Fuzzy the Delineations

We must try to see one another in this way. As suffering, limited beings, perennially outmatched by circumstances, inadequately endowed with compensatory graces.

Lincoln in the Bardo, a review:

Strange, fascinating, moving, disturbing, challenging, poignant, and human. Oh, so very human.

This is a book that delves deep into the human condition and the particular human penchant for storytelling. It presents a myriad cast of characters, each obsessed with his or her own story. With telling it to others. And to living it out, over and over. They are stuck in their stories. Limited by them. Blinded by them. Stories of regret, sorrow, and unfinished lives. Unhappy stories.

For the characters are ghosts. Or spirits or phantoms or souls or what you will. Trapped in a limbo of their own making, unwilling to let go of their previous lives and move on to what comes next. The story is set in a graveyard, the catalyst for its events the entrance of young Willie Lincoln into their ranks. It takes place over the course of one night, the night he is first interred then followed by his father the President. The living man spends the night grieving at the cemetery. His presence impacts the spirits in ways unforeseen, and it is intimated Mr. Lincoln emerges an altered man as well.

Only suggested, for he is the one character who never narrates any of the story himself. All of the others do, in a twisting, weaving, overlapping cacophony of voices that takes a bit to acclimate to. There are central characters, peripheral ones, and snippets of cited documentary sources commenting on the actual historical events. They alternate constantly, sometimes contributing to the central narrative, sometimes obsessing over individual stories. Altogether, the chorus of voices communicates the complexities, the at times confusing paradoxical intricacies, of humanness. Though it can be a painful struggle at times to wade through the requisite suffering, there is balancing hope, joy, and compassion as a reward.

The audio production is laudable and impressive.

His mind was freshly inclined toward sorrow; toward the fact that the world was full of sorrow; that everyone labored under some burden of sorrow; that all were suffering; that whatever way one took in this world, one must try to remember that all were suffering (none content; all wronged, neglected, overlooked, misunderstood), and therefore one must do what one could to lighten the load of those with whom one came into contact; that his current state of sorrow was not uniquely his, not at all, but rather, its like had been felt, would yet be felt, by scores of others, in all times, in every time, and must not be prolonged or exaggerated, because, in this state, he could be of no help to anyone and, given that his position in the world situated him to be either of great help or great harm, it would not do to stay low, if he could help it.

All were in sorrow, or had been, or soon would be. It was the nature of things. Though on the surface it seemed every person was different, this was not true. At the core of each lay suffering; our eventual end, the many losses we must experience on the way to that end. We must try to see one another in this way. As suffering, limited beings, perennially outmatched by circumstances, inadequately endowed with compensatory graces.

His sympathy extended to all in this instant, blundering, in its strict logic, across all divides. He was leaving here broken, awed, humbled, diminished. Ready to believe anything of this world. Made less rigidly himself through this loss. Therefore quite powerful. Reduced, ruined, remade. Merciful, patient, dazzled.

Black Light Express

We are small but we are big. We are mindless, but we are wise. Our lives are brief, but we live forever. We are always dying and always being born. You understand this?

http://inspirobot.me/share?iuid=094%2FaXm1749xjU.jpg

The self is of course the transection between the infinity of the unknown and the intrinsic uncertainty of quantum mechanics, you dingus.

What Would Happen If Everyone Truly Believed Everything Is One?

Those who scored higher on this scale were much more likely to have an identity that extends beyond the individual to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, nature, and even the cosmos. In fact, a belief in oneness was more strongly related to feeling connected with distant people and aspects of the natural world than with people with whom one is close! Also, while a belief in oneness was related to actual experiences of oneness ("mystical experiences"), there was no relationship between a belief in oneness and feeling closer to God during a spiritual experience.

