MUSINGS and other writing by Mark Kolke

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

TODAY'S MUSINGS

FEEDBACK / COMMENTS

MARK SPEAKS

ARCHIVED COLUMNS

ARCHIVE SPRING 2023

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

     
 
FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE
Thursday, January 27, 2022  
 
 
I was in a meeting the other day – between two sparring parties, each having a beef with the other – and seeing the disparity in two intelligent beings, both removed from each other’s reality, it was more comedic than tragic and probably fantastic material for a play I should write.
 
Not sure if this play should be farce or tragedy or whether someone should die at the end. I think, in a play, that would be the funnier ending.
 
If we could be the fly on our wall, what would we see?
 
Because sometimes people throw their shite against the wall …
 
I was in the fray, but not above it – at moments wishing I was the fly.
 
History will record the strangeness of this time, but I wonder if historians or psychologists are better equipped, or maybe we need playrights to reveal our calamities.
 
You could describe it as racial or cultural – but it’s not; it’s about ethics and fairness and negotiating between people who fail to understand compromise vis-à-vis those who think compromise is how to rationalize their shortcomings.
 
Yes, a play, indeed – and maybe one in need where one party kills the other in the end because there is no way to talk sense into the mind of anyone who believes they are right.
 
This is a time like no other before it, and if we keep waiting for it to be over, we’ll probably have missed too many of its opportunities …
 
There is a lot more hustle and self-reliance out there than we give people credit for, and changing our goals and outlook are essential at all times – perhaps accelerated by this pandemic. That strikes me as an unexpected benefit.
 
Having spent way too much time reflecting on and lamenting how things used to be …
 
I’m reminded nearly every day, by so many things I witness, of so many things people say about how ‘normal’ used to look.
 
As we debate whether we are coming out of this or still in the middle of it, the news seems dominated every day by people who cannot even agree on what they cannot agree on …
 
I watched a talk the other day, and the term ‘the big resignation’ came up. I’ve been reading and hearing this term a lot over the last six months – portrayed by journalists, corporations and governments as a problem. I doubt anyone resigning their job during the pandemic sees themselves as a part of a societal or systemic problem but instead sees it as some combination of necessity and pursuit of an opportunity.
 
Day-to-day life is not a coping mechanism.
 
We live a day-to-day life, or we can be the fly.
 
Or the wall …
 
It’s a time for remembering how to communicate.
 
 
 
Some recent talks: Mark Speaks

 


 
 

Link to all my contact coordinates + links

Comments are always welcome - please contribute to the discussion.  

Reply to: kolke@markkolke.com

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

 - this site is updated daily - last update - 2023 / March 14