During our lifetime, we are all on some sort of quest or another. A search for something. From the time we are born our very first quest begins, the quest for knowledge. What’s this? What’s that? What does this taste like? What does this mean? What does that mean?
The word ‘quest’ originates, according to Dictionary.com, back 1275-1325 Middle English. It was a derivation from the Old French word ‘quester’ which emerged from the Latin ‘quaerere’, meaning ‘to seek’. We are constantly seeking something.
There have been quests undertaken by mankind throughout our short history. From the knights and their quest for the Holy Grail to the men and women of NASA who successfully achieved their quest to explore our moon. Their successors continuing to explore further into our expanding universe in that ultimate and never ending quest for knowledge that we all have to know what’s out there and are we alone.
We are curious beings. We want to know more about everything. Our thirst for knowledge unquenched is one of our most powerful quests constantly driving us.
Life can be difficult. We are all on a roller coaster which we don’t control the steep highs and lows and velocity of speed at which things are thrown at us. We just have to hold on. Some people like to have their eyes open – others shut tight. I keep mine open – WIDE OPEN. Trying to see what’s coming ahead so I can prepare myself somehow. The quest for control as powerful the one for knowledge. The two go hand in hand, knowledge is power and power helps give you control.
A few years ago we moved from living in Connecticut full time to living in New Hampshire. A huge change in our daily lives, it was the perfectly timed step back we needed in our lives. To some it seemed sudden, but I had started a new quest quietly online two and half years before we made the actual move. Almost daily would take out my iPad and scour Realtor.com searching for our next step home. Vermont? Maine? New Hampshire? I researched and read about this town and that town, loving every minute of the journey to what ultimately would be my dream. I just had no idea at the time what that actually looked like or where that would be.
Another quest I have been on that any others are also on, is one that will give me not only knowledge but some control as well. My quest is that of being able to achieve a calmness within myself. We live in a chaotic world and there is so much that we can not control that it can get overwhelming at times. Whether it’s your kids having a problem that you are trying to help them overcome or suddenly facing a global pandemic which threatens the lives of every individual on the planet. Life can be very scary at times. Thus my quest to learn the ability to achieve a state of calmness in the face of a storm. This is an ongoing quest which I feel will probably be a lifelong one as well. I have picked up certain tools in my arsenal which have helped my along my journey and I will continue to keep my eyes wide open for more to help me further me in my quest to help me reach my ultimate goal – inner peace.
How many times have you been talking to someone and they are distracted by their cellphones, checking their mail or some all important thing that can’t wait until you finish your conversation? Or you were late to do something because you’re cell phone distracted you? Have you ever bumped into someone or something or took a misstep because you were too busy looking at your phone? You wouldn’t be alone if you have, although some people’s misfortunes end up on You Tube or the national evening news, such as the man who fell down a manhole because he was distracted by his cell phone. It’s a world-wide problem apparently and a quick Google search turned up a slew of videos of people too distracted to pay attention to their surroundings because they were looking at their phones.
The cellphone is one of the biggest distractions that people face on a daily basis, whether it’s at home, work and unfortunately in the car while driving. Businesses have had to make rules about their employees having their cell phones out because it interferes with how well they do their jobs. In 2008 over 1,000 people were sent to the ER with an injury that resulted from texting and walking; doubling from what it had been the two previous years. [I could not find a more recent stat for texting and walking but if it had been doubling two years running ten years ago, it certainly doesn’t bode well for today’s numbers I imagine.] Distracted driving accounted for 25% of all motor vehicle fatalities in 2018, and in 2015 , cell phones alone accounted for 14% of distracted driving resulting in motor vehicle fatalities. Somewhere along the line people began to be so consumed with checking in on their virtual lives rather than paying attention to their real ones, risking personal injury, even death to themselves and others. Common risks associated with distracted walking include: everything from minor sprains and scrapes to more serious injuries such as broken bones, concussions, spinal cord injury even death – not just to yourself but possibly another person(s) as well.
Inattentive Blindness
Scientist have been doing an increasing amount of studies into the human’s ability to visually perceive things. They once believed what the human eye took in was more like a video tape, but studies have demonstrated it is something far less precise when people are not paying attention. The term ‘inattentional blindness’ was coined in 1998 by Arien Mack, PhD of New School of Social research and the late Irvin Rock, PhD, of the University of California, Berkeley when published the book, “Inattentional Blindness,” describing a series of experiments on the phenomenon. Mack came to the conclusion that there is no conscious perception without attention. To me this is similar to the difference between hearing and listening which I discussed in an earlier blog post, Listen. Barring any medical issues, similar to the way hearing is an automatic physical process so is seeing – they are two of the five human senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. However, similar to the way one must pay attention in order to effectively listen, so one must also do so to effectively be able to visually perceive what’s going on around them.
Constantly having your head in your phone or staring at your computer screen endlessly for hours on end is not healthy. It doesn’t take a medical degree to know that. Perhaps, it takes a little common sense, which in that case – society may be in trouble.
Are we really capturing the moment when we take photos?
I saw a headline flash across my Alexa EchoShow the other day while working at my desk. It said that a recent study concluded that taking pictures detracts from a person’s overall experience. Kind of hard for a photographer to read but as someone who has been behind the camera for over 40 years now, I completely agree.
A number of years ago when my children were actively playing on their lacrosse, hockey and football teams, I would watch them through the lens of my camera. My daughter was goalie and as the mother of a goalie let me tell you – watching your kid get pelted with missiles that are aimed at them traveling upwards of 30-50mph is very difficult. A mother’s instinct it to defend their young when they are under attack and having to watch and do nothing wasn’t an option for me, so I hid behind my camera, narrowed my focus just on her and not the players on attack.
