THINK ABOUT IT.. .A DUALITY Look (or Forget about it.)

Lots of questions... such as: "To care or not to care" which sounds like "to be or not to be". Seems similar, to me, too. If I am then I care. I have to care! The answer to this question is simply - CARE. How can I live and not care? The fact is I CARE ABOUT: myself, my CHILDREN! my partner, my family (whoever they are), my friends, my neighbors, my community, my religion, my town, my State, my political party, my country, MY WORLD! As I look at the list I think it is fairly well ordered. Yes it begins with myself. And then it uses the possessive "my" and I do think that a certain aspect of owning the people and things listed is ok. It is ok as long as there is reciprocation and boundaries and freedom for all. The "my" possessive is not meant to be controlling but is meant to be significantly connecting. Control - NO. Connect - YES. To connect is to care as far as I understand things. I try to know and understand people and...

When we think about ourselves we most likely think we are smart or pretty smart or at least smart enough. We have gotten this far... however far that is and I/we are ok, fine, happy, healthy, etc. etc.. I/we have access to a computer and the internet and the time and ability to read and maybe write, too. We even have the time to think about ourselves and we do. If we were stupid we might not think about ourselves. We might not have resources and time and abilities to look at someone's blog. We might feel lost and not good. We might not be healthy, etc. BUT - to BE smart or stupid is less the issue then to act smartly or act stupidly. Self-interest, self-awareness, self, self, self are often smart ways and things to do and be. The first wise statement to consider is "If I am not for myself, who will be for me?" A beginning! Cooperation, support, collaboration, community..... are all things/places we have come from and are in. It is the nature of us being mammals. I...

Our country is divided and if we look beyond our borders to other countries we have opponents there to. Divisions seem to get us to choose one side or another. We are therefor FOR something or AGAINST something. One way or the other. Either/Or. Another way to look at things is Both/And or win-win or compromise and collaboration. BUT - more fundamentally I think we all have someTHING about which we will not compromise and determining what that radically important issue is for me or you... is The Question. There are many ideals any of us might choose to stand on. Big ideals such as freedom and democracy. Ideals such as family might be where we take a stand. Religion or race or gender or whatever! are ideas, thing, people.... for whom we would be firm. A home or a country or  perhaps our planet are things we might not compromise about... at some point. The next important question then is where is that "point"? Let me cut to the essential consideration which is most imp...

I do copyright because i think what I think and write has value and is mine to control and if monetary profit is possible I want it. Having said that... My blog may be shared with clear and appropriate attribution. Maybe I am more of a narcissist then I like to think. Anyway ... THANK YOU and best to you all. NOTE - some are marked: © Ken Firestein - 2018 and some are marked: © Ken Firestein - 2020 The Copyright Date noted is based on when it was entered onto the post when something new was added. THEREFORE not all is covered by all copyright dates. I would say the earliest date given rules for all.   © Ken Firestein - 2018 © Ken Firestein - 2020

The posts on this blog are put as Either/Or questions. Many are judgments so they seem good or bad. The reality in most instances are Shades  of Gray, at least! In our very complex world things are not simply lineare. Today we can see AND CONSIDER  rainbows of possibilities. Complex and confusing and more importantly - STRESSFUL We all feel stress. There is the stress of earning a living and having a family and raising children and worrying about health and having compassion for strangers who are hurt. There is the original stress of being born and then growing up in a changing world. We may stress about climate change and the future, generally. Dealing, or healing from all the many forms of stress is in itself stressful. Stress's are both positive and negative. Celebrating birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, new and better jobs, changes in where we live, vacations, and even just awakening each morning are all since they carry the seeds of possible doom within those positi...

We all like freedoms, right?  We all like choices, right? REALLY?? Possibly. For whom? If we like freedoms and choices do we also like others to have freedoms and choices? Freedoms and choices are good, I think... and we make them from time to time. THEN - do we revisit our choices and check our freedoms? It can take a lot of energy and work to change and the essence of our freedoms and choices is the possibility to change. A book from 1941 when Fascism arose and threatened the World...  was: Escape from Freedom by Erich Fromm. The description on Amazon (on 11/7/18) is: "If humanity cannot live with the dangers and responsibilities inherent in freedom, it will probably turn to authoritarianism. This is the central idea of  Escape from Freedom , a landmark work by one of the most distinguished thinkers of our time, and a book that is as timely now as when first published in 1941. Few books have thrown such light upon the forces that shape modern society or penet...