I’m part of some WhatsApp groups.
What amazes me is the lack of respect for the fact that a lot of people read you.
It’s so often that irrelevant messages occur.
A lot of times a person asks something, and the replies have little added value, some emoticons occur, and, at the end of the day, little is said and done.
It gets, to a point, so boring that in a lot of their animated movies, it’s mostly about “Magic”:
“Here we have a magical creature doing magical things”.
Compare this with the Pixar universe, where the script gets complex.
Moto: „Rugăciunea lui Iisus face din inima fiecăruia o chilie monahală unde se află „singur cu Singurul”, în tăcere. Nevoitorul învață să tacă. Dar tăcerea creștină nu poate fi despărțită de un cuvânt mereu reînnoit. La un moment dat, cel tăcut, isihastul, primește harisma cuvântului de viață, care merge de la inimă la inimă, cuvântul – sămânță”. Olivier Clement
“Exception that proves the rule” – let’s say you hear someone badmouth another person.
What they really mean to say is: “I agree that most people are fine, but I found a flaw in this person’s behavior. This doesn’t cancel in any way the fact that most humans, including this person, are doing fine”.
So, there you have it – the world is nice and good, and whenever something bad happens, that’s the exception, not the rule.
Terence reads: “Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto“, or “I am human, and I think nothing human is alien to me.”
I like, for self-improving, to just do a lot of things.
Various things, from exposing myself to various forms of entertainment, to writing on the blog and posting things.
Constantin Noica used to tell Andrei Pleșu that he (A.P.) is collecting models (he, A.P., went to see a lot of important people).
I guess that’s what I also try to do – collect things.
I read an article (Scopul este elevul, nu materia! – WebCultura) talking about memorizing things and using critics’ ways of seeing the literature.
I especially liked the conclusion: “If this Romanian education aims to take children away from literature, then to continue, because it succeeds wonderfully.”
It’s funny to see that the very means of looking at the literature (via critical analysis) is lacking to the process of learning literature itself.
The way in which the pupils are taught literature is not that fine, in my opinion, and the article gives good reasons for this.
To aim to teach critical analysis, and, at the same time, not apply critical thinking on your own system – now that’s a paradox!
În unele industrii, nu ai alternative. Marketing, IT – dacă nu vii de la început și zici că un cuvânt trebuie tradus, e folosit exclusiv în engleză, și ulterior nu ai ce să îl faci decât să îl accepți. Degeaba zici că “da, ar merge tradus acest termen”, e prea târziu după ce lumea îl folosește. Și dacă DOOM ar zice altceva, nu ar conta.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
(Matthew 25:1-13 NIV – The Parable of the Ten Virgins – “At – Bible Gateway)
I like this Parable.
You need to keep focused on prevention, non-delay. No procrastination is allowed. That affects everything.
Likewise, you need to love society.
If everyone did that, there would be no Prisoner’s dilemma – Wikipedia.
Some people might have a lot of requests, they could insist, they could be complaining, and talk a lot.
Yet, I don’t consider that “energy vampires” actually exist.
I think that each of us has some weak points in our communication styles.
I also think that we should try to be receptive to constructive feedback.
Yet, at the end of the day, an annoying person could have good results, while a people-pleaser might not be a productive person.
There’s a story about a Colibri that keeps trying to put out a fire, even if it has little resources (Pasarea Colibri | arta si natura).
In my opinion, you should try a lot and do good.
It’s like voting.
Stubbornly, do good, even if you don’t see results.
Do your part.
Recycle, even if your neighbors don’t do so.
Fight for the truth, keep pushing, insist, be a better you than you were yesterday.
Seinfeld once shared the story of his calendar and the chain of red X’s with a young comic. His main advice:
Don’t break the chain!
Do something related to your craft every day, no matter how small the action is.
Jerry Seinfeld’s Productivity Hack: Don’t Break the Chain! | by Bob Baker | Medium