Hopes for the Future, Reflections on the Present...
2/16/2019
B wants to have his own Youtube channel. We've been working on story-boarding, prop building, and he has all these ideas about 'merch' - like, we need to have a name for the channel, we need to have code names and not give out our personal information, we need to have a theme song and a logo (for the t-shirts, you know, the merch...). I love that he is so enthusiastic about all of it. I still have very mixed feelings about social media in general, but if we can use this as a learning platform for other skills, I think that is a beneficial thing. Last weekend, in a conversation with a dear friend and fellow parent, we spoke of what may be in store for our children, what kind of social media they will be into when they are older. "Maybe it will be nothing," I said. "Maybe they won't want to have anything to do with that, and will get their social connections in person." We can dream. I'm sure they will be fine, social media or not. If the singularity is learning from us, I hope that we can all learn to be a little more patient with each other online. It's a little embarrassing to think of the majority of our examples of interactions online are trolling each other, saying things that we would never say to someone if we were talking to them directly, rather than via screens... If we all appear as vapid narcissists in our online 'personas', who's gonna miss us if we all go away? We're fooling ourselves if we think that machines haven't taken over already. Just take an informal count of the ratio of people staring at a screen vs those who are not at your next outing. Anyway, here is my contribution for the hive mind for today. It is hungry.
We have had quite a stormy winter, at least compared to last year, where at the urban homestead, we had perhaps two days out of the whole season that had precipitation, with a light dusting of snow on one of the days. This year has been very different, and I am thankful for all the moisture, as is my dormant yard and garden. B has certainly enjoyed playing in the snow (though the wind he is not as thankful for, nor the cold, especially most mornings walking to school). D got to see snowfall for the first time and we danced together watching the flakes fall. He was not quite as enthusiastic about playing in the strange, cold white-ness, though, yet.
I think about my children and what sort of world they will have to inhabit in the future, as most parents do. Despite contrary views, I have a positive outlook for the future - my decision to have children reflects that. Why would I choose to bring beings into this world if I did not think they would have something special and still full of magic to inherit as they grow older and perhaps start families of their own? I know we will have great changes happening within our lifetimes, but I wait in anticipation and welcome change. It is all what we make of it. We can dwell on certain negative aspects of our existence. We can believe that life as we know it is headed towards annihilation. We can also choose to accept that perhaps we need a great change. We can accept that some things we currently value may not be the most important things, and a shifting of values may be beneficial for our home, our planet as a whole. I choose not to live in fear of the infinite possibilities of what can go wrong in the future, rather deal with them smartly and justly as they present themselves in real time.
...
For I am knowledge and ignorance.
I am shame and boldness.
I am shameless; I am ashamed.
I am strength and I am fear.
I am war and peace.
Excerpt from The Thunder, Perfect Mind
We have had quite a stormy winter, at least compared to last year, where at the urban homestead, we had perhaps two days out of the whole season that had precipitation, with a light dusting of snow on one of the days. This year has been very different, and I am thankful for all the moisture, as is my dormant yard and garden. B has certainly enjoyed playing in the snow (though the wind he is not as thankful for, nor the cold, especially most mornings walking to school). D got to see snowfall for the first time and we danced together watching the flakes fall. He was not quite as enthusiastic about playing in the strange, cold white-ness, though, yet.
I think about my children and what sort of world they will have to inhabit in the future, as most parents do. Despite contrary views, I have a positive outlook for the future - my decision to have children reflects that. Why would I choose to bring beings into this world if I did not think they would have something special and still full of magic to inherit as they grow older and perhaps start families of their own? I know we will have great changes happening within our lifetimes, but I wait in anticipation and welcome change. It is all what we make of it. We can dwell on certain negative aspects of our existence. We can believe that life as we know it is headed towards annihilation. We can also choose to accept that perhaps we need a great change. We can accept that some things we currently value may not be the most important things, and a shifting of values may be beneficial for our home, our planet as a whole. I choose not to live in fear of the infinite possibilities of what can go wrong in the future, rather deal with them smartly and justly as they present themselves in real time.
...
For I am knowledge and ignorance.
I am shame and boldness.
I am shameless; I am ashamed.
I am strength and I am fear.
I am war and peace.
Excerpt from The Thunder, Perfect Mind
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