Got ahead of myself ... publishing this on the 30th... dating it the 1st... Oh well. See end where there is an addition which is the revision..
I think. I read. I write. And try to figure things out. I want to shine a light on good and important things!!!
So - in the recent New Yorker an article (not yet read by me) brings up the issue of old stories -- worth reading and considering came to fore. There are old books worth reading ... and they don't need adaptations .... they need to be known. Sometimes they need to be translated. AND A LOT OF THE TIME for me ... it is worth finding what others have thought and said about the work.
STUDY!!!!... that is the thing. Then sharing that with people who have not heard or seen these things ... and we can save ourselves the trouble by not RE-INVENTING things. The stories have mostly been told. The issues characters wrestled with have been shown and solutions suggested. Up to us to know and then choose. CHOOSE!! We are free to choose!
What did I do in/during my life? How meaningful and effective.... was I? First that is a question for me to answer for myself... Then?? Next could be and are: my meaning and effect on my daughters? It is possible that once upon a time that question could be applied to mother, father, and sister... BUT now that is no longer an issue. HMMMM.. INTERESTING..
The bookclub I'm in is great. Good socializing once a month with some guys.
ANOTHER bookclub might be: The Classics and report on them! And I could look at Goodreads... and such to see if there are groups out there now... Probably there are!!! My ideas are rarely really original.... however - IF the old books are generally/basically being read and understood by old folks... TWO THINGS: one: what good does it do for how long if only the old folks learn issues and solutions that already are availalbe.... two: how to get young folks into these short cuts ...!!!???
I ALSO TRAVEL... and it would be nice to do it better.. Really connect with people. New people - far and wide and old people (back home, new, old, young) ... talk about trips).
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about the should... FIRST - Shoulds are ok... They are difficult but necessary if we are to be in society.... imho... and current thinking. We all want to have some expectations met... and if we act certain ways ... based on shared shoulds ... then there is less uncertainty.
For me - my PASSION has long been thinking about CONSERVATION... though I go it alone... in my head... and in some actions. And - Zero Population Growrh is part of that. THEN - TODAY - AI... and my thinking about AI is... 1. its here, 2. it will keep coming. 3. THE PROBLEM is short term... as is Population...
Short term in the sense -- hard to move to a lower population, economiclly, AND when/if people are displaced at work by AI ... what will they do? Create? Art? Play? Have we seen this with Roman bread and circus'? What was happening back then and how did it turn out? LEARN... The past is now and in the future ... Find the BEST... not the WORST!
Is the problem RE-DISTRIBUTION of wealth? Physical transfers? Real transfers. Sharing. Isn't there enough for all???
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Just read that Tom Stoppard died. I have seen many of his plays ... and will try to remember them. The Forward had an article which is why I found out about Mr. Stoppard and in that article they said:
"Much of Stoppard’s work revolved around the question of what it really means to live an important life — one that is not just full, but has some kind of identifiable impact on others. The main character of Travesties isn’t Joyce, Lenin or Tzara; he’s an endearingly self-satisfied British diplomat, Henry Carr, who briefly found himself in the same circles as those luminaries. As the play opens, decades later, he’s trying to conjure up a memoir about his time in the presence of the greats, with the implication that he deserves to be considered among their ranks."
It is the idea of IMPACT that IS MY QUESTION NOW.... What have I done, what do I do? What will I do?
I think I CAN give answer to past and present though the people and stuff on which I have had an impact will be the essential judges. As for the future? That is THE QUESTION, really. See the Dec. 2, 20254 entry where I will try to fully get into it!!!!!
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