Paradoxical...

The word Paradoxical is defined as Inconsistent, Absurd, Ironic, Contradictory, Enigmatic, and my favorite… Illogical.

My observation of the world in which we are living is that its people are paradoxical. We say one thing and mean another. We trust and believe in things, people or ideas without clearly considering the validity of that thought… Paradoxical.

No person in this world is perfect and yet we expect perfection from people in authority, our neighbors, our family and our friends. We expect people to accept our foibles and yet, we will not forgive others for theirs. We disappoint others but expect people to understand when we do it to them. We waste other peoples’ time but expect punctuality of others.

Physicians cannot heal themselves because they are too close to the problem… “Can’t see for looking”. They say people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Does that mean to throw stones at other houses or from within their home? I am sure that means there will be corollary, repercussions. If we throw stones at others, they could retaliate.

In the “good olde days”, maxims; axioms; mottoes; proverbs; adages; sayings, were a part of our lives. The enticed us to think about life from a different perspective or point of view. Today it seems we do not have time to think except “on the quick”. This reminds me of another adage, “haste makes waste”. We waste time, energy and money repairing the damage of thinking hastily. I imagine that about 70% of all recalls, malpractice, excessive waste, is caused by impetuous thinking.

Unless one lives in the suburbs, there is little chance to literally “stop and smell the roses”. There are no wild roses growing along the roadside in the city to smell. If you live in the city and stop to smell your neighbors’ roses, they may phone the police for fear you are casing their house. How many of us go to the botanical gardens? Roses in flower shops are meant to be observed, not sniffed. No wonder we do not use that axiom any more. That one comes from an era when air, water and nature were free to enjoy.

How many wished for “free time” to enjoy doing things? Layoffs and cutbacks have left many of us with free time but we cannot enjoy it because everything we want to do cost money. Either we do not have enough of it or what we do have we must be frugal. In the “good olde days”, we created our own enjoyment; it did not come from Netflix, Best Buy, or The Home Shopping Network or found on EBay. We played games with real people not avatars. We sat on the porch to watch a sunset and listened to the birds singing. If we are lucky enough to have a balcony, most likely we cannot hear the birds because of the din coming from the street below. The sun has set by the time realize the day is ending. If we are outside walking towards the sunset, we must hurry so that we do not miss the traffic light, our bus or train that will take us home.

It seems people today go home to houses or apartments but not home in the aesthetic sense of the word. In the “good olde days”, home was where the hearth was (notice this word contains hear, ear, and heart??). Hearth is synonymous with inglenook, fireside, family life, home… hearth. The average person (probably) does not know what an inglenook is other than the name of a wine company (Inglenook). Inglenook is one of those words we rarely hear any more.

Another question I have is what is so bad about “old school”? Compared to “new school”, old school taught is far more than just the basics of a subject… what we need to know to move on to the next thing. “Old school” was inquisitive about life not just the latest gadgets (technology) or the latest “reality show”. “Old school” was searching for something and discovering. “Old school” was a well-rounded education, reading (from books inspired the imagination); writing (clear thoughts and penmanship); Arithmetic (the ability to do more than add and subtract); and science (how things worked individually and in harmony). The average person (operative word, average) I have spoken with is grossly deficient in at least one of those subjects. If one is not Anglo-Saxon and enunciates clearly, they are assumed to be from another country instead of America. Here is a real paradox. In America, we profess to have an excellent school system. What good is it if the students are not expected to gain anything from going to school? Is it only in Chicago that public school children are not expected to learn what is taught? Hmmmm….

The average person I have spoken with claims not to be prejudice. In spite of this proclamation, they will judge without benefit of actual experience people as a group. It could be race, religion or sex; people of like kind are judge because of the few people one has come into contact. Sometimes there had been no actual contact just hearsay or media interpretation. When I was a little girl, I assumed that all rich people must be beautiful because they could afford to look better than the rest of us. When I grew up, I found very many rich people who looked like the rest of us. Some even considered to not to be beautiful. My association with “old money” taught me that commonly, the rich were just like us… except they had less financial worries. Their children were not better students or model citizens; they were the same as other children. The only difference was that they wore better quality clothing. It seems that today, grandchildren of the “old money” sect feel they must prove themselves the same as children of ministers. You can run, you can hide, you can reinvent yourself several times but eventually, you (if you live) grow up and into your parents.

The “trust no one over thirty” generation is now trying to get us to trust them. Their children have learned nothing from this. They too are distrustful of anyone over thirty. History is a great teacher if one would take the time to look back and then forward. We could save ourselves a great deal of angst. History does not need to, but more often than not, it repeats itself. The reason is that the next generation, same as the one that preceded it assumes they have all the answers and they can change the world. They dress it up but they still go down the same trodden path. In the end, the results remain the same.

If I could offer any advices to anyone who would listen if would be to think for your self, remove your blinders and look around you, purposefully take time to breathe, look back before you begin your journey to gather the wealth of information that was left for you, and lastly… never lose your childlike faith and wonderment. Life is as good or as bad as you believe it is. The lesson here is that life really is about choice not about destiny. Our choices determine our destiny. Paradoxical!