Time indeed flies, Dear Reader. Even as I’m writing this I am running late for tonight’s festivities – which I hope will be more relaxing than festive (Lord knows I could use the rest).
Tomorrow marks seven months since the birth of my son and those months have been a whirlwind. Between baby, day job and creative project there hasn’t been time much else – and on top of that we are in the middle of renovations for pending apartment sales.
But…no rest for the wicked, eh?
By today I had voted to give you all another preview of the comic In involved in, and I was hoping to draw and publish my homage to Carrie Fisher (may she rest in place). Alas, life had different plans for me, but I’ll get there.
The first three months of 2017 will be every bit as hectic as the last three months of 2016 have been, but after that I hope things will have settled enough for me to really step up my efforts on Lady Phantom.
Time waits for no man, though – and so I wish you a Happy New Year.
“May you live in eventful and interesting times.” –Chinese curse
Happy midsummer’s eve, Dear Reader – if it is happy…which I doubt…
I know, I know – the solstice was three days ago, but here in Sweden we always celebrate midsummer’s on the weekend. In not much in the mood for celebration, though.
Midsummer marks the point after which the days grow shorter, and we are indeed heading toward darker times – metaphorically as well as literally.
This morning it was announced that Britain has voted to leave the European Union and the GBP dropped eight percent. Now, I’m not a big fan of the EU in general, but for all its shortcomings it comes with a lot of benefits as well. I haven’t studied the issue will enough to predict if the UK will be better off outside the EU or not, in the long run. It seems clear, though, that there will be a host of problems to begin with and with both Northern Ireland and Scotland murmuring about independence, ‘Great’ may soon be even less suitable as an epithet for Britain.
But the real tragedy here – the real darkness – is not the vote to leave and it’s consequences. The real tragedy here is the forces that made it possible.
We live in an increasingly divided world.
On the one hand we have the growing right-wing opinions fuelled by fear, nostalgia and personal gain. On the other we have the left-wing idealism fuelled by hope, compassion and globalistic ideals. Both sides suffer from the same ailment: naively being swayed by personal emotions and a sense of righteousness. Neither side seems capable of critical thinking when it comes to their own views.
We live in the Disinformation Age.
In this global grapevine that is the Internet it is far too easy to sway public opinion by appealing to emotion rather than intellect. Any one can publish any thing and make it look like fact. Any one can find something to support their personal delusion about the world, no matter how implausible. This is nothing new, of course – humans have reacted this way throughout history – we are just seeing it on a much larger, faster, and more pervasive scale.
That will be our downfall.
We are living in increasingly eventful, interesting, darkening times – and that, Dear Reader, is why I won’t be celebrating today. Well, that and the fact that I am stuck at work until after midnight…
On a more personal note:
I have been quiet here – too quiet – though only partly for the obvious reason: adapting to family life. We have actually established a surprisingly successful routine – one that sends to be holding up decently even to Junior’s whims. So far.
No, the main reason for my absence has been my creative pursuits. I just finished the first draft of a short story which will soon go out for consideration, and I have been busy with preparations for a much bigger project. I’m not sure when I will be able to post about that, but hopefully it will be soon.
Just a quick note to say that I have just signed up for the A to Z April Challenge!
This means that, during the month of April, I will do a blog post on each letter from A to Z! I have yet to decide exactly what form and theme this will take, but I have a month left to decide.
“He loved her, of course, but better than that, he chose her, day after day. Choice: that was the thing.” ―Sherman Alexie
Happy Valentine’s Day, Dear Reader!
I hope you have someone to celebrate the day with, be it a friend, lover, spouse or perhaps a new interest.
Valentine’s day can be full of pressure and expectation, but it doesn’t have to be that way – we can celebrate our love for each other with just a short message of appreciation.
Two years ago I was single and not really dating anyone, so instead I wrote a Valentine’s letter each to three friends who had meant a lot to me during the past year, telling them how much I appreciated having them in my life and how they had improved things for me.
Today I encourage all of you out there to write to a friend or loved one and tell them what they mean to you.
One of those friends has since become so much more to me.
What started out as a deep and intimate platonic friendship slowly grew to something more, and since about a month we are living together.
Every twist and turn along the way has strengthened our bond, and I can not even imagine a future without her in my life.
She means the world to me, and I fall in love all over again every time I see her smile.
I choose her, always – moment after moment, day after day.
My reblog this weeks comes from Jessica Abel over at the Observer, and it deals with the concept of Idea Debt – this is something I’m often guilty of myself:
It raises some valid and thoughtful opinions on the planning and time management of your life, and I will be re-reading this as preparation and inspiration for the ongoing re-adjustment of my life:
“If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.” ―Adm. William H McRaven
Dear Reader – have you ever considered the impossible entity that is us?
The complex web of human interaction stretching across this globe in order to make the modern world go ’round? How every day, millions upon millions of humans are working toward one single goal; for one single purpose? From the ranch hand in Kansas to the miner in China to the broker in Tokyo – every one, connected.
We are interdependent yet truly replaceable cells in the neural network that makes up mankind.
We all have a purpose and a role to play – every uttered word, every shaken hand, every loving touch is a signal in the network, holding us together as one.
Now, imagine every person as a glowing point on the globe.
Imagine every interaction between those people as a lingering thread of light connecting them. Imagine the incomprehensible series of such threads – events and interactions – that created the device you read this on, the surface you sit on, the clothes on your back, you. How many lives have worked in concert to create everything within arm’s reach; to bring it you, here, now? Thousands? Millions?
Through your mere existence here and now you are connected to all of them, Dear Reader.
Some of those threads have gone unbroken through centuries, bringing you the music of Bach and the ideas of Aristotle. Others have been twisted and turned and spliced together over the years to create new things out of old ideas.
Take a moment now and visualize that web.
It spans not only the globe but the years: a living, moving, pulsating oneness connecting every living human being, now as well as then. And into the future. Ideas travel along the web, taking shape and multiplying, and bit by bit they are realized and created. A computer wouldn’t exist without the technicians, designers and manufacturers who create it; wouldn’t be created without the prospectors, miners, and refiners who gather and create the materials – and if not for the entrepreneurs, investors and businessmen who run the companies there would be no one to pay for it all. Then there’s the transporters, advertisers, sales people, and so on and so forth.
No single person in the web is more important than any other, really.
If one falls, another will take it’s place – or the chain will be broken – and every link on the chain is in turn supported by other people. Family, friends, co-workers, doctors, teachers, role models – they all connect to make us who we are and place us in our unique spot in the network.
We are Legion, for we are Many.
We all rest on the sum of all history and we all support the creation of the future. We all have power to connect, inspire, create, influence, instigate and change people around us – even if the effect is ever so small to begin with, it can end up determining the fate of the world. We can never know in advance what our tiny action today will lead to in the long run: a kind word, a helping hand, an inspiring art work, a comforting touch – that single action might start or re-start a chain of events that changes a life, and by extension the world. Every single thing we do or contribute to carries with it the weight of all that has led up to this moment. Every thing we do, every minute interaction with another, counts.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Dear Reader!
