Nice Quotes

I like quotes--here are some good ones.

--He [or she] who is outside the door has already a good part of his journey behind him.  --Dutch proverb

--Be able to be alone. Lose not the advantage of solitude.  --Sir Thomas Browne

--He [or she] who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.  --Friedrich Nietzsche

--Victory is won not in miles but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later win a little more.  --Louis L'Amour

--Let no one be deluded that a knowledge of the path can substitute for putting one foot in front of the other.  --M.C. Richards.

--It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. Do what you can.  --Sydney Smith

--If you do not express your own original ideas, if you do not listen to your own being, you will have betrayed yourself.  --Rollo May

Some encouraging stuff--indeed, more heart is maybe needed in these times.

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The Zeitgeist

It seems like a brief survey of the news leaves one feeling like the world is getting worse. Part of me doesn't want to believe that. The reason being is that probably every generation feels that way--surely people during the Great Depression felt that way, and no doubt many during WWII felt that way.

But it could be argued that just because many people believed that in the past, that doesn't necessarily mean now isn't the worst. I think the argument can get more complex than at first notice.

I would argue that most people are not as happy as they used to be. Even with modern-day conveniences and the great benefits of technology people's subjective well-being has gone down.

It seems paradoxical, but it's true.

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Puzzled

I guess I am puzzled about the U.S. government. But one thing does stand out. The people who are in office reflects largely on the populace's ignorance of issues (myself included). A lot of what goes into bills and how politicians vote are not known by many, thereby leaving holes in our knowledge base.

I admit, to keep on top these issues seems virtually impossible. But no doubt, many can do better. Most people spend the bulk of their time watching TV news or reading about issues on their favorite websites.

The answer, as the critic Neil Postman has repeatedly said, is for Americans to be better read on the issues, which I take him to mean that people need to do more than watching sound bites on TV and reading snippets from their favorite political pundits.

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Mindfulness for Children

I just read an interesting article about a program in England that is using various mindfulness techniques to help children regulate their emotions. It's a three-year program that started earlier this year. From my experience with mindfulness and what I've seen of studies (mainly on adults), mindfulness for children seems like an excellent idea.

Yet, I can say because I've worked in social services for over 25 years, that problems crop up, sometimes, in the implementation of these programs. That is, after they are approved, they get used with great zeal, at least at first, but then the law of entropy takes over, and things get messier. But the worst aspect is that from the get-go, there is little to no "good" documentation of how it really works.

Especially toward the latter part of the program, the administration and workers worry about "how the program will look," and therefore skew the paperwork to make it look like the program is a great success (and therefore the agency gets refunded).

The devil is in the details--or is it God?

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