In their second study, the researchers looked at values and self-views that might be related to the belief in oneness. They found that a belief in oneness was related to values indicating a universal concern for the welfare of other people, as well as greater compassion for other people. A belief in oneness was also associated with feeling connected to others through a recognition of our common humanity, common problems, and common imperfections. At the same time, there was no relationship between a belief in oneness and the degree to which people endorsed self-focused values such as hedonism, self-direction, security, or achievement. This means that people can have a belief in oneness and still have a great deal of self-care, healthy boundaries, and self-direction in life.

People who believe that everything is fundamentally one differ in crucial ways from those who do not. In general, those who hold a belief in oneness have a more inclusive identity that reflects their sense of connection with other people, nonhuman animals, and aspects of nature that are all thought to be part of the same "one thing." This has some rather broad implications. . . .

Trees Could Change the Climate More Than Scientists Thought

But plants are actually powerful change agents on the planet’s surface. They pump water from the ground through their tissues to the air, and they move carbon in the opposite direction, from air to tissue to ground. All the while, leaves split water, harvest and manipulate solar energy, and stitch together hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon to produce sugars and starches—the sources of virtually all food for Earth’s life. . . .

The Amazon rainforest discharges around 20 trillion liters of water per day—roughly 17 percent more than even the mighty Amazon River.

Yet the computer models that scientists rely on to predict the future climate don’t even come close to acknowledging the power of plants to move water on that scale, Swann said. "They’re tiny, but together they are mighty."

Scientists have known since the late 1970s that the Amazon rainforest—the world’s largest, at 5.5 million square kilometers—makes its own storms. More recent research reveals that half or more of the rainfall over continental interiors comes from plants cycling water from soil into the atmosphere, where powerful wind currents can transport it to distant places. Agricultural regions as diverse as the U.S. Midwest, the Nile Valley, and India, as well as major cities such as Sao Paulo, get much of their rain from these forest-driven "flying rivers." It’s not an exaggeration to say that a large fraction of humanity’s diet is owing, at least in part, to forest-driven rainfall.

Such results also imply a profound reversal of what we would usually consider cause and effect. Normally we might assume that "the forests are there because it’s wet, rather than that it’s wet because there are forests," said Douglas Sheil, an environmental scientist at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences campus outside Oslo. But maybe that’s all backward. "Could [wet climates] be caused by the forests?" he asked. . . .

The developments in this new research area demonstrate that future climate scientists will need to master two fields that have, for more than a century, been largely separate, Fung said: atmospheric physics and biology.

“There are very few ‘multilingual’ scientists,” Fung said. “When Abby did her thing, it was the coming together of two disciplines.” She added, “That’s how progress is made.”

1 Super Rare Sign That Proves You Are Meant to Lead People (but May Cause a Gag Reflex for Most)

Research on positive organizational scholarship has revealed a powerful weapon for creating happier workplace cultures and more loyal and committed employees who produce better work. It comes down to one word: kindness.

Before I get into the business case for kindness, I have to ask: Why don't we see more kindness at work? Why aren't more decision makers jumping on this bandwagon, if it means leveraging it for business impact and bottom line results? Because the perception of this soft and fuzzy word implies that it's only fit for "doormat" and weak leaders, much like other counterintuitive powerhouse leadership words like empathy, transparency, and vulnerability. And that's a shame.

Upon closer inspection, nothing could be further from the truth than the belief that kindness is not fit for business. Plenty of research suggests that when companies create an environment of kindness lived out daily, they will see a happier workplace and an improved bottom line. Here are some examples. . . .

• Kindness boosts employee well-being and productivity.
• Kindness's affect on the brain helps improve teamwork.
• Kindness promotes trust across the enterprise.
• Kindness fosters learning and innovation.
• Kindness increases employee retention and reduces turnover.

When companies create an environment of kindness lived out daily, they will see a happier workplace and an improved bottom line.

They’re tiny, but together they are mighty.

A belief in oneness was also associated with feeling connected to others through a recognition of our common humanity, common problems, and common imperfections.

We must try to see one another in this way. As suffering, limited beings, perennially outmatched by circumstances, inadequately endowed with compensatory graces.

His sympathy extended to all in this instant, blundering, in its strict logic, across all divides.