I have been writing this weblog with the non-intuitive title of Ripples for 2 1/2 years and am finally able to articulate the reason I chose the name. It all has to do with change, the persistence of ideas, and the fact that every change telegraphs its arrival by creating ripples.
All one has to do is to watch for ripples of a certain kind and one will see social tsunamis coming while they are still far over the visible horizon.
Change is continuous and turbulent, sometimes fast and sometimes slow. The one constant about change is that there is no rest point, only nodes of relative inactivity.
My observation has also led me to believe that change is never a step function. It is always preceded by lesser changes of similar character. These changes can be observed easily in hindsight even when they are exceedingly minute. I happen to think that even the minutest changes can be observed while they are happening if one cares to look for them.
Ideas seem to have a life of their own. One might almost posit that ideas are immortal, much like spirits. They certainly seem to have some of the same characteristics. Nothing significant happens, whether good or evil, unless there is an idea behind it, or a spiritual being driving it.
Perhaps we tap into the Force, as Luke Skywalker did, or there may be an infinity of ideas floating around, waiting for a receptive mind to pick them up and execute them. Whatever the mechanism, there is certainly some indication that ideas propagate spontaneously, because too many people come up with the same idea, even complex inventions, with no prior connection.
I have spent a lifetime observing events and looking for reasons. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I have observed that there are precursors for every social change. I think of these precursors as ripples in the fabric of life. All you have to do is to observe an interesting ripple and keep an eye on it from time to time, and the next thing you know you are in the midst of a sweeping change that alters the course of your life.
If you see these ripples and do nothing about them, you feel stupid when the change takes away your livelihood or your comfortable way of life.
If you see these ripples and tell no one what you observe, you are committing a harmful act which will rebound against you in the end.
If you notice ripples, tell people about them and they throw stones or bray hysterically about your lunacy, you have the satisfaction of knowing that you did what mattered and your integrity is intact.
If you see ripples and use all of your social and communication skills to let people know what they mean, you are actually starting ripples of your own. If you are skillful enough and choose the right audience, you may even influence enough people to make a difference in their lives and in your own.
There are ripples all around us every day. Some led to a better and saner civilization, some lead in the other direction. Some of the ripples I have my attention on currently, in no particular order:
Home schooling
Mainstream media degeneration
Blogging as a power tool
Micro-businesses
A growing inability to confront terrorism
Citizen publishing
Trends in business and in marketing
post-corporate living
Internet-enabled lifestyles
I write about country life, of course, because we worked hard to get here and it represents a lifestyle that has a lot to recommend it. I also write about the good things I see and the good people I meet, because life is to be grasped with both hands and enjoyed to the fullest every day.
You might say that I observe and blog about country life as it happens because that provides the background against which ripples stand out in marked contrast.
Ripples lead everywhere, which is why my posts cover a wide range of topics. You are free to ignore the ones that disturb you or don’t interest you. There are plenty of others which lead in directions you may wish to pursue. I don’t necessarily follow these topics to completion either. My interest is in pointing them out to those who may have need of the information.
If you are seeing ripples in the fabric of life and no one is paying attention to you, please feel free to send me an email or leave comments as the mood strikes you. You may be on to a paradigm shift that no one else has noticed yet.
Let’s exchange notes…
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