Experience Life Firsthand

I'm here today to 'beat a dead horse'. Many other blogs, articles, news casts etc have covered this same topic many times, which much more research, but I read something today that just tipped me over boiling. I started to type out a status on Facebook, and realized it was going to be just too long, so I moved over here.

WARNING: Expletives NOT deleted (for those sensitive enough to be offended), and opinions that could be offensive to some are expressed.


Vent/Rant:
I almost got sucked into a debate about which is better, paying for cable or internet+Hulu/Netflix. Both sides were vicious. How about instead of spending hours watching TV every day, and arguing over the most convenient/cheapest way, we boot our asses off the couch, go learn something new, make something, better our lives, and our children's in the process? In general...use our bodies and brains in the manner they were intended to be used.

How long has mankind lived without TV? Thousands of years. How long has man kind lived fully? Thousands of years. How long has TV (broadcasts) been around? Less than 100 years. I think it wasn't until the 50's that TV became commercialized. Now, how many of you hear yourself saying "I can't live without TV"? I ask you, why not? Because you need to know what happens next? Make it up for yourself, I promise you'll love the ending a hell of a lot better. Because you would be bored without it? Fuck that! You know all those things you say you want to do but never have time to? Well no TV means you'll have a lot more time to do things you want to do. Because you want to live vicariously through the TV because they have what you can't? Quit whining, quit being selfish, and go grab life and mold it to what you want it to be instead of wishing it were better. Because you don't think you can come up with stuff to do? Well here's a few ideas to get you started. Talk a walk in the woods, check out a local farmers market, play tag with the kids, plant a garden, read a book, make up a story in a round robin style, learn a new hobby, pick up a hobby you set aside, solve a puzzle, invite people over for dinner and TALK, feed the birds, go fishing, go explore your town, try a new recipe, volunteer somewhere, take up yoga, make home improvements, go to the library, the list can go on and on.

Now, I know that it's easier to plop kids down in front of the TV, or video games, and let them do their thing, especially when you just really need to get something done, and I think that's ok in moderation, but as someone who has little ones in her life, and loves them, how can you stand that blank, glassy eyed expression when they tune in and zone out? All of us, but kids especially, have absorbent minds. Some how, even if we can't recall everything, the things we see sink in to those minds. What do you want sinking in the little ones in your life minds, into your mind? Yes, there's some damn good programming out there for learning, for all ages. However I firmly believe that the best learning is done when experienced first hand. Yes, use TV, the internet, and smart phones to enhance your life. I use mine frequently to look up how to do something, or I'll stumble across an article that shows me something I'd never thought of before, or to help me figure out what something I've never experienced before is. Then walk away from them and go learn for yourself.

I think one of the big things about opting to watch someone else do things on TV, instead of opting to do it yourself, is that it removes the fear of failure, or the feelings of insecurity when we don't measure up to some of those awful societal standards of perfection. Can't really fail or be bad at anything if you just watch from the sidelines. But how will you know if you'll be good at it? You won't. Point blank, plain and simple, end of discussion. Unless you try. Unless you try many times, and fail. Then LEARN from your failures, grow from your experiences. YOU experienced them, and no one else can take that experience away.

Instead of living our lives through a box that flashes and makes all manner of sounds (yes I realize the irony as I'm currently in front of a computer), how about we actually get OUT there and live our lives? Yes, I love watching sci-fi, yes I like playing video games, and there are times when all I want to do is veg out, but damn it all I'm not plugged in to the things. Meet up with friends, play with the kids in your life (four legged and hairy included), and spend time EXPERIENCING life for yourself. Experience a scene of nature so beautiful and perfect you actually tear up. Experience what it's like to have a wild bird land on your hand. Experience new sounds, smells, and tastes at an ethnic restaurant. Experience the pride in completing something you've never done before. Experience the frustration when something doesn't work, and revel in it, because you are living.

Instead of asking, "What should I watch?", ask instead "How should I experience life today?" Let life inspire you. Who knows, you just might inspire someone else.

Winter leads to beautiful spring, and yummy summer

Sorry folks for the extended hiatus. Between slipping on the ice and screwing up my back for a week, a minor procedure at the Dr's that put me down for another week, and then a nasty head cold, I haven't been thinking too clearly. That all seems to be past now, and man am I glad! It's always amazing the perspective that being physically discommoded gives being healthy. 

I don't know about you, but in my part of the country we get a "January Thaw" every year. It's this time of year people start acting stupid because of an early case of spring fever. You know, those few people who break out motorcycles just because it's 40º instead of 20º. Or start wandering around in shorts and no jacket? Then they whine when it gets cold again. Don't get me wrong, I love this brief warm up, especially because I get a pop of snowdrops in my yard, which are the first blooming flowers in, oh, 3 months, and I won't see any more for another 2 months. Here in Ohio, at least for me, that's a BIG thing. It's the first color that isn't grey since the leaves fell! Oh, and if the crocus pop up for a day, vibrant purple, yellow, and blue! But I know it isn't going to last. It's the same every year. 

This brings me to the topic of this entry, my rant about the cold

WE NEED THE COLD TO MAKE THINGS GROW!

Yes, you read that right. One of the keys to making sure many of the spring and summer perennial plants thrive and provide flowers or food for us to enjoy is COLD. In this part of the country that means COLD, bitter cold, the kind where you go outside and feel like your nose and fingers are going to freeze off before you're done wiping snow off your car. 

Random face in the snow on hubby's car last night.
(All I can hear  in my head is Mushu from Mulan "And it's happy to see you!)

One of these foods that need cold are apples. Yep, the good old All-American fruit. As a country, we seem to love our apples. Apple pie, apple tart, apple butter, apple jelly, apple cakes, apple bread, apple muffins, even just plain old apple by itself. Hell, we even love the fruit so much some of our biggest sell gadgets are made by a company called Apple. Yes, it's really named after the fruit. You can read about it in Steve Job's Biography here. 

Aside from apples, other foods we enjoy that require this extended cold season we call winter, are berries, oranges (a certain level of cold actually enhances flavor and color), apricots, celery, onions, garlic, potatoes, and cabbage.

Some of our prettiest spring flowers that really tell us winter is over need the cold too. Some of these are the most common Easter/Ostara flowers that represent the birth of Spring. Hyacinth, Snow Drops, Daffodils, and Crocus. Without the cold which lets the bulbs rest, we would not get the beautiful and fragrant blooms these flowers are known for. I don't know about you, but for me it just isn't Spring without these.

So remember: Be thankful for the cold bitter months. Without them, many of the plants we enjoy each Spring  and Summer would not flourish for us. There are many more plants that I didn't mention here need this time to rest, and a certain amount of "chill hours" to induce greater yields. So if you're looking forward to warmer weather, full of cookouts, with baked potatoes, and veggie plates, and desserts covered with berries, and jams and jelly and pies of all kinds, then you're just going to have to deal with the cold and think about the Earth instead of yourself first. So zip up, grow up, and get over it!