It seems that more & more the only aspects of Commonality between all the members of Australian Communities come down to living in the same place and a shared fear of unemployment. It’s hard to feel part of a community with which my values are so disparate. A Community which values people so little, and money so much. Most people don’t ask for much, but this “Community” offers so little these days.
Archive for the ‘Philosophy’ Category
Community: A Group of People Living in the Same Place or having a Particular Characteristic in Common…
2016 -
10.18
Watch that Step…
2016 -
09.30
Well yes I did miss yesterday, but mainly because the post was still draft. So the following is what was going to be yesterday’s post.
Work on the first short piece of writing has started, with a basic plan of the parameters of the story. This one will have a Cthulhu Mythos flavour to it. This seemed like a good choice to hold interest for the first one for me and give’s me motivation. I’m hoping it will promote an enthusiasm to put the effort into a Cthulhu RPG campaign.
Now for Today’s update.
I’ve attempted a different tactic on the sleeping cycle this time: rather than just trying to crunch it back in like I used to be able to do 10 years ago working shift work which hasn’t been working much for me this time around, I’m trying a technique suggested to my by my friend Kate. Information that she’s researched indicates that a better method is moving the time back piece by piece (so to speak). So Thursday I was awake from 23:00 (Wed night) through to about 20:00, awaking at about 03:00 this morning. This should encourage a getting back to a more regular sleep cycle for me going to bed about 22:30 and arising at 06:30. That’s the premise anyway.
I’m also planning several trips down the Geelong way to photograph wildlife so as to enter some shots in the coming competition for the Geelong by Nature. I’ve decided it’s time to get more serious about the competitions. I’m also keeping my eye out for others that may not necessarily be wild life related.
Dust off the Bucket List…
2016 -
09.28
While I’ve still got energy to move (emotionally and physically) I’ve decided to cross another goal off my list of artistic endeavours I’ve always wanted to do. I’m going to write some short stories and publish them. Self publishing is a real option these days, and I guess while I can still afford internet I’d best give it a shot. I’ve set myself a goal of trying to have four done by the end of October. Once they’re done we’ll move onto the next step of publishing.
Also I’ve set a commitment of getting at least one post a week on my two Photography sites, that is both the store & the blog. As far as the Store’s concerned I’ve set myself the goal of 6 new photos a week for the next five weeks. As for the blog, at least one update a week discussing some technical issue.
Struggling…
2016 -
09.28
I must say I’ve been struggling the last few weeks. It seems the constant Black to Red to Red to Black to Red to Red to Red to Black etc of the finances since losing the last lot of part time work has been wearing me down. I’ve noticed quite a few things slipping, and the last one has been the sleeping cycle. I can feel my depressive levels increasing and this has been borne out by the monitoring I’ve been doing over the last 18 months.
I need to pull several things in together and prevent another dive into where I was around June 2015. It’s not the lack of money that’s hurting, it’s the increasing pressure of the services that I can’t really change anymore. I’ve actually managed to decrease my electricity and gas costs over the last six months compared to last year which is pretty amazing considering it’s been colder (I think) for the most part of this winter compared to last. My food budget is well under what most households would be even accounting for my lack of partner & children. Don’t think you can do much better than $60 / week for groceries. Vegetarianism may help a bit, but I’ve already been keeping a fine line on the grocery budget over the last year.
I wasn’t deluding myself thinking I was going to be self sufficient with Shards of Arcadia by now, I’d been counting on part-time work to keep me afloat while still building the business. However without that being enough to meet the outgoings over the last twelve months, it’s been a slow slide. I really can’t last another six months of this “income”. Anybody who thinks that living on $530 a fortnight is a holiday is clearly out of touch with the reality of the cost of living in Australian Society. I know I’m not the only one, I’ve watched several friends lose their roles too, and there’s no guarantees of work for any of us anymore.
