67 Comments

Very true. The problems with us humans is that the majority don't know when to stop or how to balance the different aspects of life.

Machines are useful and convenient until a certain point, but the existence of this "certain point" most people don't understand it.

I put it this way: technology and all the machinery it produces are ok just as our tools, but never as our substitutes.

Instead of improving our minds, our sensibility, and our health, the agenda you mention is about improving our tools, because all that agenda is looking for is precisely to end with humans themselves: disguising their technological stuff as "convenient" for a more "efficient" life and more "effective" jobs, they are draining our very soul through it.

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I was reading some of the comments about holiday parades and it reminded me of a significant teaching experience I had back in the 80’s. Our school system had a new superintendent…whose goal was to get rid of the “older” teachers to save money…but that is another story! Among many other demands, he implemented the rule that only one party per year was allowed. This meant no classroom birthday celebrations, special holiday happenings etc. I taught kindergarten and the little parties we enjoyed were more than enjoyment…they were a way of connecting, having fun, and learning about our culture and each other. Happily, I was one of those older teachers forced to resign and I found a job in Charlottesville, Virginia. When I arrived there I was battle worn and very much familiar with being treated with little respect as a professional. The happy discovery was that my new school system was run by a superintendent who was supportive of teachers and supported a child centered classroom…so parties were allowed and served as a basis for fun and learning. The school where I taught was filled with happiness …I am not exaggerating. I was so fortunate to have this time in my teaching experience…

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So true! All of it.

Was thinking just the other day…what happened to all the parades we used to have? Easter, Thanksgiving, Santa Claus? Homecoming weekend, the start of the annual Exhibition and Fairgrounds? There used to be half dozen or more throughout the year (growing up in Ontario) and now the only one is Pride (or Disgust depending on one’s outlook).

We, as a community, don’t seem to celebrate anything anymore.

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You are so right! It became really obvious to me when I was in Mexico for 10 weeks this winter. They celebrate EVERYTHING and have parades constantly. I'm not religious, but Semana Santa (Easter week) was such a big deal there and there were so many events. On another seemingly random Friday evening my husband and I were going for a pre-dinner walk and as we got closer to the main square we heard drumming. There were groups of dancers and drummers dressed in the most colourful and spectacular indigenous clothing performing and celebrating their culture. It's a yearly event and was such a pleasant and unexpected surprise.

I was taking a Spanish class via Zoom and one of my teachers (they're all from South America) asked what we do to celebrate Easter in Canada and I said a whole lot of nothing. Again, I'm not religious but I very much appreciate a country that is not abandoning its history or culture and is constantly celebrating. Oh, and an important byproduct of these celebrations is that multi-generational families are constantly together. The West is committing suicide and it's very painful to watch.

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It is interesting this sort of celebration is still going on down there...good...

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That's a good point. I had not thought of that myself, but it is true.

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Your post today reminded me of something a friend of mine shared on her facebook recently. A quote from Kurt Vonnegut, an author I connected with initially in my teen years hanging out in the library away from the shit show of school life around me (social distancing started many many years ago for me). Without him and others like him, I don't know how I would have survived. Here is the quote:

Kurt Vonnegut tells his wife he's going out to buy an envelope:

“Oh, she says, well, you're not a poor man. You know, why don't you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I'm going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope.

I meet a lot of people. And see some great looking babies. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And I'll ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don't know. The moral of the story is - we're here on Earth to fart around.

And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And what the computer people don't realize, or they don't care, is we're dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And it's like we're not supposed to dance at all anymore."

Let's all get up and move around a bit right now... or at least dance.

I so miss this man to help me make light of this strange world I find myself in now.

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"Dancing animals". Now, that's just distilled greatness.

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Thank you for this…love it.

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I read most of Vonnegut's books over again every decade or so. I recently read the quote you presented here, but it was before Covid and I don't remember being struck by its current wisdom...it is SO right on point to this article...I wish I had remembered it to include it in the article!!! Perfect!!

I do refer to KV's "Player Piano" quite often, which you have probably noticed.

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Jesus Christ!! I did not know Kurt Vonnegut. According to Wikipedia, he was born November 11, 1922 and died April 11, 2007. My old man (who I want to be like, when I grow up) was born November 26, 1922 and died April 2, 2007. You can bet your house that I will be checking KV.

