Michael Robert Dyet's Blog, page 68

The Lost Generation to Baby Boomers to Digital Natives

Hmmm, is our destiny defined by the era in which we are born?

The gurus of social science have declared the emergence of another generational subset with distinct characteristics. Generation C, aka the YouTube Generation, is characterized as striving for expression and fueling the world with photos, videos, memes and mash-ups.

I’m finding it hard to keep pace with these subsets of subsets and what they mean to the world I emerge into each day. I felt the need to trace the major generational arcs (perhaps it’s my Baby Boomer mentality at work) to get some sense of perspective.

It seems to begin with the Lost Generation – those born between 1883 and 1900 – who came of age during and shortly after Word War I and were shaped by that momentous event. Lost, as best as I can decipher, originates in the huge loss of life during that war and the loss to society of what those individuals would have contributed.

Next comes The Greatest Generation – born between 1901 and 1924 – who fought in or lived through World War II and came of age during the Great Depression. Great seems to refer to the fact they fought in WW2, not for fame and recognition, but because it was “the right thing to do”.

Those born between 1925 and 1945 are tagged as the Silent Generation – born during the Great Depression and World War II. Many of these people had fathers who fought in WWII. Silent encapsulates how these experiences made them withdrawn, cautious and indifferent.

Now we come to the Baby Boomers – born between 1946 and 1964 – which saw a significant rise in the birth rate. Baby Boomers grew up in a time of relative affluence, are associated with a redefining of traditional values and tend to think of themselves as a special generation that is very different than any had come before.

Generation X covers those born in the early 1960’s to early 1980’s. Xers were influenced by introduction of digital technologies (computers, the Internet, cable TV) and the world events that these technologies brought to their screens – the Chernobyl Disaster, Black Monday, the 1990s economic boom, AIDs etc. These experiences bred a worldview based on change and the need for stability, love and tolerance.

Generation Y, aka Millennials, spans those born from the early 1980’s to the early 2000’s. Influenced by the divisive war on Iraq, they are civic minded with a strong sense of community – both global and national. On the other side of the coin, they are said to possess a sense of entitlement and to reject social conventions.

And finally, those born from the early 2000’s to the present day carry the somewhat ominous label of Generation Z. They are “digital natives” who have had lifelong use of communications and media technology like the World Wide Web, instant messaging, text messaging and mobile phones. They’re also the most ethnically diverse generation and have the misfortune of growing up in an era of economic decline.

So what does this journey through the generations teach us? The evidence declares that we are defined and shaped by the generation into which we were born and raised. Each generation is a metaphor for the state of the world at a given point in time.

But let us not forget that we are each individuals with unique gifts and traits. Our generational influences do not have to become the sole determinants of how we behave. We can each be our own metaphor for the kind of world we want to live in and to pass on to the next generation. We can, and should, consciously create our own destiny.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog . Visit www.smashwords.com to download a free preview of the e-book

version.

~ Follow Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm regularly at this site. Categories: Shifting Winds, Sudden Light, Deep Dive, Songs of Nature, Random Acts of Metaphor. Originating at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2.

 

The Incontrovertible Laws of “Always”

Hmmm, perhaps I should give up the search for the hidden code that will unlock the secrets of life. It may just be that “The Incontrovertible Laws of Always” are as close to the code as I’ll ever come.

There will always be people who run red lights or who pass you on the highway no matter what speed you at which you are traveling. They are frantic to reach their destination. In their haste, they miss the sign that reads: “We all arrive eventually. Purpose is found in the fine details of the journey.”

There will always be opportunities for a free ride. But they usually turn out to be thinly disguised buy now, pay later schemes – and the interest on the deferred payment can take a lifetime to pay off.

There will always be people who believe the universe should revolve around them. Life will eventually disavow them of this misconception. Sadly, many of these people spend their whole life trying to sustain the illusion.

There will always be parts of life that are not fair and don’t make sense. No one is exempt. The lucky among us learn that injustice is a test. We pass the test when we learn to live in gratitude for what we have rather than in bitterness for what we failed to gain.

There will always be people who believe that the end justifies the means – even when the means involves the exchange of one person’s rights for another person’s privilege, or one person’s freedom for another person’s power. Sooner or later, in this life or the next, they become the victim of their own misguided means.

