I often wonder what it is that makes me hold on to things that are associated with negative experiences, I think its maybe that I don't want to forget the lessons I learned, and I don't want to forget that there were good times mixed in with the bad.  One person, also, I felt like a kind of "custodian" of things of theirs, because they had no regard for them and were going to throw them away.  School reports of an ex boyfriend from 20 years ago, really?  Yeah.. I shredded those yesterday.  Very little left now, some photos of the town we lived in, and a few of him.  I think I kept them this long because I had hope that he would turn a corner and his life would brighten, but its his life.. not mine.

From Respect to Apathy

A brief discussion of the change of attitude towards the oldest people in society.

(a little something I forgot I'd written during the first year of my Social Care course)

Many people can remember a childhood in which respect for your elders was something that barely needed mentioning. It was a given, that even if you didn’t like the oldest members of your family or your community, you would at least respect them.  This was not simply because your parents reminded you, or for traditional reasons (although they played a part too.)  It was a question of value.  As recently as the 1980s, most communities still had a good number of elderly people who had lived through WW2.  Even if the detail of their experiences was not of interest to some, most younger people felt admiration for that fact alone, and those who didn’t could be shamed with the cry “I fought in the war for you, have some respect!”

Those who led less thrilling and dangerous lives still inspired and helped to teach younger generations.  Bringing up large families, providing a decent level of nutrition during rationing, learning the intricacies of the family trade, maybe travelling the world, were experiences that could be drawn upon to advise the younger generations.  Even something as simple as being the custodian of family recipes (or keeping the secrets to themselves and serving the finished product) added more value to members of the older generation in the eyes of the younger.

Even further back, grandparents were rare. Survival to childbearing age was celebrated, and to stay alive long enough to see your grandchildren grow up you would have had to possess considerable survival abilities.  Village elders were revered and respected simply for getting to that age.

For generations, the percentage of people aged 65 or above in the UK (and in many places worldwide) has been growing.  They now make up 16% of the population; by 2033 they are expected to reach 23%.  The old and wise are not as rare as they were, one reason that they are less valued.  Also, their wide range of experiences, once a goldmine for the young, are less relevant than they were.  Children grow up and travel further from their families than they used to. Convenience foods have led to a decline in home cooking.  With the advent of the Information Age, personal or business advice, or any life lesson, can be had from the internet, a hired expert, or one’s peers.  The questions and difficulties of the modern youth or adult can be more conveniently and competently answered from other sources than their “olds”.

Little realisation.. time heals and all that..

I just re-interpreted some lyrics in order to mend a piece of my heart that got broken years ago.

"There was nothing in the world that I ever wanted more than to feel you deep in my heart..
There was nothing in the world that I ever wanted more than to never feel the breaking apart of my pictures of you."


This song is one of a few that I could never listen to without tears.  Ah, but now, time has passed, I'm over him, and when I think of him, the pictures are less clear.. broken..   and thats ok.

Video: The Cure - Pictures Of You

I found this explanation of he way society treats those unable to work while completing my Social Care degree. It is not my personal feeling. It was one of the more depressing parts of the course:As a disabled person you are unable to fulfil your expected role: work, produce, purchase, rinse , repeat. This is seen as a deviance from the norm, and a threat to the stability and welfare of wider society. Because of your disability you are permitted exemption from those duties, but only as long as you are genuinely ill (have a diagnosis/physical manifestation of your disease) and that you are trying your hardest to get well (showing signs of improvement, participating in programmes designed for improving your health.) http://amplify.com/u/dsq9 http://amplify.com/u/dsqa

Real Scientology, Real Scientologists.

I won’t fully recount here what the PAC RPF is like. At best it is a gulag where time stands still. The only thing that makes it bearable are the some of the dedicated staff there. Some had been on the program for seven years or more. That is seven years without a day off, no contact with wife or family, no music, twenty-minute meal breaks. A phone call to your parent’s on Christmas day. A day otherwise spent cleaning floors and toilets. For the most part the RPF is kept hidden from the public and staff. For the most part, we helped build sets for the Int events and furniture for the “Ideal Orgs”.

At one point, following an IAS event, the RPF was allowed to watch the video of the event where Tom Cruise receives the IAS medal and is proclaimed by DM as “the most dedicated Scientologist I know”. I looked over at the guy sitting next to me, a man who had worked on the ship with LRH, had been an SO member for over 25 years, who had been on the RPF for 6 years separated from his wife and family. Really? An actor who has been actively disseminating for a couple of years is the most dedicated Scientologist on the planet?

via markrathbun.wordpress.com

Eventually, some cult members encounter enough bullshit that it seems to act like smelling salts, and they wake up and start wondering how the hell they can get out of the mess they are in.

This is my first post on Amplify! #myfirstpost on another bloggy thing.. I have no idea why. Mainly "because its there" but this is nothing like climbing a mountain, obviously. http://amplify.com/u/d3sv

The Age of Uncertainty: Almost Lost Forever

via ageofuncertainty.blogspot.com

Found this thanks to @adders on Twitter. The very thought of someone dropping an old photo album into a bin.. how *could* they?