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OMG...that's wild!!! You MUST read Vonnegut...he was a satirist for sure, but wow, he had some really profound messages. "Slaughter House Five" and "Cat's Cradle" are probably his most famous. "Player Piano" is not very popular, but it's quite apropos to our time.

Anyone else here have favorites? "Mother Night" is good...

I also revisit Hermann Hesse over the decades. Quite a different writer, but very significant for me and my own personal world view.

Really interesting about your dad and his birthday and death matching up with Vonnegut...did they hang out together?? Was your dad a doctor?? He was about my mom's age...did he ever visit the Tapia Theatre in San Juan?

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Yes, I found it so crazy that Vonnegut and my dad both were born and died within days of each other. No, my dad was not a doctor. He was a civil engineer who chose to work all his his life "out in the field"; no way to make him sit at a desk. Yes, everyone then visited the Tapia Theatre in San Juan.

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This post- Being Human, rings so true- it made me subscribe for a year just to say 'Thank you!'

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You are an angel. Thank you so much...

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I'm an agnostic who values the machine model of mind briefed at https://www.susanblackmore.uk/reviews/review-of-the-robots-rebellion Among other movies exploring that view, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendence_(2014_film) might interest.

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I would be interested to know what other people here think of the article you posted...

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After reading the review of the Robots Rebellion, I found the premise that humans consist of genes, memes and a vehicle somewhat flawed. Although thought can be powerful, memes do not possess the power of autonomous thought. Interesting article and especially so as it brings attention to how pervasive memes are.

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My mind appears to correlate diverse models of mind. The currents of genetic and memetic replicators contending with each other and a self-interested machine intelligence that emerges from machine learning is the most robust model that I've found that appears to best explain my observations. To my understanding, our brains connect neuronal assemblies into the connectome like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, so unless a puzzle piece fits, it fails to add to the predictive models our brains build for survival advantage. My peculiar experience likely explains my resonance with Blackmore's reduction of Stanovich. I stumbled into Stanovich and Blackmore's review after exploring the emergence of dual-process Type/System I/II terminology.

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Fascinating...

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Maybe at this point in my life (aging body and increasingly obstreperous personality) I accept the current isolation as self-imposed and normal. And as with any situation there are good and bad aspects to consider. I welcome not having to drive through traffic to a brick and mortar store, negotiate the zombies wandering the aisles to only discover they don’t have what I’m looking for and I’m forced to buy online anyway. My free time now allows me to putter around in the oasis I call home and neighborhood doing the creative things that give me pleasure. I interact with the people who bring me joy and limit my exposure to those who don’t. And when I’m not doing that I can read thought provoking articles and comments such as these. As bad as the outside world is becoming I am at peace.

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I can relate Debra. We moved to the country early in the scamdemic because we couldn't tolerate the zombies in the city and, living more remotely, we have had to order more online out of necessity. I was just in a mall the other day looking for shoes for my daughter's wedding (harder to buy shoes online!) and was sickened by the number of mask wearers in the suburbs of Toronto. I couldn't wait to get out of the mall and back to my country oasis.

In contrast, we spent 10 weeks at our home in Mexico and we don't have a car and must constantly walk and buy things we need from local tiendas. Yes, we'd Uber every few weeks to the big grocery store but we were buying the bulk of what we needed close to home and were constantly interacting with locals and trying to improve our Spanish by talking with them. It was amazing and much more like the way things used to be. We felt part of a community again and it's been four years since we have felt that way.

I totally understand limiting your interactions to people who bring you joy and spending your time doing that which gives you pleasure. If technology facilitates that, then have at it!

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I am always so impressed with people who saw all this so early on and made these sorts of huge adjustments to their life...how brave!

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Husband and I spend several months during the year in Maine where my family lives. It’s very small town and like going back in time to the 1960s. I love it but can’t bring myself to move there. Yet. Glad to learn you’re content. None of us know how much time we have left

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Considering what you have written here, I think it is important to note that this connection with nature, and with human creation, is not only found in musty bookstores. It is first being conscious of the slow death that is being thrust upon us, not through natural human evolution, but though a conscious effort to pull us away from the things that make us human. Once we are aware and conscious, we can then regulate and compensate.

