I've switched to posting Thought~Bytes in an article format. You can see Thought~Bytes 1 through 79 by searching for "thoughtbytes" under "images" or going to Images on my namespace.
As many of you know, on 9/13/07, Phil Frank, the cartoonist who drew the Thought~Byte pictures, passed on. He will be missed by all who knew him and enjoyed his 30 plus years of cartoon strips such as Farley and The Elderberries.
For those who haven't read these and are interested: There is an article I wrote saying Goodbye to Phil A Life I'd Jump at
Thanks for the reminder, John Philipp, I was forced to do this when I had my wreck in 1997 and it is amazing how quickly things move away when you slow down - you only see the others who are pausing at first but you notice that eventually everyone slows a little and makes an appearance in the observer's lounge.
It seems to go even more quickly as we age. Why? On the Discovery Channel, they noted that time slows down for those who are bungee jumping. I'll take their word for it.
"Being still," that's the key, Nana. Once you've done it, you always know how to do it again. It's harder for those who have never availed themselves of the opportunity to stop.
Jane, time slows down for bungee jumpers because their brain slowed done when they were deciding whether or no to do that. :)
Seriously, your brain only processes a small fraction of the input it receives, what it decides is important. Under stress or in dangerous situations, the brain processes a lot more because alertness is a survival technique. That experience of many more thoughts and perceptions per second is what gives us the comparative feeling that time has slowed down.
John, As a child, I would many times meander down to Turtle River which runs into Fox Lake. They both embraced the Cedar Swamp we called our farm. Bare footed and in cut off shorts, I would wade out to my secret place. In the middle of Turtle River a large smooth rock made it's abode. Placed there, not by human effort but surely, by Him. I called her, 'Rondevouz'. I would climb up on her, close my eyes, and listen to natures symphonic overture. And till this day, and I believe to the end of my days, those celestial moments are alive in me. Those moments when all nature proclaimed, "Be still, and know that I AM.", to a child's lonely and thirsty soul.
Life does go by so fast...so fast that the time it takes me to scan down your comments to commend you decreases my lunch break minutes. So dear John, Please know that I love your thought bytes and will read them without commenting so that I can look around at more of your sound bytes.
John, As a child, I would meander down to Turtle River which runs into Fox Lake. Both of them embraced the Cedar Swamp which we called our farm. In the middle of Turtle River, placed by the effort other than human hands, a big flat rock made it's abode. In my cut-off shorts, I would make my way out to my secret place, 'Rondevouz'. Stretching out on her, I would close my eyes and listen to the symphonic overture of nature. These celestial moments will be will me until the end of days when all nature proclaimed to the thirsty lonely soul of a child, "Be still and know that I AM."
Johm, in my youth, there was a place, named Waliek's Field. Thirty acres of open, rolling grassland nestled along the river where I swam and owned by a Polish immigrant who had a little mom/pop store along the highway's edge. He didn't do anything with the field other than let the locals use it for whatever non-destructive purposes they chose: archery, dog-walking, mini-bikes (only on the paths), walking, jogging and in winter, skiiing. Many days, many dog days of summer, I laid out in that field for hours at a time watching the clouds drift by overhead. I can say that those days are the only days in my life that didn't go by like a rocket sled on rails, those were the days that time practically stood still. I long for them days. I long for that field. Thanks for the memories.
Excellent thought-byte! We are human beings, not human doings. We are not simply the sum of what we do. If we each spent even five minutes out of each 24 hours listening, watching, learning and appreciating, we would surely feel less stress.
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For those who haven't read these and are interested: There is an article I wrote saying Goodbye to Phil
A Life I'd Jump at
And the final The San Francisco Chronicle article (Tuesday 1/1/08) about their long time cartoonist.
Bidding final farewell to cartoonist Phil Frank
or there's the metrosexual version, Jean-Philippe
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
Boy it feels weird calling you that , it's my older brothers name !
things will never slow down
Seriously, your brain only processes a small fraction of the input it receives, what it decides is important. Under stress or in dangerous situations, the brain processes a lot more because alertness is a survival technique. That experience of many more thoughts and perceptions per second is what gives us the comparative feeling that time has slowed down.
Actually, our brain has speeded up.
"Life accelarates until you crash" Again, only if you choose to let it.
"The woods are lovely dark and deep
but I have promises to keep
and miles to go before I sleep..."
Thanks for the thought.
I'm off to read your endearing letter to Phil
the issue.
10 4 u
Enlightened masters are in that state all the time.
Love this one!
MORE Animated FUN!! "God Does Have Humor"