Collared!

You know the song... wish I'd sorted all this out before my parent died.
Is it worth it really though?
What's the point in telling an elderly parent that you were never really happy till you had broken away?

I prefer not to hear the news until the evening.

I agree with those who say why pour its negativity into your head at the start of the day?

Of course I am referring to how the media usually presents the news.

Then again why hear the same thing over and over again?

I like to wander around historical sites which have timelines on how/when things happened. A counterbalancing pace!

To hear the way news is presented you'd think that everything happened at 90 miles an hour.

Why jump into that rollercoaster several times a day?

I think labels have some value, but generally they are laden with so many assumptions, and they prevent you seeing the person behind the label.

Do you think the world would work better if people could only be labelled if they had agreed to have the label?

And all labels had a time limit (that could be renewed) ?

I always thought the theory was that classifications (or labels) helped your mind to cope with all that bombards it, but now I sometimes wonder if it's more a technique for distancing me from other people.

I suppose that's just a different type of coping mechanism.

Couple of age related blogs caught my eye today and last week.

A fellow blogger concerned about physical aging, i.e. the body showing signs of... err.. natural processes... not liking it.

I know what they mean, I don't like it either when I notice or experience changes (for want of a better expression)... however 'philosophical' I try to be about it.

I assume everybody is the same, but that assumption is bonkers surely?
I know people who seem so accepting of it.... that I'm crackers for letting "getting older" bother me in the slightest, because what can you do about it?

A worry that is like a virus? Not part of me really?

Then there was the quote from Desiderata (Wyrd Seeker) which included the lines.
"Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth."

Hmmm. Why? I think now.
When I interpret this as a re-surrender to the claimed superiority of elders or received wisdom, and I think "No way"... it didn't work before.

I so want to find my own path now, and associate this with growth generally, not growing old...

People have not said to me "Good grief, what happened to your face!".
Though neither have people spontaneously said "Wow" and pealed off their clothing.
Well neither more nor less than normal. Normal for me, that is.

The chemicals have not permeated the lower areas and had different effects on the left hand side and the right hand side of my brain. So, with the broad brush strokes you sometimes have to adore, I'm not sure if I'm more in touch with my feminine or masculine sides than normal.
Normal for me, that is.

So apart from several passing aircraft being misdirected, nothing much to report really.

Many people I know seem to have no sense of self-doubt, at least genuinely of nothing serious. This does not stop them from being modest or kind. I cannot help but think I will lose something if I catch up with them.

I just whacked it on because it was a free sachet: UltraLiftPro-X Re-Plumping Anti-Wrinkle Day Cream. (Garnier)

BUT

will it react terribly with my Nivea nighttime regime?

In trying to look my best, have I started a microscopic chemical war near my eyes?
I can't sleep now!

And please make sure I adhere to it.
Teach me somehow to throw them in the bin when the date is up.
My mental kitchen is cluttered with them.
They don't make the place stink, so that they don't get noticed and binned.
However, when I start to cook with them, ... I almost make a complete fool of myself by working with out of date ingredients.
Get real, get now. Yeah I need slapped too!
The kind of slap, after which I say, "Uh... where am I?"

This blogsite contains so many posts which generalise or make points based on generalisations.

I always thought many newspapers did it to provoke a response, and obviously I wonder if "hit" conscious bloggers do it for that reason too.

But why does it happen?

Is it done out of modesty/anonymity?: e.g. using "People think..." instead of "I think..."

Is it done to be persuasive: e.g. "People I know...." rather than "Some people I know..."

Is it done to protect prejudices? It certainly seems to protect them.
In my experience when I reconstruct a line of thought by debugging it of generalisations, then I often evolve a view that is more tolerant.

But then this takes time, so is it done out of laziness?

Or is it done just out of unconscious mimicry? Are we often generalisation-blind, because its so endemic in communication? (Particularly in our stressed culture).

(BTW Just in case...err.. jokey title was deliberate, even if not comedy award winning material).

The order is not important... but there's WB1 where you start to write, when you are actually typing things into your PC , but you just can't get the right word, phrase, flow or balance. And edits and re-edits just wear you down.

Then there's WB2 where you are not at your PC but it's more than a fleeting thought that goes through your head saying "It would be good to write this down even for myself, if not to blog...." but the nature of what's on your mind just makes sure that never happens.