These are
hard times, and for the most part we are not prepared for them. Technology has made us soft and
dependent. Our cars start with an
electronic key; Alexa takes care of turning off our lights, adjusting the heat
in our house, changing our TV channels and guaranteeing our security. And, we are constantly entertained.
A deadly
virus, a plague, has attacked our species and we are in denial. Our leaders prefer to call it a pandemic, a
much nicer word than plague. We are told
not to worry; a cure is on the way.
Unfortunately, no one told the virus.
The poor
buggers that have to get out and go to work and risk infection – even worse the
people who now have no jobs and can’t pay for rent, heat or food, all suffer a
devastating double whammy that stresses the limit of human endurance, while the
stock market reaches new heights.
The rest of
us sit around and complain that the schools aren’t open to take over our
responsibility of parenting, or that we can’t get together with friends, that
we can’t eat out, we can’t go to the bars, we can’t go to the gym: that we are
bored.
“The
great fear is not of disease or death, but of boredom. A sense of time on our hands, a sense of
nothing to do. A sense that we are not
amused.”
Michael
Crichton from Timeline.
In 1665,
shortly after graduating from Trinity College, 23-year-old Isaac Newton, to
escape the Great Plague of London, went into seclusion at his family farm. During his time in isolation, he invented
Calculus, studied light refraction and proposed the Law of Universal Gravitation.
So, buck up
little buckaroo; if you are bored you are fortunate. Get off your privileged ass and entertain
yourself. Do something Constructive.
Binge watching TV and posting on Face Book how
uninteresting your life has become is not productive and is not healthy.
Read: you
might start with Michael Crichton. Expand
your horizons with Master Classes, learn to read and write poetry, publish
letters to the editor in your local paper, try to publish an article or begin
writing a book. If you are not good at
math, pick up a general math or introduction to algebra workbook and expand
your knowledge; take a college course on line – learn to paint or sculpture –
begin an exercise routine…
I just
signed up for Master Classes – there is a world of interesting topics being
discussed – you might want to check out the link.
the
Ol’Buzzard