There will always be the possibility of a greener pasture just over the next hill. The risk is that we will spend our whole life climbing and take our last breath regretting that we didn’t have the courage to stop and smell the flowers.

There will always be loopholes and people who make it their purpose in life to exploit them.  Every patch we apply to keep them at bay is only temporary. Stay the course and leave these malcontents to their own misguided ways. Their only pleasure is our discomfort. We have the power to deprive them of it.

There will always be a reason to be unhappy. Discontented is our default state of mind. Happiness is less about the fulfillment of our fondest desires and much more about the desire to find fulfillment in the lot that we are cast.

Life is not meant to be simple or easy, round or square. It is not a puzzle we are challenged to solve. So I go forth, armed with the discernment found in The Incontrovertible Laws of Always and with my metaphor light saber, content to believe that wisdom is hard won but worth the price.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Economic Injustice: $6,770 for Every Pitch

Hmmm, how many people in a have-not country could live for a year on what Justin Verlander will make each time he throws a pitch?

The big news in the sports world this week was the signing of Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander to a new contract – $180 million dollars for seven years – setting a new record for pitchers. Poor Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners, who earlier signed a record setting seven year $175 million contract, only got to hold the record for one month.

I have a hard time wrapping my mind around a figure that large. I did a bit of math to try and break it down into digestible figures. My apologies in advance if I did the math wrong. I’m not accustomed to juggling numbers this large. My cheapie pocket calculator couldn’t handle numbers that large so I had to use an online calculator.

Major league baseball teams play 162 games per season. Starting pitchers generally pitch every five games. Verlander will therefore pitch in about 32 games per year. Let’s assume the Tigers make the playoffs every year for the next seven years and add another 6 games per year to Verlander’s schedule. 38 games per year for seven years bring us to 266 games.

$180 million for 266 games. Drum roll please… Verlander earns in the neighbourhood of $677,000 per game. Let’s assume he averages 100 pitches per game. Every time he throws a pitch, regardless of whether it is a ball or a strike or gets hit out of the park, he earns $6,770.

It takes me about six and half weeks to earn what Verlander does every time he throws a pitch. And about a decade to earn what he does for each game. I won’t pretend to be as good at what I do as Verlander is at what he does. But I find it difficult to believe that, on an apples-to-apples basis, he is that much better than me.

Yes, I know that professional sports operate in a whole different realm than my humble job. Hundred dollar bills are chump change in that world.

But as long as we’re drawing comparisons, let’s look at the measures of success. A major league pitcher is a super star if he wins 20 games a season – or about a 62% success rate. I’m pretty sure you or I wouldn’t be employed very long if we only met our targets 62% of the time.

I learned long ago that inequity is a fact of life and that I had to accept it as such if I wanted to achieve anything close to peace of mind. But it still grinds my gears when I see the ever escalating pay scales of professional athletes.

The real issue here is the grossly skewed distribution of wealth in the world today. The richest 1% of the people own 40% of global assets. The richest 10% own 85% of global assets.

I have no complaints. I earn a reasonably good salary and live a comfortable life. I don’t need more. But there millions of people on this planet who don’t have enough. I have to wonder how Justin Verlander sleeps at night knowing he is tipping the scales so far in the wrong direction.

I know I’m going to be unpopular in some circles for this declaration. But here goes. When Justin Verlander signs his new contract, he will become a metaphor for the economic injustice that plagues our world. He’s good – but not that good.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another  social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Proximity Marketing: Welcome to The Orwellian 2st Century

Hmmm, is privacy officially obsolete in this era of anything goes wireless connectivity?

It used to be said that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. But in the 21st century, there are two more inevitabilities you can bet your last dollar on. 1: Technology will continue to crash through our personal firewalls. 2. Whenever technology crosses a new horizon, marketers will not be far behind.

I need to transparent here and tell you that I earn my living in the marketing profession. So regardless of the views I express here, I may well be writing a marketing plan somewhere down the line that uses the very technology that I’m questioning today.

