Antidotes for all this Gloom!

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   jonnycomelatelyposted 12 years ago

   Listening to some beautiful music, with Josh Groban singing.  Songs like  "Cinema Paradiso," "Canto Alla Vita," "To Where You Are," "Un Amore Per Sempre," bring tears to my eyes, literally!
   
   Think of what has allowed this music to come to my ears:  A high quality pair of head phones, with built in noise suppression, giving me absolutely awesome theatre, with crisp clear diction, expert sampling and mixing;  all those musicians working tirelessly to play their specific instruments just right, in some cases overcoming the trials of RSI and working long hours at study and practice;  the composers using their brilliant artistry to paint pictures in music and song;  last but not least Josh giving us the benefit of his extraordinary range of frequencies and subtle understanding of the emotions to be conveyed.
   
   Are you left un-moved by the excellence I have described?   
   
   Think of that cell phone in your hand or your pocket.   You have almost instant access to so many people, anywhere in the world!   How does that happen?   The micro-fine pixels of the touch screen; those colours giving you a beautiful clear picture; the rare earths and other minerals that have to be mined from around the world, often displacing whole communities of humans and other creatures, just to get at the ores; (is our telecommunication really that essential to us); the clever computer soft ware that has been designed over the past few years requiring brilliant brain work and concepts like the world has never before known;  the network of towers, satellites,  receiver and transmission stations, technicians to install and maintain them;  clerical and administrative business setups to actually make things happen...... then there is just little you and me to do the listening.   
   
   Are you still un-moved?
   
   Purchase a x10 magnifying glass, the sort that philatelists use for studying the fine marks on a postage stamp.   Go outside, in the sunlight if possible, and find a tiny flower, so tiny you would normally miss it altogether or at least ignore it. 
   
   Keeping the strongest light possible on the flower, bring the lens up close to your eye, and focus on the trumpet of the flower.   Patiently and quietly look down into the reproductive organ of the plant..... this is where a new plant starts!    Just take in the gorgeous colours and delicacy of those flower parts..... the stamens, anthers, etc., and if you don't know the names of all the parts (that's why I have only given two names.... I don't know any more!), go to your computer and Google the information.... more wonders at your finger tips.  Then introduce a child to what you are seeing, possibly for the first time in your life.   SHARE your feelings.   Bring wonder into another person's life.   
   
   What really inspires you?  What lifts your mind, your whole being, above the mundane acceptance of life?   
   
   What is your antidote for the downers in your life?

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      Sooner28posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      My antidote is escape.  Not with drugs or alcohol though.
      
      I don't think it would even be a true escape.  I like reading obscure philosophy.  Most people get frustrated and think I am weird for doing so.  I really just think philosophy is more worthwhile than a lot of other stuff.

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      Disappearingheadposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm struck with wonder by the deep field photos published by NASA which show hundreds of galaxies in a region of space billions of light years away. As I understand it a NASA scientist once arranged for Hubble to stare at an apparently empty tiny  section of sky for a number of hours and the results, these photos were completely unexpected.
      
      I find myself staring at them wondering at the vastness of it all. Do these galaxies even exist anymore? How close are some of them to each other? Do observers living in one see the one next door and wonder about who lives there? Do their in habitants see the Milky Way? Do they dream of being able to travel to their neighbours?

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         jonnycomelatelyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         DH, thanks for that ... I have never taken a look at NASA's site before....AWESOME!   Doesn't it make one feel so insignificant, yet privileged to be in a position to observe and contemplate such a universe?
         
         Humbling.

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