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As I was listening to an interview on NPR today I was really struck by one of the statements made by Michael Lewis, the author of The Big Short, Moneyball and now Boomerang - The Meltdown Tour. In discussing the potential default in Greece and in municipalities across America he said, "People want to have things they don't want to pay for".
This really shook up my thinking for a bit because I don't see myself as someone who wants something for nothing. But then I started to really think about the shifts I see in products, services and even how I spend my time. I think it is very possibly true that we have trained ourselves to expect things at little or no cost. Is this because we've lost sight of value and/or cost of production?
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Changing Perspective
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Please make note of the new location.
Changing our perspective is often one of the most difficult tasks we face. We are often so busy we don't have time to stop and think about anything from an angle other than the one we've already got set in our minds.
The New World Dictionary defines perspective as a way of regarding situations, facts, etc, and judging their relative importance . I see our society more and more as judging relative importance and this generally involves ranking our own importance/views/etc. above those of others. We've lost our ability to respect and value differing opinions. But isn't that what makes our world so fascinating? Thank goodness, we aren't all the same. How dull would that be?
The Middle English origin of the word is the past participle stem of perspicere to look at closely . I prefer this definition as it really tells you that you need to pay attention at look at the various aspects. In order to look at something closely you must look up/down, left/right, close/far and every other way possible.
Please make note of the new location.
Changing our perspective is often one of the most difficult tasks we face. We are often so busy we don't have time to stop and think about anything from an angle other than the one we've already got set in our minds.
The New World Dictionary defines perspective as a way of regarding situations, facts, etc, and judging their relative importance . I see our society more and more as judging relative importance and this generally involves ranking our own importance/views/etc. above those of others. We've lost our ability to respect and value differing opinions. But isn't that what makes our world so fascinating? Thank goodness, we aren't all the same. How dull would that be?
The Middle English origin of the word is the past participle stem of perspicere to look at closely . I prefer this definition as it really tells you that you need to pay attention at look at the various aspects. In order to look at something closely you must look up/down, left/right, close/far and every other way possible.
Monday, September 26, 2011
You Can't Fool Mother Nature - GMO foods
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Do you remember the slogan from the 1970's for Chiffon Margerine? "You can't fool Mother Nature." In their commercial, of course, you could fool Mother Nature. A lot has changed in the relationship between man and nature in the past 40 years. Man has begun to manipulate nature in ways that would have been inconceivable back then. Giant leaps in the science of genetics have made it possible to do the unnatural with nature in myriad ways.
Do you remember the slogan from the 1970's for Chiffon Margerine? "You can't fool Mother Nature." In their commercial, of course, you could fool Mother Nature. A lot has changed in the relationship between man and nature in the past 40 years. Man has begun to manipulate nature in ways that would have been inconceivable back then. Giant leaps in the science of genetics have made it possible to do the unnatural with nature in myriad ways.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Empty Space
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Last year I took a drawing class and the first thing the instructor discussed was the use of empty/negative or white space. The term is used for the space which is left blank in a drawing, painting, photograph or graphic presentation. This empty space is what allows the objects in the work of art to exist. One of the best descriptions of negative is “space where other things are not present.” We spent one class trying to work building imagery through the use of negative/empty space.
I keep returning to Anne Lindbergh’s Gift from the Sea as the passages I underlined years ago are popping out to emphasize the simplicity I am seeking these days and connecting to other things – the art class – long past. One of the quotes I underlined:
“For it is only framed in space that beauty blooms. Only in space are events and objects and people unique and significant – and therefore beautiful. A tree has significance if one sees it against the empty face of sky. A note in music gains significance from the silences on either side. A candle flowers in the space of night. Even small and casual things take on significance if they are washed in space, like a few autumn grasses in one corner of an Oriental painting, the rest of the page bare.”
She goes on to say, “My life, I begin to realize, lacks this quality of significance and therefore of beauty, because there is so little empty space. The space is scribbled on; the time has been filled.”
I am again struck by the significance of these words, written in 1955, to the world today. How is it that we can find significance with so little empty space in our lives? I long for the pause between the notes, yet I feel pressed to fill every pause with something that “needs to be done”. I file, I write, I call, I post, I tweet, I read but seldom pause to sit in silence and allow the empty space around me to create significance, beauty.
As I look for ways to create more empty space in my life in order to reflect I offer up a few examples of the use of empty space in art and music.
My daughter Lindsay’s photography site has two good examples on her opening page at
http://www.lightchaser-photography.com/
As well as numerous other examples in her landscape and travel photographs. Another friend and photographer, Jeff Rennicke, has some great examples as well. Here is one from our trip to Africa.
This M.C. Escher Gallery has some excellent examples
http://www.worldofescher.com/gallery/
On the music side listen to the space between notes used by Jack Johnson and James Blunt. They both use silence or a pause where it’s not typically expected. You will often find this as well in classical music. Some examples I really like are Mahler’s Resurrection and Barber’s Adagio for Strings:
Maybe tonight would be a good not for some empty space. Sit on the back porch, listen to the Mahler symphony and gaze up into the dark night sky and ponder, just for a moment, the beauty of the space between us. Just you and the space between the note, the space between the stars and the space between you and infinity. How’s that for evening of adventure?
Last year I took a drawing class and the first thing the instructor discussed was the use of empty/negative or white space. The term is used for the space which is left blank in a drawing, painting, photograph or graphic presentation. This empty space is what allows the objects in the work of art to exist. One of the best descriptions of negative is “space where other things are not present.” We spent one class trying to work building imagery through the use of negative/empty space.
I keep returning to Anne Lindbergh’s Gift from the Sea as the passages I underlined years ago are popping out to emphasize the simplicity I am seeking these days and connecting to other things – the art class – long past. One of the quotes I underlined:
“For it is only framed in space that beauty blooms. Only in space are events and objects and people unique and significant – and therefore beautiful. A tree has significance if one sees it against the empty face of sky. A note in music gains significance from the silences on either side. A candle flowers in the space of night. Even small and casual things take on significance if they are washed in space, like a few autumn grasses in one corner of an Oriental painting, the rest of the page bare.”
She goes on to say, “My life, I begin to realize, lacks this quality of significance and therefore of beauty, because there is so little empty space. The space is scribbled on; the time has been filled.”
I am again struck by the significance of these words, written in 1955, to the world today. How is it that we can find significance with so little empty space in our lives? I long for the pause between the notes, yet I feel pressed to fill every pause with something that “needs to be done”. I file, I write, I call, I post, I tweet, I read but seldom pause to sit in silence and allow the empty space around me to create significance, beauty.
As I look for ways to create more empty space in my life in order to reflect I offer up a few examples of the use of empty space in art and music.
My daughter Lindsay’s photography site has two good examples on her opening page at
http://www.lightchaser-photography.com/
As well as numerous other examples in her landscape and travel photographs. Another friend and photographer, Jeff Rennicke, has some great examples as well. Here is one from our trip to Africa.
This M.C. Escher Gallery has some excellent examples
http://www.worldofescher.com/gallery/
On the music side listen to the space between notes used by Jack Johnson and James Blunt. They both use silence or a pause where it’s not typically expected. You will often find this as well in classical music. Some examples I really like are Mahler’s Resurrection and Barber’s Adagio for Strings:
Maybe tonight would be a good not for some empty space. Sit on the back porch, listen to the Mahler symphony and gaze up into the dark night sky and ponder, just for a moment, the beauty of the space between us. Just you and the space between the note, the space between the stars and the space between you and infinity. How’s that for evening of adventure?
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