Wireless technology, aka Wi-Fi, is the hot ticket item among tech companies these days. Wireless devices – iphones, Blackberrys, android phones and the now ubiquitous Bluetooth – are cash cows for these companies.

Opportunistic marketers were quick to sniff out a new and lucrative opportunity. It’s called proximity marketing – the localized wireless distribution of advertising content associated with a particular place. For example, you`re in a baseball stadium taking in a game. You’re now a captive audience for a tech savvy marketer with a product whose prime demographic is sports fans.

One company who is jumping on the bandwagon describes their raison d’etre as “Bluetooth marketing, Bluetooth advertising, Bluetooth hotspots, WIFI marketing, Wi-Fi advertising, Bluetooth AP, Bluetooth SPP server, wireless Serial server. Notice the common denominator?

Yes, your trusty Bluetooth is square in the crosshairs of marketers. There are now devices which can detect cellphones within a 200 metre proximity and connect with them. If the phone is Bluetooth enabled, it will receive a prompt about an advertising message – most likely one tailored to the reason you happen to be in that particular location.

A captive audience with a proven affinity that you can send your advertising message to at the very moment in which they are engaged in that activity. It’s a marketer’s dream come true.

But it also means that we’ve reached the day where there is no place technology-enabled marketers can’t find us. The Wi-Fi devices that keep us connected are now portals through which marketers can invade our privacy. Yes, we can decline to accept the message. But that doesn’t change the fact that it is tracking us down from within 200 metres.

In 1949, George Orwell created Big Brother as the fictional dictator of Oceania in his sic-fi novel Nineteen-Eighty Four. Big Brother has since become a metaphor for a state of being where someone unseen is always watching. If Orwell were still alive to write a sequel, he might name his new dictator Bluetooth. The name has changed but the metaphor still holds true.

Substitute Wi-Fi for Sci-Fi. Welcome to the wireless, Orwellian 21st century.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To”

instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Getting to My Final Hour By A New Road

“So, if this were indeed my Final Hour, these would be my words to you. I would not claim to pass on any secret of life, for there is none, or any wisdom except the passionate plea of caring … Try to feel, in your heart’s core, the reality of others. This is the most painful thing in the world, probably, and the most necessary. In times of personal adversity, know that you are not alone. Know that although in the eternal scheme of things you are small, you are also unique and irreplaceable, as are all of your fellow humans everywhere in the world. Know that your commitment is above all to life itself.” ~ Margaret Laurence, Canadian Novelist and Short Story Writer

Hmmm, what if wisdom doesn’t come packaged as pearls?

At some point, as we grow older, we began to cast about for a perfectly formed pearl of wisdom – the quintessence of our life experience – that we can espouse when the final hour of our life arrives. Occasionally, I think I’m starting to close in on it. But just now, I stumbled upon this Margaret Laurence quote which forced me to rethink the whole concept piece by piece.

“I would not claim to pass on any secret of life, for there is none, or any wisdom…”

At first blush, this is a disconcerting thought. No great secret? No moment of sublime realization? Then what is the point of all these years of living and the lessons painfully learned? But of course, there is an “except” which follows like a small but distinct ray of light.

“…except the passionate plea of caring … Try to feel, in your heart’s core, the reality of others. This is the most painful thing in the world, probably, and the most necessary.”

Feeling the reality of others. I’ll confess that I find this challenging. It is relatively easy to sympathize with another person’s situation. But stepping inside their reality to experience it in their eyes – feeling authentic empathy – takes a strength of will that is not easily summoned. But if I can’t cross that threshold, how will I ever truly and genuinely care about them?

“In times of personal adversity, know that you are not alone. Know that although in the eternal scheme of things you are small, you are also unique and irreplaceable, as are all of your fellow humans everywhere in the world.”

It is not difficult for me to conceive of myself as unique. (Others might choose odd.) And I’ve learned the different shades of being alone along with the pluses and minuses of each one.

But irreplaceable? The idea that the eternal scheme of things might shift a few degrees if you or I were not here – or did not embrace our individuality – is a sobering thought. Personal accountability takes on a whole new meaning.

“Know that your commitment is above all to life itself.”

If I accept this assertion, it means that cultivating that one nugget of wisdom for my final hour is far less important than fully living out each hour of the life I’ve been given.

