cityscape/street photography (scenic)

The Joy of Getting Out to Sit In

Life has finally started to get into full swing out here in the Midwest. Businesses are open for full capacity, summer events are returning, and people are getting outside. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to sit in a coffee shop and get some work done (my home office space is starting to feel a little stale). So I grabbed some work yesterday and went to a local coffee shop with plans of sitting on the patio and editing some photographs. Then the rain came and forced me inside, but I didn’t mind.

I posted “Wasting Away on a Rainy Day” back in May of 2019. It addresses how we can spend our rainy days. That post was pre-Covid, a time when going to coffee shops, pubs, and restaurants was a given, a time before lockdowns, limited capacities, and social distancing. This post is an addendum of sorts. My 2019 post stated that rainy days at cafes can be enjoyable and productive. I’d like to add that a rainy day in a café can be appreciated even more than it was a year and half ago simply for the fact that the cafes are open again. Instead of complaining about the rain, I saw it as an opportunity to get out of the house so I could sit inside a coffee shop for a couple hours and it was a couple of hours that were greatly appreciated.

-K-

What’s Relevant?

We’re on the tale end of a couple rainy days over here in the Midwest, and rain always puts me in a contemplative mood. Figure now is as good a time as any to tap out a few thoughts to wrap up the conversation about selling out. I’ve come to think that there are a three points to consider when it comes to the idea of selling out, and only one point is relevant.

The first irrelevant point is the accusation of selling out. It’s naïve to think peer pressure ends with high school or that accusations (or opinions) are incapable of ruining lives, but we can’t allow ourselves to be judged as sell outs by others. Shakespeare has that line about being true to yourself. As long as you stay true to yourself the accusations of others shouldn’t effect how you view yourself. Subscribing to some generic definition of selling out is the second irrelevant point. We shouldn’t worry ourselves with the accusations of others or try to live by their definitions either. It is all too easy to criticize ourselves or to think less of ourselves when we apply some generic definition of selling out to our lives. The third and only relevant point is whether or not we believe we sold out. If you can look in the mirror and live with what you choose to do then the accusations of others and their definitions don’t matter.

The only judge of whether or not you’ve sold out is you. The accusations and definitions of others are irrelevant. I’ve dedicated the past month to the topic of selling out and now it’s time to move along to a new topic. I hope you found something interesting (or at least entertaining) among these posts.

-K-

There’s Nothing Cultured About It

Cancel culture is not new, but as we stumble along into a new decade it’s as if the threat or fear of being canceled or unpersoned (‘unperson’ is one of those wonderful Orwell words) is more prevalent now than in previous years. Both the concept and the practice of unpersoning/canceling an individual fascinates and terrifies me. Cancel culture is not a cultured practice but it has become a cultural phenomenon that is worth a closer look.

-K-

Religious prohibitions or prohibitng religion?

and I’m Not Impressed

It snowed yesterday afternoon through early evening over here in Illinois (I read somewhere that you shouldn’t start a piece of writing with a description of the weather). The news, with its cadre of weather forecasters and meteorologists, warned us that the weather was going to be severe, the snow plentiful, and the dangers real (nothing like a little bit of fear mongering to keep the readers clicking and the viewers fixated). There was some heavy snow and ice in other parts of the Midwest but we got about two inches of snow, half of which melted by this morning. With a new year approaching I came away from winter’s arrival with two pieces of information.

The first piece of information is that the news is not the best source available to get my weather forecasts. I’m thinking maybe I’ll just step outside with my morning coffee and look at the clouds each morning and make a reasonable guess at how to prepare for the day. The second piece of information is that winter is not too impressive so far. There wasn’t even enough snow last night to make it worth my while to take out the camera and snap off a few shots. Maybe winter will come on a bit stronger in January but I’ve got my suspicions that it is going to be just cold enough and snowy enough to make life uncomfortable for the next couple of months. Winter may even stay around long enough to bump the first part of spring.

Tomorrow is the last day of the year and today is the last day I’m going to write about winter. A sad snow storm seems to be a fitting end to this year. I wonder what 2021 has in store for us?

-K-