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Inspired News from Isabelle – March/April 06
In this issue:
Greetings,
With a harrowing feeling in my chest, I recently read a magazine excerpt from a Wired Magazine entitled “Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us”. The article explained that with a convergence of robotics, genetic engineering and nanotechnology we would soon see the emergence of “sentient” machines or, in other words, human robots. The author of the article quotes an inventor who asserted that this was inevitable, that the changes towards it would come gradually and that “we will get used to them”.
This statement prompted me to ask myself, what else have we gotten “used to” with regards to high tech, social changes and the climate that pervades our society? Certainly, we have gotten used to interacting through and with machines. We have gotten used to the information age and its underlying values promoting the ceaseless acquisition of information in order to keep up and compete. We have gotten used to a social climate that supports individualism rather than interdependence, pragmatism at the exclusion of visionary idealism, and economically-driven interests rather than values generated by the human heart.
In your own personal life, you may benefit from asking yourself what you have gotten used to. This can help you to be aware of gradual changes that have occurred to which you have adapted in a way that has limited you in the confines of a zone that has become your comfort zone. Have you gotten used to experiencing a subtle distance separating you from the ones you wish to be more intimate with in your life? How about getting used to increasingly intense stress and longer hours in the workplace that may contribute to eroding your sense of well-being? Perhaps you have gotten used to functioning in a body that now has fewer possibilities for self- expression and a narrower range of motion and activities. This may prompt you to notice your attitude and expectations in relation to your health and the impact of the passage of time. Lately, I have met a wonderful 93 years old man who is full of vitality and who does fencing as one of his leisure activities. He is proud to defy the odds while aging gracefully.
Personally, I have recently found this question “what have I gotten used to?” effective in stimulating a new awareness of the habits I had and assess whether they were conducive to what I choose to create in various areas of my life. With a renewed commitment I’ve identified the actions I needed to take to make subtle changes in my work habits, in my fitness and health and in my personal relationships. As I am actively correcting the course of my life rather than getting used to gradual shifts away from the course of my choosing, I can better experience myself as leading my life rather than spending it. Collectively, we can also affect the course of our future when we refuse to “get used to” the various shifts and changes with major ramifications that could take us beyond the point of no return in our precarious world.
Keep on celebrating in the vitality of your questioning heart and mind!
Quotations I love
To keep moving collectively and individually on the spectrum towards love and away from fear, here’s a phrase that came to best selling author and speaker Barbara De Angelis, as she was anxiously seeking guidance from within:
“Whatever the question, love is the answer”.
On the passage of time in the context of a life filled with love:
“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.” ~ Henry Van Dyke
Research Project – Seeking Participants to be interviewed
While in the midst of my current book project and studies, I am conducting a small research project in which I interview people who have retired or are approaching this major life transition. The interview which can be about 30 minutes or longer, as participants like talking about themselves, and it may be done by phone or in person (for Lower Mainland residents).
According to the comments I have received thus far, the process is quite enjoyable for interviewees who appreciate the opportunity to be heard and hear themselves, their insights and reflections in relation to preparing for or having created a new life after, retirement.
Please send me an e-mail if you or others you know are interested in being interviewed. All of the information collected is kept confidential and it helps informing the course of my book project addressed to the Baby-boomers, many of who are rapidly approaching retirement. Thanks in advance.
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