I’m starting to think that I may have to replace the perfectly polished pearl as my vision of wisdom. The more accurate metaphor may be the small, imperfect, one-of-a-kind pebble on the beach without which the entire shoreline might begin to erode away.

Now that shifts a few paradigms in my understanding of life.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.comor the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Rising to the Soulful Call of the Migration Spectacle

Hmmm, in a world where unrelenting change is the norm, is there anything more life affirming than the migration spectacle?

It happens every year around this time. Winter begins to relax its grip on the northern climes at the gentle urging of approaching spring. There may still be some frosty days to weather, and a snowstorm or two to endure, before we’re in the clear. But this first prelude of spring whispers that magical word in my ears – migration!

In truth, birds of many feathers began their migration some time ago from their southern wintering grounds. For some species, the migration is a trip covering as much as 10,000 miles. Getting an early start is critical to reaching their breeding grounds in time.

But it is the first warm weekend in March that awakens in me the urge to head down to Lake Ontario with binoculars in hand. The protected, inner bays are still mostly locked in their winter cloaks. But the skin of ice is perilously thin and receding. The winged creatures feel their instincts percolating and become almost as restless as I am.

I begin to tick off the species:

Great rafts of Long-Tailed Ducks… Winter residents of the Great Lakes. Already in transition from drab winter markings to striking breeding plumage of black, white and brown-fringed wings. Their distinctive yodeling chorus – ow-owdle-ow ow-owdle-ow – rolling melodiously across the water.

Regal Goldeneyes… The royalty among winter ducks. Males with snow white bellies, glossy green heads with showy white patch, scalloped white and black wings. Grayish females with their white collar, rusty brown head and yellow-tipped bills.

Playful Buffleheads… Diving and surfacing with what seems like reckless abandon. Beauty defined by simplicity – predominantly white with puffy green heads and bonnet-like white patch.

Sleek Red-Breasted Mergansers… Riding low in the water like speedboats. Dark crested head, orange dagger bill, white collar and mottled brown breast.

And passing overhead, the ribbon-like flight profile of two Tundra Swans… One of the first true migrants of the season. Bridal white with ruler straight necks curving into graceful heads. Black bills with the diagnostic yellow basal spot.

A trio of American Coots… Not due here yet, but a few always seem overeager. Chunky black with an unmistakable white bill. Dabbling and diving and head-pumping as they forage.

And, ah yes, from somewhere overhead comes the oh so welcome kill-deeah kill-deeah dee-dee-dee of the first Killdeer of the season. Watch for the first robin if you choose. The first Killdeer is how I know that spring is not far away.

The migration spectacle is just beginning. The great metaphor of renewal that endures year after year and restores my faith that some things do not and will not change. My soul awakens to the call and I answer joyfully.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com  or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.  Visit www.smashwords.com to download a free preview of the e-book version.

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2.  Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

 

The Serenity Prayer Reconfigured for the 21st Century

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Reinhold Niebuhr, American Theologian, Ethicist and Public Intellectual, 1892 – 1971

Hmmm, does the famous Serenity Prayer still carry the weight it once did in this day and age when “what’s coming around the next corner” is a daily anxiety?

“As a result of strategic changes to strengthen our organization, John Smith is longer with Company A effective today. We thank John for his many years of service and wish him the best in his future endeavours.”

There was a time when a notice of this nature drew gasps of dismay and a buzz of water cooler chatter that lasted several days. Sad to say, in the lean and mean, survival of the most efficient corporate world of today, it elicits only a dismayed shake of the head and a whispered “Thank God it wasn’t me”.

The reality is we are all on borrowed time when it comes to our employment. It is pretty much a slam dunk guarantee in this era that each and every one will be downsized out of job at least once in their work life. I’ve been down that pothole-scarred road and cling to the hope that I’ve developed some sort of cosmic immunity because of it.

It would be easy to lay the blame exclusively at the feet of ruthless corporate executives who see employees as chess pieces rather than living, breathing human beings. And yes, there is a healthy population of that kind of bottom-line-rules, c-suite occupants out there.

