(I hope you like my serious posts just as much ) Ive hit this weird slump where i've been doing a lot of existential thinking: Am i actually learning new things or am i just acquiring new information? Is acquiring new information the same as "learning" and can it really make me a "knowledge expert" on that topic? Why is it that, as much as ive learned, i still dont feel like an "adult" and what does it mean to be an "adult" (like having kids, for example... Are you considered more adult if you have kids and go to PTA meetings and maintain a career, and less of an adult for valuing the freedom of not having those things?) I think part of the random thoughts are stemming from this new job and having to become an knowledge expert on a whole new area.... Idk where the other part is coming from. My husband just turned 29 and i asked him "how does it feel to be almost 30?" And he said "no different than it feels to be 28" And i guess i started thinking about it then..... Its all really bothering me
JT, honey, what you need right now is a new goddesses of the world coloring book and a brand-new box of 64 colored pencils. Do not settle for anything less than Crayola and go for Berol if your bank account will take the hit. You will be amazed at how much coloring in tiny bits of costumes will contribute to your sense of balance and radiant womanhood. I worked as a certified (and sometimes certifiable) legal assistant for well over a decade. One of my attorneys described The Bathtub Theory of practicing law: when preparing for a trial, one puts a plug in the tub and fills it with every bit of pertinent information available. When the case is resolved, unplug and drain the tub. Some acquired knowledge will be endlessly useful and will eventually integrate itself into your overall expertise. Some acquired knowledge is temporarily useful, and will either eventually evaporate or lodge itself in a forgotten cranny in your mind. To quote the mantra of the head of the legal assistant program back when I was in school: You'll Be Just Fine. She was always right.
You've just touched on one of the major cornerstones of psychological development. One important factor—think about what you really mean when you say "Are you considered an adult". It's important who you think of as doing the considering. And this is just stuff for you to think about, no need to answer here or anything. In fact you don't want to come up with answers too quickly. The pondering itself is important and helps you develop. To some extent of course it's important what other people think of us, but it's also important who those people are. When it comes to being 'considered' adult, the opinion of someone you think of as adult or as intelligent should carry more weight than that of someone who isn't those things. But even beyond that there's something bigger than just 'society' that we should be considering, and that's cultural wisdom. Society is pretty dumb and much of it isn't very adult really. It's the groupthink thing—sometimes known as mob mentality. In groups people tend to get really dumb and function according to emotions rather than ideas or thinking. I mean, listen to your realtives and friends etc, but realize as well-meaning as they may be, some of them (possibly all of them) might not really know what they're talking about (that includes me). Some do of course, and wisdom often comes in seemingly naive forms. Listen to your intuition. There are certain key events in life that propel us toward growing up. Most of those just sort of happen without requiring us to do anything, like simply getting older (up to the point where we're out of high school, and a few years beyond that). Entering a major relationship is an event (beyond just getting older) that does it, because it involves learning to consider other people as well as yourself, and both parties doing that. Marriage is sort of the next-level version of that, and having children is another such event. But these aren't absolutely necessary. For those people who do (have kids for instance), it changes them. It's a matter of taking on a new level of responsibility. In fact that's generally what growing up means. But it happens in other ways besides just having children—there are things that affect you in much the same way, such as a promotion to a position of greater responsibility over other people. And it isn't just getting the promotion, it's slowly growing into the new level of responsibility. That takes time and there will be lots of crappy experiences along the way. Growth usually involves going through bad experiences. If you think about it, the enemy of growth is really remaining in your comfort zone and not trying to take on new challenges. That doesn't mean you should be always striving onward and upward, it happens by stages, and it should be in small steps that you're ready for (though you might not feel that way). Or that you're almost ready for, and you might need to scramble or get coaxed into it by friends or whatever. Often the challenges feel impossible, but you often find you really were up to it after all, or you changed just by making the effort and taking on the responsibility, and became ready. But, speaking psychologically, there's something else as well—Shadow work. Don't be frightened off by the connotations. There's a lot of weird baggage around the idea of the shadow, much of it completely wrong. I've done three years' worth of shadow work, and it improved me pretty nicely I'd say. Rather than try to explain it myself, I'll list a few resources that will do it much better: Recognizing your shadow self is about becoming a whole person How to Do Shadow Work And then there's my rather massive writeup about it on my blog, where I went into detail about how I did the actual work, after a good deal of research into it: Introduction to Shadow Work Shadow work Jungian Dream Interpretation Characteristics of Shadow dreams You don't need to do it for years, any amount of shadow work is helpful really. Just knowing what it is helps, or trying to do it, or doing just a little. I feel like I'm due for another bout of it myself. It's the kind of thing where there's no real end-point, because there's no 'finished growing up.' You can always go farther, and your ideas about what adulthood means will change as a result of any growing you do.