Many times, hours after the game when the house was quiet I would go over the game photos and find that I relived the game all over again. I would have whole different perspective on the game simply because I had narrowed my focus so much. But did this detract from my overall experience of the game at that time? Absolutely, I wasn’t “present” for the whole game experience. I wasn’t sitting in the stands with the other parents, talking about our kids and cheering them on together; choosing instead to sit on the sidelines by myself with my face in the camera. I wasn’t taking in the entire scene – stepping back and taking in the bigger picture of my environment.
Pay Attention
I remember listening to a security expert who was talking on the news shortly after one of the school shootings who was advising kids and adult alike not to get their cell phones out during these intensely dangerous situations because you are not entirely taking in the situation when you are doing that – even if you are just holding your phone up and not looking through the lens.
“Using phones can distract people from the actions they need to be taking in the moment, such as running, hiding and listening to directions from first responders.”
– Ken Trump, Security Expert with 30+yrs experience
The power of observation can be a very effective tool in our life skills and one that should be given a little bit more attention these days. It may be the difference between life and death. If you think you are more observant than the next person, check out a few of these videos to see how well you do.
How’d you do? Next time you take out your cellphone while your walking, think twice about it and remember that you are missing a lot of what is going on around you.
Time flies when your raising teenagers and its January 2011…a very long since I thought to start blogging. Maybe this time I’ll be more successful. Things have changed – although there is a saying – the more things change, the more they stay the same. True.
Over the course of my life I have amassed a huge number of photos. I’m not talking about family snapshots, although I have a tremendous amount of those as well. The photos of which I am referring to are landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, snowscapes, fall foliage, action sports photos – you name it and of course the dogs. I have always taking pictures. Over the years I have so many different people tell me I should sell my work. But that’s easier said then done of course.
It wasn’t until recently on a walk to Starbucks that I was finally convinced that I need to figure things out. I had passed an art gallery and in the window was a picture of a scene of wine glasses on a table. It was $1800. Later I saw a picture of buoys – again the composition was something I have done myself and just as good, I thought – that one was going for $4600. Further down on my walk I passed another shop window which had smaller prints of cows and pastures – when I saw those I was convinced it was time to get my ass in gear and try to figure things out.
Recently I discovered Redbubble.com, a website which has allowed me to be able to display and sell my photos. The way the site works seems easy enough, you upload your photos and set your commision – they do all the work.
It’s not about the money, although I suppose if someone was willing to buy any photograph or artwork – that would be the most highest form of flattery. Just having a forum to be able to display and get feedback and share my work with others who share a common interest – feel like a great start. Maybe someday someone will be interested in buying one of my works but until then I will continue to challenge myself to improve and enjoy the peace and pleasure I get from working on my art.
Its’ been over a year since my last post. In these last 15 months a lot has happened – but when I re-read my March 2009 post it seems that I was not so far off with my thoughts about Obama’s “stimulus” packages and how effective they would be – which as we see 15 month later – weren’t so stimulative after all.
September 2010 and we have unemployment rates still at very high levels = 9.6%. This is higher than any other post-war period in our nations’s history, despite coming out of the recession back in June 2009- this is according to the National Bureau of Economics who made the announcement today.
It’s been months now since our trip. I’m glad I took so many pictures. The time went by so quickly and there was so much to see and do – not enough time. But thankfully I have the photographs to look back on and reflect. China was an amazing place – so rich in history and culture. The infrastructure which is being put into place over there makes the US seem like a third world country. In the 12 days I was in China and the three major cities I visited in that time – I was overwhelmed in trying to take in so much in such a short period of time. It’s similar to what’s going on today which the Fiscal Crisis – there is so much trying to be done is such a short period of time, it’s hard to absorb it all . It’s frustrating to see what’s going on in our country today. The blame game in Washington hinders the governments ability to get to the business at hand. Personally I don’t think they should have been as involved as they are now. They have enough problems running things as it was. The stimulus package everyone is keeping their fingers crossed and hoping for the best. The entire country is overwhelmed at trying to comprehend what the hell mess were all in and there certainly is enough blame to go around, but no one seems really to be admitting to it. I’m concerned for the infrastructure of our relatively young nation. The priorities of some of the earmarks which were ultimately added to the stimulus are questionable when you look at the cost vs. the numbers of jobs that they create. I’m not saying that some of these projects shouldn’t get done – it’s just a matter of doing them later. After all wouldn’t it be better to start with the projects which would create jobs and are important infrastructure strengthening projects? I have noticed that the politicians when they talk about the stimulus use the phrase “save or create jobs”. To me there’s a big difference between creating and saving. Saving jobs wouldn’t add more jobs to the overall number of jobs in the marketplace – it really means that they want to stop the further downsizing of already existing companies. But this is the best and most effective way for companies to cutback and for the most part all of these companies got too ridiculously big in the first place. Seriously, does Starbucks need to be every other block in Manhattan? I don’t think so and the market has proven so. Creating jobs would obviously add jobs to the existing marketplace – that is once the existing marketplace has weeded out all excess which has been building up during the bubble years. It’s like your lawn every so often you need to aerate it/poke a few holes in it to allow for the better absorption of water and nutrients. Downsizing has a similar effect of companies – trimming the excess fat from the overall workforce can make a company leaner and meaner, allowing the flow of productivity to unclog.