Anyway I’m not wanting to be morbid, just needing to express this and move on. I’ve made a personal commitment to myself to really put in some yards by way of holding my days together. So now I have a monthly commitment to a post every day on this site until at least the end of October.
I feel somehow that I’ve sold my soul and not in a good way by signing up to a number of “paid survey” sites to try and scrape up some cash. I have to say I’ve been pumping away at them and feel suitably “dirty”. Oh well, a new personal low.
On a positive note the Furbags will have food until at least the end of the year! I still have friends, I’m warm and have a roof over my head. It’s a good thing I’m a man of simple needs.
The “Disorder” of “Multiple Possibilities”…
2016 -
03.27
I was watching a TED Talk late one recent evening, and stumbled across one that truly struck home in what may be yet another of my life’s epiphanies. I wonder how many you can be lucky enough to experience? Either way epiphany this idea may very well be for me. It’s the idea of “multiple potentialities. Why does this resonate so strongly for me? It ties in with something once said to me as a young man barely in my Teens. It ties in with something I’ve struggled with most if not all my life.
I had a teacher who I would say was a cut above the average. By that I mean not only was he genuinely interested in helping young people gain knowledge, he was a keen and shrewd judge of character no doubt developed by his other life experiences prior to coming to teaching. Additionally he recognised and acknowledged the responsibilities that came with his position and influence in the young people he dealt with on a daily basis, often for years, some for over a decade at a time.
He had noticed that I was in one of my early periods of depression and was in some way reaching out to me: even then he could see that for me, there would be a dark path before reaching the light. Although they didn’t have quite the same level of debilitation accompanying them at that time in my life, such bouts of Depression were clearly noticeable to some then because they spent a lot of time with me. Anyway, he’d come across me in the yard one lunch while he was on yard duty. He could see I was clearly troubled and just basically started chatting in a more casual but candid manner than the standard Teacher to Student. The upshot of which was that while unrecognised by me at that stage, he’d clearly recognised I was confused because already I was experiencing frustration with an education system that wasn’t acknowledging the intellectual being that I was becoming. He could see what I had yet to recognise, and which even later once seen am still just accepting now. The succinctness with which he expressed it still surprises me today.
It is the following that has stayed with me since that day.
“Your problem is that you could be anything you set your mind to be, and you have no idea what that means for you other than you’re afloat without a compass,” and slight further on, “no single path will ever satisfy you.”
The enormity of that statement was lost on me at the time, but the statement itself was not, and for that I’ve always been grateful, although, until now, I’ve never really known why.
So back to this TED Talk presentation. It’s called Why Some of Us Don’t Have One True Calling.. I sat watch just nodding my head with bells ringing like crazy. I still haven’t quite regained my emotional & mental balance two days after, but I’m getting there. This has opened a whole new mental hallway for me. I’m NOT mediocre, I’m NOT flaky, I’m NOT undisciplined (mostly), I’m just too interested in too many things and too good at a lot of them. I’m NOT a genius, but I’m very damn good at most things I put my mind & hands too! It just seems I’m the last to see this in me.
Other than the above mentioned discussion, if your interested or wondering more, Start Here.
The Great Railways of Life…
2016 -
01.11
One of the Greatest things I value in friends is the willingness to be honest with you even when they know it’s not what you want to hear. They have your best interests at heart, and want to help you do your best, experience the best and be the best that you can be. Really what more can you ask from a friend other than come for the ride!
I picture the Journey of Life like a Train Ride where you travel along and can enjoy the scenery along the way to your destination. You can also involve yourself with those around you generally (although not always) in a pleasant and enjoyable fashion. At various points there are Stations (interludes) where you can change your Journey, pick a different Train on a different track to a different destination. At Stations you can do that Randomly or in an Orderly fashion, but generally in safety. Of course you’re free to jump from the Train at any point along the journey, betweens stations, albeit this is not recommended, and extremely risky. I generally don’t ask my friends to join me in such adventures, I think these escapades are best left for solo “flight”. It’s not to say that you won’t survive such a tumble, but choosing your landing site and the speed of the train at which you decided to bail out is recommended.
