Let me begin by sincerely thanking everyone who took the time and made the effort to text, email, call, or send a note about my last column. I appreciate it for many reasons but primarily because I get to hear what someone else thinks about what I am thinking. That’s always a good thing. So, keep them coming; proof that someone besides three other people are reading what I write!
There are some really smart, nay, dare I say brilliant people who have walked this planet. Often I read what someone has written and wish that I could have known that person for just a day so I could ask him exactly in what context the thought became clear.
Not everything is heavy and serious. Sometimes what people write or say cracks me up, and I find that even in the most ludicrous statement there is a smidgen of worth. I love learning new things — the weighty, the mundane, the world changing, and the absurd.
Here are a couple of things I have learned recently:
• A blob of toothpaste on a toothbrush is called a “nurdle.” Someone seriously had way too much time on his hands
• Fruit Loops all taste the same, no matter the color. So much for me picking out the red ones because I think “they taste funny”
• Vatican City is the smallest country in the world at 120 times smaller than Manhattan. (I looked that one up just to make sure that I didn’t make it up.)
• You cannot hum while pinching yºour nose – go ahead, I will wait.
• Oysters can change from one gender to another and back again. They probably also enjoy rainbows.
• The longest word in the English language has 189,879 letters and takes over 3 hours to pronounce. For those interested, it is the chemical name for the protein Titin – and no, I am most certainly not going to write it here
• When a mosquito lands on a man’s testicle, said man immediately realizes there are ways to solve a problem without anger, violence, or weapons of mass destruction. Yep, this is one that made me chuckle. I will not lie
There are also words that make me pause and even stop dead in my tracks because they are so profound. Many times the most profound are the simplest. That is not surprising, is it? Let me give you an example or maybe two or nine …. well, it is difficult admittedly for me to cease and desist once I get on a roll, you understand.
Mark Twain, the author, observer, public speaker, and philosopher made so many statements that are profound in their simplicity. Among my favorites is this: “Man is the only animal that blushes … or needs to.” Wow, right? There are a bazillion thoughts that come to mind. Blushing is usually the result of one’s shyness, embarrassment, or shame, or some combination thereof.
I have spent more time than I care to admit contemplating what the definition of “human” is. Among the qualities or characteristics that set up apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is that humans recognize past, present, and most importantly, future as connected perhaps but also as distinctly separate. Humans can cook food. Animals react and respond mostly because of reflex, instinct, or immediate situation. Humans react based upon reason, rationality, introspection, and thought —well, that is the goal, I suppose. Humans can change and control their environment; animals can react to the environment. Humans communicate in the spoken word and the written word. Of course we know that animals communicate in various ways; heck, read the book, “The Hidden Life of Trees,” and you will discover that plants communicate in a complex and unique way. Maybe we are not so special.
But, animals and plants do not blush. Humans do. I find that immensely interesting and intriguing to think about.
Another person whose words fascinate me is Mahatma Gandhi. Actually, almost everything about his life is of interest to me. Think about this: “Carefully watch your thoughts, for they become your words. Manage and watch your words, for they will become your actions. Consider and judge your actions, for they will become your habits. Acknowledge and watch your habits, for they shall become your values. Understand and embrace your values, for they become your destiny.”
Double wow. Am I right? Just like MC Hammer, “break it down.” All of it is connected, beginning with our thoughts right to our destiny. Trying to eliminate or deny even one within the sequence is useless and counterproductive. What we think, how we talk, how we behave — it is all profoundly interactive. Examine your own life to see if Gandhi’s words hold true for you. This calls for introspection, one of those things we do that a rat terrier or a green bean cannot do.
Rainer Marie Rilke is another writer who has written so many things that I sincerely wish I had written instead. He said, “Try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language … The point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday for in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your life into the answer.”
Valuing the questions of life, of who we are, why we are here … have always held more interest to me than the “answers.” How do we “live the questions”? And what does “live your life into the answer” really mean? Those are food and fodder for thought and conversation.
Here’s the thing: Living is wonderful. Life serves up its potential every single day. But, and this is a crucial “but” here, living is not always easy. It has been estimated by those who study such things, that we make more than 35,000 decisions every single day. We speak, on average, more than 16,000 words every day. That is a whole bunch of decisions and words all of which hold some varying degree of importance to us and to others. Every decision or non-decision has consequence. Every word we speak carries weight. Every action or non-action accumulates. Every blush is for a reason.
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Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of articles written by a group of retired and current teachers — LaNae Abnet, Ken Ballinger, Billy Kreigh, Kathy Schwartz, and Anna Spalding. Their intent is to spur discussions at the dinner table and elsewhere. You may also voice your thoughts and reactions via The News-Banner’s letters to editor.
