Variegated Essays
Variety
The essays provided here originate from a wide range of thoughts and
readings that do not fit so squarely into the other sections. Some are
related to aging.
How to Stay Sane During Early Old Age
Recently, I came across an interesting article that
spurred deep thought, from the “The Book of Life”
website, headlined “How the Modern World Makes Us
Mentally Ill” .
The article identified six aspects of modern life known
to have troubling influences on our psyches (along with
suggested cures): meritocracy, individualism,
secularism, romanticism, the media, and perfectibility. As I read
though these, I thought about how they might apply to getting old,
which, in my estimation, jumpstarts once you turn 60, when we reach
the beginning of the final three-innings of life, or less, depending on
your fate (see Ninety-Year Plan). READ MORE
The Unfortunate Segment
of Our Aging Population
Every time I passed this woman sitting in her
wheelchair outside of her room, she gave me a very
odd, piercing look that seemed to reek of hatred. It
briefly stressed me out just to see her. She was one of
many wheelchair-bound residents of a combination
nursing/palliative/hospice care facility that I was visiting
on a regular basis for personal reasons.
Visiting this facility was an almost daily (sometimes multiple times
per day) occurrence for me over a period of two weeks. I came to a
point where I tried to avoid looking at and interacting with anyone
other than the person I was visiting and the facility’s caregivers. On
any typical day, the mostly head-hanging, wheelchair-bound residents
were strewn all over the hallways and elsewhere in the building and
outside spread out across the fenced-in patio, seemingly waiting to
die. Hardly any of them even talked to each other. READ MORE
“If we cannot now
end our
differences, at
least we can help
make the world
safe for diversity. “
- John F. Kennedy
Notes on Writing a Memoir
Over the past year or so, I have fallen into a daily
remembrance-thinking mindset like never before in my
life. At times, it feels very strange and awkward to
suddenly think of something that happened years, even
decades, ago. These memories come without warning
and without any logical explanation. They simply arrive
in semi-vivid picture frames in my thoughts. I don’t
know what to do about them other than write about them. I suppose
this kind of thinking is common. Don’t many of us focus on the rear-
view mirror too much? In any event, what I refer to as frequent
remembrance-thinking can become self-annoying. I confess that I do
not know what to make of it. READ MORE
How to Spend Two Hours Learning about the True
Greatness of the World & Humanity
During my early years as a student journalist, I
developed a business plan to start a national newspaper
that printed only positive and inspirational feature
articles like the kind I have always enjoyed writing. The
tentative masthead was “Good News Times.” After much
consternation and false starts, I overcame this
shortsighted naiveté with the realization that nobody
would consistently read such a newspaper. Good news
is boring. We are more attracted to bad news. That’s what sells. We see
it day-in and day-out in today’s mass media. It’s typically described as
“negativity bias” – a term that explains our penchant for mostly bad
news. “Realistic optimism” is its opposite. READ MORE
Welcome to the Age of Distraction
I have a thing for arrows. If I were to paint a picture of
images that most represent myself, it would be full of
different shaped and sized arrows going in all sorts of
directions. I dream about arrows. You can see arrows in
the logo of my business, Understanding XYZ.
It’s not rocket science or magic to understand what the
arrows stand for. Arrows are always popping up because
I’m someone who frequently jumps around from one project to another.
READ MORE
The Rhythms of History and End of Us
The timing was interesting. As the accusations of
Russian cybercrime reached a fever pitch last year in
2017 (and continuing on and on), I was randomly
engrossed in reading “The Seventh Sense,” by Joshua
Cooper Ramo. READ MORE
The Best Way to Learn Anything
“A day um qwee lay tiff ee kot u vem tu tem may um” (I’m
obviously spelling phonetically), Father John shouted at
us. We (a group of 4th grade altar boys to-be) repeated
those words (and more Latin prayers) while going up
and down a school stairwell, balancing a relatively heavy
open bible across our forearms. Keep going up and
down until you got it right. The Latin prayers were never
translated, so we did not know what they meant, nor did we care as the
rote memorization project took its toll, especially on one of my weaker,
uncoordinated classmates who dropped the holy book, tumbling down
the stairwell – “Oh my God!” READ MORE
On Ageism and a Bad Haircut
I was walking down the main downtown drag when I
decided to stop inside a barber shop. I was looking for a
new hair cutter because my last haircut was a disaster.
The barber I had used for about 2 years – who happens
to be in his 70s – had a senior moment. He destroyed
the balance of the small amount of hair I now sport,
unevenly cutting both top and back sides of my now
newly disrupted head. It wasn’t horribly bad, but bad enough for me to
notice every time I looked at myself in a mirror. READ MORE
Do You Have A Manifesto? An Older Adult’s
Thoughts On Living Right
As defined in meriam-webster.com, a manifesto is “a
written statement declaring publicly the intentions,
motives, or views of its issuer.” It has Italian roots, from
manifestare to manifest, originating from the Latin
manifestus. Typically, a manifesto is presented in no
particular order. It’s a laundry list of proclamations that
portray what an organization, group or individual believes in no
uncertain terms. READ MORE
Hey Younger Generations, We Boomers
Apologize for the World We Left You With,
but Don’t Blame All of Us.
On the evening of August 16, 2019 — the 50th
anniversary of Woodstock — Brian Williams interviewed
devoted muckraker Michael Moore on MSNBC’s late-
night 11th Hour talk show. In his typical no-bull fashion,
Moore cogently brought to light a good number of
disturbing issues facing our nation today (see
transcript). READ MORE
© Copyright 2023. UnderstandingXYZ.com. All rights reserved.
