MUSINGS and other writing by Mark Kolke

. . . . . . there is no edge to openness

TODAY'S MUSINGS

FEEDBACK / COMMENTS

MARK SPEAKS

ARCHIVED COLUMNS

ARCHIVE WINTER 2022-23

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2022

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2022

ARCHIVE SPRING 2022

ARCHIVE WINTER 2021-22

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2021

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2021

ARCHIVE SPRING 2021

ARCHIVE WINTER 2020-21

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2020

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2020

ARCHIVE SPRING 2020

ARCHIVE WINTER 2019-20

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2019

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2019

ARCHIVE SPRING 2019

ARCHIVE WINTER 2018-19

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2018

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2018

ARCHIVE SPRING 2018

ARCHIVE WINTER 2017-18

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2017

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2017

ARCHIVE SPRING 2017

ARCHIVE WINTER 2016/17

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2016

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2016

ARCHIVE SPRING 2016

ARCHIVE WINTER 2015/16

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2015

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2015

ARCHIVE SPRING 2015

ARCHIVE WINTER 2014/15

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2014

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2014

ARCHIVE SPRING 2014

ARCHIVE WINTER 2013/14

CONTACT

MY REAL ESTATE LIFE

WHY I WRITE MUSINGS

SHORT STORY PROJECT

POETRY PROJECT

MARK'S SPEAKING TIPS

SELECTED OTHER WORK


BEST PRACTICES, or will SLIGHTLY BETTER ONES SUFFICE?

Thursday, Apr. 30, 2020        
 
 
Life is a series of decisions – like the randomness of a dice roll in a board game when combined with the choices and impacts of all the decisions made by the other players in the game – intertwined, determine our course.
 
I was wondering if we have what it takes to keep playing this game – because it seems we are all, collectively, getting used to new circumstances, and obeying new rules. We aren’t universally or equitably following, but our behavior is being modified just the same. We are adjusting to a new normal before anyone can adequately describe a new normal.
 
I was thinking that, prior to this pandemic, we were all mostly oblivious to death rates, treatment methods, and life-altering realities of people with a chronic disease or life-threatening illness – because it was always happening to invisible statistical other people.
 
Now, we are altered.
 
We are impacted.
 
We are the life-changed so swiftly – suddenly seeing life, and death, through a very different lens.
 
And since we are all in this together, we are statistically invisible.
 
What choice do we have?
 
So many.
 
But …
 
Some things cannot be stopped. Some things, once stopped, cannot be re-started. Waterfalls, for instance, only cease when the water flows slows to a trickle, gets blocked or diverted away by some action of man or nature – but once that water flows, it has to go somewhere.
 
Some things, like a train, a pipeline, or an economy – once stopped, require a lot of energy and coordination of moving parts to start again. And when dormant for a while, there is no certainty its machinery will re-start quickly or easily …
 
I’ve been wondering, once we re-start our now-altered normal lives, what will we find easy to live without? What things won’t re-start in our lives? What will we insist be different?
 
More importantly, will they be healthy lives – in terms of physical health and medical health? Will dealing with the stress, tension, risks, and uncertainty, make us healthier? I believe it will strengthen resolve and extend our life expectancy. Moreover, I think our consciousness – our alertness to what matters in life will be heightened and enhanced, like a fuzzy picture brought into crisp, tight focus.
 
I ask, not so I can invent a brilliant business to cater to those changing needs, but I’m wondering how the adjustments will show up – and whether there will be any universality to all of it? For instance, in countries where the actions of government and populations have been significant (i.e., South Korea, Germany, Taiwan), what will change in societies, what will people seek to add vs. seek to expunge from their lives.
 
And, the converse, in countries who have (or are still) failed miserably, how will they change?
 
My point, or rather my question, is whether our planet, so rife with technology and wizardry, might ever develop a policy and practice regime for the whole world based on ‘best practices’? Not just for medicine, public activity, and pandemic punching back, but for everything?
 
I know it seems essential, but why should the public platform have to spend so much time emphasizing hand-washing, sanitizing, and safe-distancing?
 
Because we have low and inconsistent standards.
 
How tough would it be to aim for high and consistent ones?
 
 
 
Reader feedback:
 
PLEASE DEFINE ESSENTIAL
Hi Mark, Today’s musing reminds me of a favorite quote: “My barn having burned down I can now see the moon.” ~Mizuta Masahide , GB, Waukesha, WI




Find this and other articles by Mark Kolke at Medium



sign up to get Musings free daily



 
Read more of my writing by Mark Kolke at Medium

sign up to get Musings free daily

 


 
Mark Kolke, Realtor, MaxWell South Star Realty


sign up to get Musings CLICK HERE

Comments are always welcome - please contribute to the discussion.  Reply to: kolke@markkolke.com

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. This site is updated daily, each column is retained in the archive when the next day's column is loaded ...  


Copyright - all rights reserved - Mark Kolke, © 2003-2023 - MaxComm Communications

- this site is updated daily, new column on main page, older columns archived - use the tabs; last update - 2023, January - 19