You Are Your Data

If you think climate change is a difficult problem to solve, you might be surprised to discover there is another much more difficult - no let's be honest - impossible problem to solve and we are contributing to it right now. 

We all know that while we use our phone, pad, or computer, every click and search is used to target us in, for example, advertising. We might even know that our 'likes' and 'comments' are all used to make sure we see more of the same thing online. A word like "algorithm" sounds very mathematical and computerlike, yet the term "business model" is much more to the point, for nothing in this capitalistic world is free. What we do online is our payment for the provider's service, and this is like gold to a political party or a potential dictator. It would be unfair to give away much more. There is a video below and it is informative and well-presented.

Maybe you know a teenager who needs to watch this.  While I definitely learned some things, at my age, my searches and clicks don't matter to most companies, or politicians, or ... anyone. Cynic that I am, I honestly have no hope that we, as a society, can escape the traps that have already been sprung or will be sprung very soon. 

However, it is better to know the problem. That way you will know where to allocate the blame when ... No, I'm not going to spoil it. 

The Importance of the Moment

My friend Joanna put up this post about living in the moment. It got me thinking seriously about something that has been in the back of my mind for some time - how I can better approach living, and yes, eventually but hopefully not soon, dying.

Of course, dying is something most of us want to ignore and definitely to postpone. What we might not want to acknowledge is that we often ignore and postpone living as well. 

As Jiddu Krishnamurti wrote:

"We think that living is always in the present and that dying is something that awaits us at a distant time. But we have never questioned whether this battle of everyday life is living at all. We want to know the truth about reincarnation, we want proof of the survival of the soul, we listen to the assertion of clairvoyants and to the conclusions of psychical research, but we never ask, never, how to live - to live with delight, with enchantment, with beauty every day."*

When young, I was always thinking - what next? -  instead of savouring life. Even now, writing this blog post is an example of not living in the moment. In my hubris I try to make something permanent out of a moment's thought when instead I need to make moments into the most important thing. 

Here, then, is a message I would send to my younger self if I could. It is definitely an instruction to myself now, to repeat as a mantra:

Find joy in what you are experiencing every moment so that when your last moment comes you will be prepared to experience even that - fully - and without fear. 

*Krishnamurti, J. (Jiddu) (1895-1986): Freedom from the Known

New York, Harper & Row, 1969

Money - Part Two

Fame or self: Which matters more?

Self or wealth: Which is more precious?
Gain or loss: Which causes more pain?

Those who are attached to things will suffer greatly.
Those who save will suffer heavy losses. 
Those who are contented are never disappointed. 
Those who know when to stop do not find themselves in trouble. 
They remain forever safe. 

Tao Te Ching of Lao Tsu, part 44:

Translated by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English with Toinette Lippe.

Thank you again Brian. 

To Be Authentically Human

 

To see truly and live fully:           

This is what it means to be authentically human

                      Jacob Needleman 

Money

This post might seem to be a bit dark. I have been thinking hard about a saying my grandfather learned from watching his parents. 

Grandad grew up in a family where everyone worked hard. His parents had been poor in England and immigrated to Canada where they found work. They bought a house. Money became the measure of all good for his mother and father, and my grandfather and his younger brother were sent out to work very early in life. Everything they earned had to be turned over to their parents - after all, they had to pull their weight. Such practices were not unusual in that time, but as a result of his disappointments, Grandad saw money, and the drive to acquire more and more, as the root of all evil, and said so. 

Over my life, I found a balance to this - earning money as a way to provide for family, and help others in my community - not so evil. 

Now, here is a dark story that has haunted me for over three decades. An acquaintance's husband, who had been a pharmacist, had recently passed away. In conversation with his widow, I was told that her husband had developed a treatment that he believed would cure cancer, but nobody in the scientific community was willing to believe or even test his idea. When he died, his treatment went with him. I have no idea whether that husband was deluded or a genius who might have ended a terrible scourge. 

In thinking about that possibility, what occurred to me was how many jobs in hospitals, research facilities, and fund-raising efforts would have been lost had this pharmacist indeed found a treatment to end all cancers. And the dark thought accompanying that is the sure knowledge of how determined the research community responsible for testing his idea would have been to suppress such knowledge. And why, might you ask, would they do that? One word: money. 

To what lengths would someone go to protect their fortune? Where else has truth been suppressed for the sake of money? Cigarettes? International relations? The food industry? Climate change? Social media? The "war" on poverty?

Feel free to add to the list ...

Now for the difficult questions: 

What can be done to find a better way to reward hard work and intellect? 

How much money is enough for any one individual?

An Inheritance

These past few days K and I drove to the big city and back to meet with friends. We don't expect to get a chance to do this sort of thing much - since the pandemic and its many waves made it inadvisable, and in some cases against the law, to travel for a gathering with friends. 

The occasion was a "celebration of life" for a good friend's mother. She and I hadn't seen each other since I was in school. I phoned her not long after her husband died, and had a lovely conversation. Sadly, soon after, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. After that, it would have been quite pointless to visit. I was never really part of her life, and yet, in a very important way, she has always been part of mine. 

This realization came as her son, a close friend in school and since, read the eulogy for his mother. He and I have always had a very comfortable relationship, which included spending time in the other's home, playing music and sharing meals. We are both only children, and in many ways it was like having a brother. Sometimes, because of circumstance, we have been apart for years, but every time we talk it is as though no time has passed at all. We each have the wonderful ability to bring out the best in the other. No matter how sad the news or difficult the time we might be experiencing, we seem to find a way to laugh together. By the time we part again, we feel better for having connected once more. 

What became clear as my friend talked about his mom is that a characteristic we both carry originated, at least partly, with her. She bequeathed it to him and he shared it with me - steady optimism and a quirky sense of humour.

Rest in peace, dear O.L. 

Fruit of the Bush

 In this case the fruit is tomatoes. 

The darker ones are called Black Krim. The red/green variety are Mortgage Lifter. Both are very tasty, and have more flesh than those from the grocery store. 

Others in the house would likely be just as happy if I grew a couple of the beefsteak variety.  

I grew both the BK and ML from seeds gathered last year. It is time to decide if I want to have them again next year. It isn't difficult to harvest a couple of packets of seeds from a tomato or two. It might be a good idea. Just in case.