's Buried Doesn't Mean It's Dead
A Poster Child's Perspective 