But I believe it is only a symptom of a bigger and more daunting reality we live with in the 21st century. The concept of certainty has

pretty much been bullied, beaten and battered into oblivion. In its place we have – I’m about to coin a phrase – the principle of inevitable ambiguity.

Not only do we not know what is waiting around the next corner, we also don’t know if it is the new reality or just another incarnation of change. We wake up each day wondering if we still have a job, if the world is going to look radically different when we step outside our front door and whether that radical change will be a good thing or a bad thing.

In short, life as we know it has become rather opaque. It’s bloody hard to make sense out of it

The Serenity Prayer is actually a part of a sermon that Niebuhr wrote back in the 1940’s. I won’t quote all of it as I’m most certainly not qualified to launch into a theological discussion. But the next three lines are arguably as important as the first three: Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.

In a world where ambiguity is the new reality, we had better be able to enjoy each moment of each day on its own merits, find wisdom in hardship and stop worrying about what is waiting around the next corner.

You see, serenity is really only a metaphor for learning to live with ambiguity. It’s not something anyone can give you or that you can put your hands on. It’s something you have to wrap your mind and your heart and your soul around and simply refuse to let go.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com  or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To”

instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Prospecting for Spring and Cool Hollow Wrens

Hmmm, where can I find the patience to see myself through the chilly days of February as my patience with winter wears as thin as April ice?

The official first day of spring is still a month away and another four months remain to count off until the calendar declares summer has taken the reins. But my mind is already conjuring the treasured images of those seasons of delight.

Convict me of wishing away today if you must. I am giving in to the urge to escape on a virtual journey to my favoured haunts where nature lies patiently waiting. I feel the comforting weight of a backpack on my shoulders as I strike out on pathways I know so well. Trails my feet are so accustomed to that they need no other instructions than simply walk on.

Walk on down shady woodland paths chattering with avian song:

The “Wet Woods” in April at the base of the spit… Following the crisscrossing paths through budding trees and bushes, serenaded by the nasal ank ank ank of Nuthatches, the sharp peek of a Downy Woodpecker and the high pitched see see see of Golden-Crowned Kinglets.

The second-growth woods above Cool Hollow… Strolling the dirt trail watching keenly for Winter Wrens skittering along brush piles, Brown Creepers spiraling up tree trunks and the first Pine Warbler trilling from high in the treetops.

Walk on beside peaceful marshlands sheltered from the hustle-bustle of modern life:

The curving shorelines of Second Marsh… dotted with the yellow globes of Bullhead Pond-lilies, the pure white scallops of Fragrant Water-lilies and silent stands of bulrushes.

The sweeping expanse of Tiny Marsh… playful Black Terns skimming the water, Racket-tailed Emerald dragonflies stitching their way along the dyke and muskrats slinking through the reeds.

Walk on through fragrant meadows awash with wildflowers:

The island meadow at Mountsberg chest-high with weeds… where perhaps the orange spot-band of a Coral Hairstreak butterfly or the mosaic blue of a Lance-tipped Darner dragonfly may be waiting to be discovered.

The sloping hillside meadow at Palgrave … where brilliant yellow Swallowtail butterflies cavort with fluttering Monarchs and perhaps the subtle browns and grays of a Dreamy Duskywing.

I take virtual walks down these beloved paths I know so well as the February days march stubbornly on. Late winter has become a metaphor for patience. The patience I must summon for the reward of the awakening of spring and the sprawling indulgence of summer.

I will walk on through the treasure trove of memories I have accumulated. Tracing and retracing the favourite paths and trails of which I never grow weary. Prospecting for spring and the swinging wide of nature’s doorway once again.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for

postings on weekly basis.

 

160,000 Reasons to Be Open-Minded, Humble and Forgiving

Hmmm, how much do we overlook in our short journey through life and how different would our choices be if we saw even a few layers deeper?

I am by nature one of those people who needs to feel they have things under control. Loose ends nag at me. Unresolved problems worry me. A ‘To Do’ list that is getting longer rather than shorter pushes me into the red zone on the stress scale.

I’ve become reasonably adept, or so I permit myself to believe, at throwing a net around my little corner of the world to confine it into parameters I can influence. But every now and then, I come across a statistic that brings me to a full stop and forces me to ponder its significance.

