Time as experienced in the aging of Trees
I have been thinking quite a bit about Time recently.
Not just about how it seems fleeting as a person ages, but how all generations are on this timeline and their view of the world is shaped by their interaction with it. For instance sometimes I wish I was born a few years later to be at the forefront of the digital age and so that there would be the option of learning more about digital graphics; a field that didn’t exist much before the year 2000. It is possible to learn it, but not with such ease. My children could not imagine a world without their digital devices, a world that gives people real-time access to others in seconds.
Pop Art Ketchup by KK Designs www.kkdesignslondon.com. vs. Hall Phone 1970’s
You get a call from your son who is standing in the condiment aisle at the supermarket and he wants to know what brand of ketchup to pick up. It is a 15 second call, but you are connected.
When we went to college, there was one phone in the hallway for all people on that floor and calls home were few and far between. Note the rotary dial and the cord. Plus, there was letter writing…with a pen.
Calligraphic Leaping Reindeer Williamsburg
I would imagine that our mothers might have felt the same way about their lives. They were called up to great service and accomplishment in World War II, but when the war ended, they were sent home. They didn’t have the opportunities for development in fields of endeavor that they saw their daughters later enjoy. Within a short time that has changed. And at other times, when I think about it, I am grateful to have seen the early days of the invention of T.V. (Remember the rabbit ears to get better reception.) and experiencing everything in between until now where people are vying to be the first consumer passenger into space.
Expanding in Opportunity and Contracting through Access
The World as we know it is expanding in opportunity and contracting through access into one planet’s people, both at the same time. No wonder it feels convulsive.
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Still, many parts of the world are dislocated from this technology phenomenon, not having access to this digital age. The world has been and is going through some tough times as every part of the world is rocked by the Covid 19 pandemic. All are affected. I think of it as a period of hibernation. We have gone to sleep shuttered in our houses as all nations are scrambling to overcome this.
Sculpture by Cyril Henry of the Onondaga Nation Deer Clan.
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On a positive note, it has given us pause to reflect. We have looked in the faces of those closest to us. We are one planet and one people, all with the same joys and fears. We are dependent on each other. In this age, one individual can have a huge impact on multitudes, either positive or destructive.
African pottery vessel, the Newark Museum Collection
Bhutanese Hand Woven Textiles
The only way to become safe is for each of us to learn that we are not defined by the color of our skin or our ethnicity, but the qualities of our character, such as patience, truthfulness, courage, kindness, fairness, thirst for knowledge and the overarching idea that we want to be of service to others. It requires that we develop the culture of appreciation of our differences, beyond tolerance to love; to appreciate all cultures and what they have contributed. We cannot get there by denigrating others. We need to sit at the same table and interact with people within our circle of interest and outside our comfort zone.
Princesses Wear Dresses
Along this line, my daughters wrote a book for children available in multiple languages that presents this idea of focusing on character and diversity. It is not a money-making venture, but a Kick Starter that they launched successfully, spurred by the conviction that it is important to instill these ideals of inclusiveness in our children, to teach them in practical ways to reflect qualities of goodness and principle. We teach them so many things like numbers and letters; why not the basics of character development, though many people already do.
https://www.facebook.com/PrincessesWearDresses