What have you learned over the past year that you are reasonably sure will remain with you?
I'm pretty sure the key learnings below - all internalized between my 72nd birthday one year ago and my 73rd today - are with me for good.
* A Drew Harwell essay entitled The Enchantment Machine that appeared in the November 4th edition of The Week affirmed that my decision to avoid Tik Tok from its outset was a wise one. The essay - which originally ran in The Washington Post - expertly dissects how the algorithms of that social media platform have ominously seduced millions of users. No thanks.
* After facilitating a White Caucus this past summer - work I did as a consultant for Beyond Diversity - I felt my spirits lift via learning about work being done by white allies who share my commitment to anti-racism. I want people like this to come live with me.
Reflections From The Bell Curve: A More Civil and Inclusive World
* Thanks to a valued member of my reading posse, with an able assist from author Alice McDermott, I learned this past year how to more readily embrace writing that a jaded literary critic might reject as sentimental. Despite this new embrace, I'm confident I'll still recognize when an author strays into cloying territory.
Always more fun when others join me in this exercise.
Good morning, Pat. It may be more than your initial question but there are a couple of things that I have learned over the past couple of years, not just this past year, that have remained with me. Some are repeat things from many years past, but are now being looked at with older eyes with newer meanings. I have learned, and tried, to have more patience. Working towards having less stress in life has assisted greatly. Seems obvious, but not always. Also, having greater appreciation makes everything much more meaningful. Again, seems obvious, but ... I haven't always been successful. It would probably be best to simply say that I have learned, and continue to learn, not to take things for granted. It becomes too easy to lose sight of what is important and how quickly it can be gone.
ReplyDeleteBe well,
Bob
Pat, thanks always for your food for thought comments. And Bob, although I always appreciate your comments, I absolutely LOVE this one. So true and thanks for the reminders! Happy Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteInes; Glad to provide "food for thought". A big thanks to you for reading and supporting Bob's comment. I fully agree that not taking things for granted is a key learning to retain no matter if it's connected to this particular year or any other. Using that one learning as a guidepost can enrich any life. Thanks to you Bob for the reminder to both Ines and me. (Hey look, Ines, I got the me/I thing, right!)
DeleteBig smile emoji to you!!! (P.S. I found one such error in our latest read A Death in the Family. Who knew that such a famous writer could also get it wrong?)
DeleteThank you, Ines. Hope your thanksgiving was great!
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