If you wish you can continue on the same train until the end of the track. Inevitably this means you either pick a different destination or you’re dead.
What’s in a Name…
2015 -
03.10
Well the long weekend has passed, and already I feel like it’s Thursday, not a Pseudo-Monday! Only 3 days to go, but it feels like I’ve already waded through four with another four in front. I think I’d feel better if I’d managed to end up with more useable shots from yesterday. However as happens, “there’s days you do, and days you don’t”.
That said, yesterday WAS and interesting day despite some poor timing on my part. I met a person who was very helpful with local information for one of the sites I visited yesterday. I’ll keep hold of that for a further visit. It’s wonderful how complete strangers can just strike up a wonderfully rich conversation on a shared interest, and not get around to asking names until saying “Goodbye, oh by the way, my name’s …
The Lucky Dip of Hope…
2015 -
01.06
Whatever I tell myself, it could be far far worse…
At the very least I still have someone who will tell me that 🙂
And sometimes I just need to practise patience and discipline (of the non BDSM persuasion)!
A Different Sort of Blossom…
2014 -
03.01
A friend asked me to help her out with her pet project that she’s been working on for the last couple of years. Her project is called Blossom Connect. Give it a look, it’s a worthy pursuit. Our Society undervalues our children and short changes them so much by stinting on Educational and Social Resources.
Louise’s been working on this to see that local children get the support they need to assist their “learning and development”. She wanted some photos shot of her with some of the children she seeks to help while she was playing, interacting with them just to help give the site a bit more of a sense of what it’s about and who it’s for really. Louise’s invitation was a bit surprising since I’ve never made much secret of being any good with children or being particularly fond of them. Still it’s a challenge worthy of pursuit and I’m pleased she thought to give me an opportunity to stretch out my repertoire and help her cause. Hopefully I will do both her faith and the Children justice. Many thanks to The Children, their Parents, and Louise for the opportunity. I won’t be using any of the photos on my site, as I didn’t gain permission for that sort of use, so the finished products will only be available to see at Blossom Connect. As I said it’s worth a look, you may want to use it yourself or suggest it to someone you know in the future.
Just A Point in Time…
2013 -
12.28
Well I’m “psychologically” limping towards a new year, hopefully to make more positive headway in dealing with my Depression. Christmas is passed for another year, and now things will begin to take a more “normal” course for most of us.
I caught up with a few friends I don’t often see, although I make an effort to communicate to most of my friends by email or phone, or even Instant Messaging at least every fortnight. I think I’m quite lucky in some ways (when I’m thinking positively that is), I still have a few good friends from many years ago. I have at least one from my teens that I still see and talk to regularly (now that I’m not being slack).
I still have three or four from my early Twenties too, made during my first stint at University. It doesn’t sound much, but when you have held such friendships well over Thirty years, you can feel that they mean something. I remember being told by a man I admired very much when I was young and he was alive, that “(I)f you have even one friend in your middle age from your childhood then you should feel very lucky. You can also tell yourself you worked hard with that one!”
Not something easy to appreciate to it’s fullness when you’re in your early Teens, but now I feel the truth in that statement. I try to pass that small jewel onto some of my younger friends today, but whether it will stick is something only time can tell. But I’m glad I listened. Friendships do need to be nurtured or they do eventually die of starvation, just like a plant that isn’t cared for, or a house that’s not maintained. There are sometimes ones that are lost through circumstance, you can only do so much each, and there are always factors outside of our control, we don’t live in vacuums. There are myriads of connections between people, like nodes on the internet. We can’t always have the solid connection that others will have, and sometimes things just break and can’t be reconnected. No matter how much effort we make, sometimes things just aren’t meant to have a span past the time they do.
I want all my friends to know that they ARE appreciated. More often than not you are there when I need you, although sometimes you won’t even realise you’ve been needed and come through! 🙂