One of the headlines from this month is about researchers who rebuilt the lighting from the Parthenon in Greece. They discovered it was nothing like we thought. That is a lesson for the ages.
Remember the old song by Peggy Lee, “Is that all there is?” It tells us about expectations and what we build up in our minds. And how reality has a way of knocking down the illusions we have and our expectations of what we think should be! One of my favorite stories from my office-work days was from one of the sage women who was known for her pithy and acerbic advice and declarations. She was the head cook of a prominent church in our city.
And when one of the younger members of the janitorial staff began to regale her with his admiration for this new office staff member, she stopped him immediately. He had said rapturously to her, ‘She’s so smart!” And the cook immediately gave him the classic put-down, ‘Because she TOLD you she was!”…
I loved it because it tells you that no matter what kind of veneer or fancy coating you may place on your own persona, most people will see that hard work and good results matter in the end more than a fancy title or a lot of opaque jargon.
Another story that caught my eye was one where the original copy of the Magna Carta; one of the most prized documents in world history, was discovered recently. This copy had been dismissed for years as a cheap imitation and had been sold for $27 to Harvard. They now discovered this was a rare copy from the original signing of the Magna Carta in the 1300’s! Another reminder of those expectations we have, and how not everything is exactly as it seems…
Harvard has been in the news of late. Of course, we have always heard of Harvard in some manner. It has been in the lexicon of our culture for as long as I can remember. One family joke about those who screw up when doing some simple chores: “You know they didn’t graduate from Harvard!’ Or we’ve heard, “You didn’t have to graduate from Harvard to know that!”
We have always had high expectations of those things that come from the Ivy League Universities. And yet, there has also been a lot of resentment and jealousy from those who were not quite in that league…So it goes. Again, we need to think about how expectations are sometimes not to be trusted.
I’ll close with another one of my favorite quotes that has been attributed to Shakespeare and also to Tolkien. It is a great way to remind us that not everything that glitters is gold, and not all can be taken exactly as it seems.
“Not all who wander are lost”
Some favorite reads from the month of May
Better Living and a habit of Lifetime Learning
From our Growing Group files, we have been exploring the concept of Better Living this year. It’s adapted from the old Dupont ad “Better Living through Science!” We are looking at what makes up a better life. The ideas and concepts we’ve explored in the Growing Group can help us to continue to achieve personal growth goals. We know that human beings are living longer and to that end, we keep looking for things to create meaning and value in our lives.
This past month, we’ve been looking at the things that help us to create a mindset to encourage a lifetime of learning. There are ways to become a lifelong learner that will help us to keep our brains younger and to cultivate an attitude of curiosity and enthusiasm that will motivate us as we grow older.
Dark Matter vs Dark Energy
The Dark Matter vs Dark Energy lessons are ones that, I have to admit, are fascinating to a ‘Science Nerd’ like myself! The new data that has been coming in gives us much more clarity in this ongoing study of the dark matter in our Universe.
Dark Matter is the stuff that we don’t see! And that means the darkness that is between Earth and the moon is the abundant matter that we used to just see as deep and empty holes in space! (One trick I have used to understand dark matter is to imagine that the empty space in pictures of our Earth is suddenly filled with a kind of concrete material. If that dark space is suddenly filled…Wow! Look at the vast areas we used to see as empty that are now huge masses filled with dark matter!) Now we know that it’s filled with the matter that we cannot see. And the other concept that blows your mind is the Dark Energy that is slowly starting to overtake Dark Energy in the Universe.
According to scientists, Dark Energy will be the winner and all of the Dark Matter that we cannot see will be eventually swallowed up by Dark Energy. At least, that’s the current theory. Stay tuned as the laws of physics and the science of deep space and the Universe are constantly subject to change!
Recommended reading for the month
From Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers comes a new book, “Revenge of the Tipping Point.’ Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Lewis are two favorites of mine. They also happen to be two of the most successful non-fiction authors in recent history. And they are also innovative thinkers who always manage to help us look at long-standing problems from a new angle.
Michael Lewis’ new book is “Who is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service’ It’s particularly apt in this time of government disruptions; where we’ve had lots of buzz about how to shrink bloated government agencies and to find the best way to make government run more effectively. In Lewis’ book, he tackled the problem by asking a group of writers to take one story from each agency to write about a particular area of expertise that has been handled by the US government. In his book, he finds that not only are the workers efficient and effective; ie=good at their jobs-but also that they have a passion and dedication that is akin to those who serve in our nation’s military. They have sacrificed, they don’t look for accolades or large salaries, and they love what they do! So that is a great reason to read this book.
Some other books from our Favorite Reading list include:
- I know why the Caged Bird Sings From Maya Angelou
- The Power of Now -by Eckhart Tolle
- Man’s Search for Meaning- from Viktor Frankl
- The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei
- Practicing the Way-from John Mark Comer
Some Positive news from the world of Politics!
In the Politics of Hope, I’ve been collecting some of the articles that talk about ways that our political landscape is changing. And that includes this list:
- The Debate about Foreign Aid
- Finding a new model for Philanthropy
- The Purpose of Journalism in the Age of Information Overload
- The Stability of the Dollar and our growing Debt Problem
- On Problem Solving; Start Small
We should be able to solve problems and find solutions for seemingly unsolvable dilemmas if we learn to work together. That has always been the key to solving seemingly hopeless problems in our recent past. Americans in past generations found a way to defeat Fascism in World War II and also to survive the Great Depression in the 20th Century. We should be able to create a better world for our children in this century too!
We are continually looking at new projects and discovering some bold new thinkers that present us with ideas or solutions that help us to see things in a different light! So that is why it’s important for us to keep that thought in mind: Not all that glitters is gold, and not all who wander are lost. And nothing is exactly as it seems!
Next month, we are focusing on the Future and some of the climate solutions that have been presented to us from around the world! Hope everyone has a good start to kick-off a happy and productive summer! Till then-Enjoy yourself-ML
