Loving the dark
roasted bean ...
roasted bean ...
the teaching ...
and the learning ...
and, one day, the earning ...
and the learning ...
and, one day, the earning ...
I have been wanting to post about the oil spill (tragedy is a more appropriate word) in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. However, my rant and anger has turned to great sadness and worry.
We are members of an ecosystem called Earth. Each life depends upon another. From the tiny phytoplankton to the humans who breathe the oxygen they make--we exist in constant interdependence. Destroy the ecosystems and we destroy ourselves. We can't just let things like this go unresolved without serious consequences that threaten our very existence. Right now this oil spill is the fault of B.P. (British Petroleum) but it could be any of the large oil companies. It was an accident. No doubt human error. Accidents will happen. Over and over and over again. (Remember Exxon Valdez? There are more: FactMonster.com , Environmental Disasters ) And ranting and raving won't do anything to turn back the clock or repair the damage done. So I won't rant. I won't rave. I will think and wonder what, if anything, there is to be done to ensure that this won't happen in the future. Granted, I'm only an average citizen with seemingly no power to prevent any tragedy from happening. One of many citizens who wish they could make a difference and save the world from disaster. I do know that one way to definitely prevent this from happening is to not drill for oil in the first place. I do know that this is an unrealistic solution. We all use petroleum products daily. They are tightly entangled in our lives and our economy. What has taken decades upon decades to create will take the same time to undo. We can, however, decrease the need for oil. We can decrease the need for the extraction of oil from our oceans and lands by decreasing consumer usage. How we do that is up to each individual. Therein lies our power to make a difference. You want examples?
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I found the sheet music online and began to teach myself this song the day after LOST ended. This is evidence of what a person can do by scouring the Internet.
There's this program that translates midi files to a visual representation of the notes on the piano. It's called Synthesia. You open a midi file within it and voilà (not walla!!!) there you have the notes you can play. It does get a bit complicated with midi files that have many instruments but if you turn them off one by one in the program, you can find the correct notes to play to get to the main song. I rarely purchase software online but this one is relatively inexpensive and worth a look at if you want to teach yourself the piano. When I was younger, I was very creative. I'd write short stories or poems or draw several times a day. I don't think that it had much to do with my age, per se. But it did have a great deal to do with my work and work schedule.
I worked full time in college and there after (taking a two year break when my son was born). However, even though I worked, I still had time to go the the park, or ride the ferry or take long walks or had more time to sit and people watch. You might think that those activities wouldn't be related to creativity but they're key. I recently went to a gallery showing Laura Lipton drawings, among other artists. And, her drawings reminded me of the kinds of images that I used to draw when I had the time. Granted hers are way more detailed than mine ever were and hers are on a much, much grander scale. Even so, going to the gallery reminded me of a large part of my life that I allowed to fall by the wayside. On the way home, I spent the time wondering what had happened to my creative side. And, the bottom line is that I no longer have the kind of time I needed to ponder, to wonder, to plan, to think and to imagine. My morning routine leaves little time to sit quietly and think let alone draw or write. Then, I spend nearly a hour per day driving to and from work. My lunch hour is spent in my car on cool days listening to Japanese on Japanesepod101.com and sometimes browsing the internet on my Netbook. (OK, it's not an entire hour of time to myself as it takes me a while to get my things together, get to my car, set myself up and finally sit down. Eating lunch takes time and by the time that's all done I really don't feel like thinking creative thoughts. Today is an exception in that I've been needing to post here and why not this topic?) When work's over, I get home and take care of the things I need to take care of. Then by the time dinner is over I'm exhausted and I have to struggle to keep myself from falling asleep before the evening is actually over. It seems that all I do have time for is mindless game playing (I save the mindless games or game activities for the evening when I can't really think) or reading online (and there is a wealth of things to read online). But I want this to change! It's a rut I've gotten into. Probably the fault lies in my attraction to everything digital. My computer, over the years, has taken the place of my journal. Instead of writing about learning things, or about my imaginings, I search the internet and read and learn and play and research some more. It's a wide, wide world of a web and it's like a dream you can get lost in. However, with a little will-power, I'm sure that's something I can rein in. In fact, it's my plan to do so. So, if you're in my boat and feel like you've lost your creativity, maybe try setting some quality quiet time for yourself, away from distractions, to think and muse. I'm going to try later to set aside at least 15 minutes to see if my creative muse wants to return to my life. Who knows maybe it will work and I'll be able to draw and write again. |
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