But, as I implied, you're already entering a growth period right now because you're taking on new responsibilities in your work. This isn't the time to also take on shadow work, though you might look into it and think about it in the future. But I think you'll find taking the new job is a big growth experience in itself, though it'll involve a lot of panic and stress (growth usually does—this is the emotional fire that forges you into your new form).
And of course, not everyone will want to do shadow work. It's for those who are drawn to it. I just like to mention it every now and then.
I'm trying to think of what it means to be an adult. I guess once you start taking responsibility for yourself. Once you make all your own decisions and accept whatever consequences come. And, as you mature, another important aspect of "being grown up" is to know what constitutes an "issue" and what does not. We are constantly learning new information, but wisdom comes from letting things go. I have nieces and nephews in their forties now. I tell them, "Congratulations!" I always think of my forties as the best time of my life. I still felt young, and had all the energy of a twenty-year-old, but had acquired a little bit of common sense.
Here are some more existential questions to occupy sleepless nights… what exactly defines an adult? What makes being an adult advantageous than not being one? (Do you get a better interest rate on your credit cards? ‘Caus I sure didn’t.) And the one to bake your noodle; what rule says you have to become an adult? You can be sensible, realistic, and mature without being an adult. My wife asks all the time how I managed to grow old without ever growing up.
I have recently been thinking a lot about learning, and how different people learn differently. Having recently read On the Origin of Species has me thinking a lot on how did we get here? It has made me really start paying attention to who we are in terms of variation. Darwin uses that word a lot and it really has me focusing on how everyone is different while at the same time we are all very human. We learn through sensory input. Sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. Perhaps learning style varies by which of the senses plays a more important role for each individual. I am very visually oriented in my learning. I am nearsighted and dichromatic, but have tested very well for depth perception and peripheral vision. Is there a correlation between nearsightedness and depth perception? I am a very crafty person able to craft fine detail at a small scale. I often work so closely I don't always use eyeglasses. Others are probably more adept at listening to instructive input. They may be the ones you see at parties who are fairly quiet, but seem to know more of the people there and to really understand the social dynamics. Those things are weaknesses of mine. As far as adulthood goes, I say, somewhat tongue in cheek, but not totally, I became an adult when I finally figured out where my old man was coming from.
It’s an election day in Ohio, and I managed to vote on my way in to work without making myself too late. There’s nothing too heavy on the ballot this go ‘round. A few county judges, school board, a couple city council spots, and a state wide measure or two. While I was there a woman came in and requested two ballots. Her daughter died a year ago today, and she was voting for her too. The poll workers had to explain to her that dead people aren’t allowed to vote in Ohio, and the live ones only get to vote once.
Book Title of the Day: Metaphors Used on Polish and American Internet Forums for Mothers A Comparative Analysis
I wouldn’t be so sure they’ve given that up yet, given the mess I just had to go through to get off the voter rolls in Illinois.
Wouldn't surprise me. There's a lot of shit to deal with in all that. I have some faith that the results are often in the 51-49 range instead of 98-2 whenever Putin or (insert elected dictator) runs.
While some submarines are larger than a ship like a destroyer they are called boats, not ships. This is because naval tradition has the captain of a ship have his own food stores and cook. This goes back to olden times when mutinies often started with poisoning the captain. On even the largest submarines the captain eats with his officers due to limited space and greater selectivity in the crews.
And even nuc boats smell like diesel fuel, since they have a couple of diesel engines for backups in case of a scram.
I was an engineman in the surface fleet. Had a civilian gig that required I get a visitor's pass to the sub base Point Loma. The only time I ever got a visitor's pass with a photo on it.
North Korea placed an order for 1,000 Volvo 144 models and other mechanical equipment worth $73 million with Swedish companies back in 1974. However, North Korea never paid for the order, and since it has remained unpaid for the past 5 decades, the total has increased to approximately $330 million. https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/north-korea-ordered-1-000-volvo-cars-from-sweden-and-never-paid-read-the-viral-story-4561242 I wonder how many of those Volvos are still running.
Tokelau, a necklace of three isolated atolls strung out across the Pacific, is so remote that it was the last place on Earth to be connected to the telephone-- in 1997.
I would do as I do with most of my emergency supply. Store it and never eat it. Shame really, I hate throwing away food.
An emergency supply is a good thing, but even the freeze dried stuff needs to be rotated out, based on shelf life. Items like Mountain House can last for years, but they still have a shelf life. Edit, the only exception to this i can think of is the MRE. Which should have best if used by cockroaches achieving sentience.
Okay. That is a perfectly ghastly creation. Efficient, though. One could just run the whole mess through a blender with a little Jack Daniels and drink it down to save the effort of chewing.
Still waiting for them to invent the Willy Wonka version—a four-course meal where you get each course in sequence, with dessert last. The top one looks like they were attempting that, if you eat your way through it properly. It starts with eggs and ends with pudding, almost like it's supposed to be breakfast, lunch and then dinner (but then in Britain pudding isn't always a dessert). Damn! I just looked at the vegan version, and that is what they're doing! You just have to be careful to separate layers. So weird!