For example, even if I buy books from Amazon, I make sure to still visit bookstores, I make sure to still buy physical books as well as audio books and Kindle books (I buy so many books it doesn't take much to still have dozens that I can touch and smell.)

We can indeed live in a highly progressive technological world as long as we make a point to stay in contact with these important parts of being human...and to be keenly aware of what the agenda is up to next. Yes, there are some things I would never touch....but there is a lot we can work around.

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Books! LOL! I’m expecting the second floor of our home to collapse on us we have so many. Both my husband and I are avid readers. And likewise our record albums and music CDs.

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Yep. All true. And even though we can see it for the danger that it is, we slowly give in to the convenience. Because we’ve become lazy. Exactly as you said.

Being aware isn’t enough. Are we doomed? Does resistance do any good when the majority of the population is already zombified?

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Anyone alive today is probably "doomed" to not live a completely integrated material life, infused fully with spirit and soul. We may still be able to get to 80% of that if we basically remove ourselves from the "grid"...but most of us won't, or can't, do that.

However, we can all work toward a better future in this regard for our children and their children.

And yes, we do often give into the convenience, and maybe a lot of it is laziness on our part (I know I am an extremely lazy person)...but again, we must make do with what we have, so very much of it is out of our control. Be conscious. And I do believe being aware is powerful, it may not be enough, but it is better than the alternative.

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So very true Todd, wonderfully expressed (as always). My favourite moments were hiding away in a cozy corner in a local bookstore as well, it was the only real break from the chaos of raising three teenage girls. It's all gone now, as you say - can't hide in a cozy corner in Amazon. I really, really miss those very special times, even though the teenage girls are now long grown and on their own.

I instinctively avoid crowds now, and more and more I spend most of my time at home. I am mercilessly eliminating dead end friendships now, very intentionally, and I am not even sure why now? I seem to be following deeply intuitive feelings that will not acquiesce to 'middle of the road' choices any longer.

Although I miss all those 'crowded' activities of my previous life, they are gone now and every day I try to accept that at deeper and deeper levels. I think this new world (whatever the hell it is - literally) is a world for the 'inhuman' and those of us who are deeply 'human' must remove ourselves from that world in any way possible. We will have to build our own 'new world' because we will not survive in what is now considered the normal world.

Maybe our new human world will be small at first, maybe only our own home and yard, but we will eventually find each other and it may mean physically relocating, I don't know. But I'm pretty sure, if we try to stay and relate to whatever is happening 'out there' in the society being created, we will loose whatever it is that makes us real, true human beings.

So, for me, isolation is a good thing. It's just difficult, and sometimes a bit lonely.

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I think I have said this before, but if I had never met Cindy and was still alone after the death of my first wife 20 years ago, at this point I would run off and live in a small house/cabin/trailer in the desert...with maybe two dogs and lots of cans of beans. Maybe I would interface with a small group of people, maybe not. But I would live out my days (which probably wouldn't be many because doctors would be out) taking long walks with the dogs and watching sunsets.

I have even thought of moving to Egypt if I were alone...my mind would be kept busy as ancient Egyptian history is a passion of mine, and the people I have met there (native Egyptians) are some of the most soul conscious people I have ever met.

Yes, what you describe sounds lonely...but we can only be lonely as physical beings, our soul is never alone.

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Very lonely

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I hear you. Life without a smart phone and zoom are still doable. My husband and I still go to concerts, eat in restaurants, shop at small boutiques like Douce France on the Danforth and farmers markets in Toronto, buy from real artisans at craft shows, shop at used book stores, and visit our friends. Yesterday was the Celebration of Life for my brother who died in January, and we got to interact with over 300 real people and had real conversations, which felt quite normal. So living an authentic life is possible, it just takes effort. When things are awful, we have to keep an image of something beautiful in our mind. So Todd, maybe take a drive around the area where you live and look for that gem of normalcy - a cafe or a small store that you might not have noticed before. There are still bits of goodness out there. I too need to be reminded that not everybody is a zombie.

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I admit there is no excuse for my allowing my zombification. There are definitely ways I can at least mitigate my walk into zombieland. I don't do them for a huge variety of personal reasons...I only wish I didn't have to work so hard to avoid it.