Variegated
Variety
The essays provided here originate from a wide
range of thoughts and readings that do not fit so
squarely into the other sections. Some are related to
aging.
“If we cannot now
end our
differences, at
least we can help
make the world
safe for diversity. “
- John F. Kennedy
How to Stay Sane During Early Old Age
Recently, I came across an interesting
article that spurred deep thought,
from the “The Book of Life” website,
headlined “How the Modern World
Makes Us Mentally Ill” .
The article identified six aspects of
modern life known to have troubling
influences on our psyches (along with
suggested cures): meritocracy,
individualism, secularism, romanticism, the media,
and perfectibility. As I read though these, I thought
about how they might apply to getting old, which, in
my estimation, jumpstarts once you turn 60, when
we reach the beginning of the final three-innings of
life, or less, depending on your fate (see Ninety-Year
Plan). READ MORE
The Unfortunate Segment
of Our Aging Population
Every time I passed this woman
sitting in her wheelchair outside of
her room, she gave me a very odd,
piercing look that seemed to reek of
hatred. It briefly stressed me out just
to see her. She was one of many
wheelchair-bound residents of a
combination
nursing/palliative/hospice care facility that I was
visiting on a regular basis for personal reasons.
Visiting this facility was an almost daily (sometimes
multiple times per day) occurrence for me over a
period of two weeks. I came to a point where I tried
to avoid looking at and interacting with anyone other
than the person I was visiting and the facility’s
caregivers. On any typical day, the mostly head-
hanging, wheelchair-bound residents were strewn all
over the hallways and elsewhere in the building and
outside spread out across the fenced-in patio,
seemingly waiting to die. Hardly any of them even
talked to each other. READ MORE
Notes on Writing a Memoir
Over the past year or so, I have fallen
into a daily remembrance-thinking
mindset like never before in my life.
At times, it feels very strange and
awkward to suddenly think of
something that happened years, even
decades, ago. These memories come
without warning and without any
logical explanation. They simply arrive
in semi-vivid picture frames in my thoughts. I don’t
know what to do about them other than write about
them. I suppose this kind of thinking is common.
Don’t many of us focus on the rear-view mirror too
much? In any event, what I refer to as frequent
remembrance-thinking can become self-annoying. I
confess that I do not know what to make of it.
READ MORE
How to Spend Two Hours Learning about the True
Greatness of the World & Humanity
During my early years as a student
journalist, I developed a business
plan to start a national newspaper
that printed only positive and
inspirational feature articles like the
kind I have always enjoyed writing.
The tentative masthead was “Good
News Times.” After much
consternation and false starts, I
overcame this shortsighted naiveté with the
realization that nobody would consistently read such
a newspaper. Good news is boring. We are more
attracted to bad news. That’s what sells. We see it
day-in and day-out in today’s mass media. It’s
typically described as “negativity bias” – a term that
explains our penchant for mostly bad news. “Realistic
optimism” is its opposite. READ MORE
Welcome to the Age of Distraction
I have a thing for arrows. If I were to
paint a picture of images that most
represent myself, it would be full of
different shaped and sized arrows
going in all sorts of directions. I
dream about arrows. You can see
arrows in the logo of my business,
Understanding XYZ.
It’s not rocket science or magic to understand what
the arrows stand for. Arrows are always popping up
because I’m someone who frequently jumps around
from one project to another. READ MORE
The Rhythms of History and End of Us
The timing was interesting. As the
accusations of Russian cybercrime
reached a fever pitch last year in 2017
(and continuing on and on), I was
randomly engrossed in reading “The
Seventh Sense,” by Joshua Cooper
Ramo. READ MORE
The Best Way to Learn Anything
“A day um qwee lay tiff ee kot u vem tu
tem may um” (I’m obviously spelling
phonetically), Father John shouted at
us. We (a group of 4th grade altar
boys to-be) repeated those words
(and more Latin prayers) while going
up and down a school stairwell,
balancing a relatively heavy open
bible across our forearms. Keep going
up and down until you got it right. The Latin prayers
were never translated, so we did not know what they
meant, nor did we care as the rote memorization
project took its toll, especially on one of my weaker,
uncoordinated classmates who dropped the holy
book, tumbling down the stairwell – “Oh my God!”
READ MORE
On Ageism and a Bad Haircut
I was walking down the main
downtown drag when I decided to
stop inside a barber shop. I was
looking for a new hair cutter
because my last haircut was a
disaster. The barber I had used for
about 2 years – who happens to be
in his 70s – had a senior moment. He
destroyed the balance of the small amount of hair I
now sport, unevenly cutting both top and back sides of
my now newly disrupted head. It wasn’t horribly bad,
but bad enough for me to notice every time I looked at
myself in a mirror.
READ MORE
Do You Have A Manifesto? An Older
Adult’s Thoughts On Living Right
As defined in meriam-webster.com, a
manifesto is “a written statement
declaring publicly the intentions,
motives, or views of its issuer.” It has
Italian roots, from manifestare to
manifest, originating from the Latin
manifestus. Typically, a manifesto is
presented in no particular order. It’s a laundry list of
proclamations that portray what an organization,
group or individual believes in no uncertain terms.
READ MORE
Hey Younger Generations, We Boomers Apologize for
the World We Left You With, but Don’t
Blame All of Us.
On the evening of August 16, 2019 —
the 50th anniversary of Woodstock —
Brian Williams interviewed devoted
muckraker Michael Moore on
MSNBC’s late-night 11th Hour talk
show. In his typical no-bull fashion,
Moore cogently brought to light a
good number of disturbing issues facing our nation
today (see transcript). READ MORE