If I tell you the latest case in point involves something as innocuous as moths, you might just roll your eyes and tune out. But bear with me a moment as I put a few statistics on the table.

~ There are over 160,000 species of moths worldwide – over 11,000 in North America alone.

~ About 800 new moth species are being identified each year.

Admittedly, at face value these statistics seem of little import to anyone other than biologists. But if you ponder them even briefly, they begin to recalibrate your perspective.

It is conceivable that many people go through their entire lives without seeing a single moth. Even nature geeks, among whom I count myself, may have only seen a handful of moth species.

Why? For one very simple reason: the majority of moths are nocturnal. They go about their business while we sleep and take their rest during the day while we scurry through our lives. We pass by them countless times – camouflaged and perched on plants or the walls of our houses or hidden in leaf litter – with absolutely no clue that they are there.

If we overlook hundreds, perhaps thousands, of moths every day of our lives, how much else is there in the universe of which we are unaware? How limited is our perspective? How many of the assumptions we live our live by are faulty because we don’t see the forest for the trees?

One of the assumptions I have carried with me is the belief that mankind has pretty thoroughly explored the world in which we live and has a pretty good fix on how it works. But if 800 new moth species are still being discovered and identified each year, it means we’ve really just scratched the surface of understanding in that respect.

The incredible diversity and mysteries of the natural world can be dismissed as nothing more than curiosities. It is easy to believe that such things are immaterial to our lives and how we live them. But we are part of the natural world. We influence it and it influences us.

You may think my point here is the importance of conservation efforts and the need to reduce our ecological footprint. Those are matters of critical importance.

But my point is more wide-reaching. Life, in all its’ configurations and layers of significance, is far more complicated than we ever imagined. There are seldom only two sides to a story. Often there are more sides than we can conceive.

The seldom seen world of moths is a metaphor for all that we overlook and fail to take account of in the lives we lead. Life is a puzzle which we never completely solve. All the more reason to be open-minded, humble and forgiving in our every waking moment.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Follow Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm regularly at this site. Categories: Shifting Winds, Sudden Light, Deep Dive, Songs of Nature, Random Acts of Metaphor. Originating at  www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 .

 

Delicate Graces and Treasures of the Benevolent Lady in White

Hmmm, how foolish I have been to wish away the benevolent spectacle of a winter snowstorm that has no equal under heaven and earth for virginal beauty.

I’ve been spoiled of late when it comes to Old Man Winter. What passed for him in 2011 / 2012 was a pale imitation of the once renowned Canadian winters. It was a non-event with hardly more than a puff of snow here and there.

I have been quite happy to slog through November to March coping only with the occasional deep freeze. Admittedly, the bleak gray landscapes are less than inspiring. But I’ve considered it an acceptable trade-off for no snow shoveling and no marathon commutes to and from work.

But Old Man Winter has come to life with a good old fashioned, butt-kicking snowstorm. I griped my way through a two and half hour (normally 25 minutes) trip home from work on Thursday afternoon/evening employing my full repertoire of four letter words.

But now that the worst of the storm has blown through, I’m remembering that full-blown winter has its graces.

The lacework of frost patterns on my window:

~ Are surely painted there by hands unseen with artistic flair, scientific precision and loving care that asks for no more reward than to be admired.

~ Rise and curl and spiral across the panes like a distant mountain range seen through evening mist and a veil of memories.

~ Dissolve into glittering constellations reminiscent of the elegance of butterfly wings and haunting moonlight cascading over still, deep waters.

The freshly fallen, chaste-white snow left behind by the now departed storm:

~ Rests like angel garland on the evergreens which stand strong and noble proudly hosting the adornments bestowed upon them.

~ Yields to the shivers and shudders of the dying wind to be sculpted into waves and sprays which seem simultaneously newborn and ancient.

~ Embraces and softens the harsh illumination of streetlights in flawless circles, undulating shadows and countless shades betwixt light and dark.

I am too quick to forget the refinements of winter and the delicacies that hide within its icy grip. Nights such as these are metaphors for the delicate graces, too oft overlooked, that transform Old Man Winter into the benevolent Lady in White who poses for us through frosted lace and purest white that cannot last but should never be missed.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

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