This I blame on the agenda. Life is hard enough...and to make it harder to "walk away" from these zombie tactics, move to the country, move to A country where you don't have this going on to the extent we see it here in Canada, get rid of the cell phone, get rid of the internet (then I wouldn't be writing to you!) on and on. I have all the typical excuses for NOT taking better care of myself.

As I have said before I am dedicated to my wife and what she sees necessary for a good life (the most important for her, of course, is being as close to her children as she can be.) Blah blah blah...all the typical excuses. I agree with you 100%...and I am attempting to make changes where I feel I can make them. It just upsets me we are being squeezed through the hamburger grinder like we are. It would take quite a bit to find another bookstore like Duttons, and I need books, so I order them online...simple...another teaspoon of poison ingested, willingly.

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You are in the helping profession and are usually expected to have all the answers, but psychologists can feel down too. Don't be too hard on yourself. Maybe you are in a moult, but you will get your feathers back.

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Well, I have seen my special personal tragedy with the death of my first wife. I still carry that with me of course, but that pain has been beneficial in working with people in therapy.

Since my current love, Cindy, is not on board with understanding our global tragedy now underway, times are particularly painful and lonely. I don't suspect that will change.

I am not sure if I feel down because of what is happening out there. I don't like it, and I do wish it were not happening, but it is at such a stage I don't think energy put forth in attempting to change it is energy well spent.

My energy is spent supporting others like me (like here on Shrew Views) and waking up those that wish to be awakened. Maybe a little bit of effort can be spent in slowing the global demons down. But I think all this has to rot first before it can re-germinate. It is clearly the alchemy process taking place.

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I used to live in a beautiful 1930’s home (not far from the little bookstore you mentioned in N. Hollywood). When I moved there 27 years ago, I knew all my neighbors within a week and we all got together often. Sadly, due to CA politics, crime and insanely high taxes (and friendships that evaporated due to my not going-along-to-get-along when I came to the jab), I was forced to move. I now live in another state where I bought a home in what appeared to be a tight nit community with walking trails, lakes. I’m surrounded by nature. Yet, I rarely see a living soul. It’s been 7 months and I still don’t know my neighbors. Why? No front porches, for one thing. No place to sit and wave to a passersby (when there is one). Everyone enters their homes through their garage. They spend all their time in their backyards. I feel as isolated as I did in CA.

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Yikes...very well described. Although I think it is better for the soul to be in nature with no humans than be in a city (or any environment that promotes this disconnect, it doesn't have to a city) where there are lots of humans but no connection...it is still essential, in my humble opinion. to interact with human community for a well rounded and integrated experience. Hang in there...

Do you know Duttons? That was the name of the book store I describe in the article...I think it was on Hollywood Way in North Hollywood, but it could have been Laurel Canyon...or maybe neither, it was a long time ago...

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Yes, Duttons had two locations. One in Valley Village on Laurel Canyon Blvd. and the other in the city of Burbank. They closed in 2006.

I honestly believe they’re building these porchless homes by design. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I absolutely agree that it’s better to be one with nature but it’s sad that no one seems to be willing to make an effort to get to know one another. I might have to get somewhat aggressive. 🤪

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Joe Mercola addresses this topic today too. Our revolution is personal and social. https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2024/04/22/vorfreude-anticipatory-joy.aspx?ui=89d9be74f69081763f45c409182855326c2fe92d47a179a444824f3ed56ffba6&sd=20221014&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1HL&cid=20240422&foDate=false&mid=DM1561182&rid=2541763

Joy is one of the most powerful metrics for making decisions that empower and enrich your life

Improving mitochondrial health boosts cellular energy, which is crucial for making empowered decisions and aligning with your authentic self. Effective decision-making is energy-intensive, requiring robust cellular energy to function optimally, underscoring the link between health and mental clarity

Recognizing and altering negative thought patterns is also crucial for fostering a more joyful mindset and embracing life’s opportunities.

The concept of "vorfreude," or anticipatory joy, significantly improves happiness and well-being by allowing you to savor the anticipation of future pleasures.

Strategies to enhance joy include consciously appreciating the brief moments just before experiencing something pleasurable, treating yourself, writing down your plans, unleashing your creativity and much more

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Exactly, thank you. And so often "joy" is confused with "the feeling I get when I am instantly satisfied"...it is easy to confuse as many joyous things occur to us instantly, like a hug or a kiss.

