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


WE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME, THANKFULLY

Friday, June 5, 2020
 
We’ve watched this pendulum swing so widely – that everyone’s agenda altered, everyone’s plans and expectations for 2020 scuttled, and everyone’s crystal ball cloudy.

In a few short months, the world tipped on its ear, now we see the pendulum swinging wildly again.

Only this time it’s not the ongoing intractable forces of the pandemic or the resultant economic chaos, it’s about race issues in the U.S., disputes over trade and technology with China, totalitarian regimes and refugees, stock market genuflections, rising oil prices, climate change/tree hugger phobias, space launches and the politics of distraction.

Things, at first blush, appear like they are returning to normal.

But they aren’t.

If you don’t believe that, buy a used airliner or a used airline – they’ve cheap now.

Our personal comfort levels, and returning to a state of mind where the pendulum still swings, but our barometer on the world is settling down.

It’s partly about re-opening, getting out more, and booking a haircut.

It’s our new default position.

I think that is our highest risk – returning to our personal ‘everything is OK’ feeling. Sure, it’s comfortable or even complacent, the way an old sweater keeps us warm and ‘things grandma used to cook’ soothe our anxious bellies …

The world has been turned asunder, and we want to return to things ‘just as they were.’

This is crazy.

We need to change our lives.

Yes, turn them asunder, and not in these chaotic measures they’ve been wrecked by this shutdown and invisible virus, and by the invisible hand of Adam Smith.

If not now, when?

If there was ever a better time to change yourself – to change how you point to the world, and when the world looks to you, what will they see?

Will we be those ‘same as before’ folks who line every street in every city and town, or will we make a difference in ourselves.

There has never been a time with so few barriers on earth – ideas spread virtually, trade and commerce very fast too, never a better time when a thought, debate, or deconstruction of any product or practice can be made.

Don’t change the whole world. Not yet, not all at once.

Start with a nation of one.

You.

Me.

Each of us islands, population one.

Surrounded by oceans of information and opportunity – and yes, those waters are always shark-infested, just like every crowd in every land.

We will never be the same.


Thankfully.




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

 


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, 28