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So true. And so are fostered moments. I am working on a kids book, painting images (so old school people laugh) and the word joy describes my goal and my reward!

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That is so wonderful Sarah! Please let us know when it is finished...

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This is the point of globalisation. We are being turned into rats in the rat race. The people are pushed to live in cities so it easier control us.

Remember when, during lockdowns ,they kept telling us not to do our own research and trust only mainstream media? We are animals in farms for the globalist elite.

Not many solutions left to use against the tyranny.

If you have a chance to get away from city and live somewhere where you have no access to media then do it. otherwise, we have no choice but watch our world turning into a state of corporate fascism.

Hunger games of Brave New World.

Sabotage works well against the tyranny, as well. But problem with sabotage is that honest people turn into criminals.

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I'm seeing alot of parallel systems come up. Parallel health care, education, food sources etc. Gives me hope. I can't help thinking that the current institutions are so completely captured that creating anew from the ground up is the only solution.

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Good points. My belief is that all of this (the agenda) can be boiled down to an effort to remove us from nature...nature as we know nature (birds, trees, animals, oceans) and nature a step or two removed from what we typically call nature (tactile sensation, hugs, love, God, the senses, etc.)

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Exactly. Remember when the government in Hong Kong (I think) confiscated the pets and destroyed them because they might spread the “virus”??

I knew what they were doing. The last piece of nature allowed us was to have an animal in your life. They wanted to know if they could get away with it-and they did.

Separate humanity from the natural terrain. So much of our health depends on us being able to interact with the natural world. It’s no wonder that so many are depressed and physically ill.

We were made from the dirt and need the continual contact

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Very good point about dirt!

Yes, if all of this is NOT a conscious effort to destroy humanity, then there are certainly a lot of very clear coincidences going on!

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Rogan and Carlson discuss your theme: https://www.theburningplatform.com/2024/04/22/congressmen-are-terrified-of-the-intel-agencies-tucker-carlson-warns-theyll-frame-them-with-kiddie-porn/. Your complaint provided the prescription. Be open, honest, authentic, spontaneous, humorous, free in everything you do.

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Yes, if we follow our gut we are more than likely in alignment with source (with some exceptions of course, primarily due to the impossibility of removing fear entirely from our operating systems).

I will check out the Tucker clip

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Get outside young man.

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I’m not a zombie yet.

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You are right Dr. Hayen. It's happening to us all. When I walk my dogs (they will keep you human)I see people with their earbuds in-- cut off from the sounds and experience of nature. We are taking input, info all day long from our devices. All of us seeing and hearing different things rather than the collective experience of nature. It's kind of spooky when I see people approaching on my walk and I know they are hooked up to the internet, and even though they look present, their minds are far away.

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I am unfortunately one of those people. But not until recently. Up until maybe a few months ago I refused to listen to my audio books on a dog walk (and yes, I agree with you about dogs). And I used to detest people that walked in nature listening to music, and not listening to nature. But I just started doing this myself (part of my own personal zombification program). Only on dog walking since they need it so often. I would NEVER have any other distractions when I go out into nature to BE in nature…

After reading your comment, I am going to stop listening to books when walking the dogs.

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and one more thing--not to sound all woo woo--but it is said, and I believe it, that the sounds of nature, birds singing, leaves rustling etc have healing effects on us humans. brings us into a calm, dream like state. I will do anything that's free, healing and involves nature.

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OMG, absolutely!! Those nature sounds speak to our soul...without nature speaking to our soul, we will eventually dissolve.

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Dr. Todd--I answer you with this poem, which says it better than I can (thanks Prof. Harold Bloom):

Golden Retrievals

By Mark Doty

Fetch? Balls and sticks capture my attention

seconds at a time. Catch? I don’t think so.

Bunny, tumbling leaf, a squirrel who’s—oh

joy—actually scared. Sniff the wind, then

I’m off again: muck, pond, ditch, residue

of any thrillingly dead thing. And you?

Either you’re sunk in the past, half our walk,

thinking of what you never can bring back,

or else you’re off in some fog concerning

—tomorrow, is that what you call it? My work:

to unsnare time’s warp (and woof!), retrieving,

my haze-headed friend, you. This shining bark,

a Zen master’s bronzy gong, calls you here,

entirely, now: bow-wow, bow-wow, bow-wow.

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very very nice...I have two Goldens...

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