Notes In The Left Margin

Useful Hardship

2026-04-04T11:01:00.001-07:00

As I get older and continue to proceed through life build one consistent message I perceive is that one must continue to change and evolve, pretty much, at all costs. I've written about this previously on the blog and it bears repeating. From observation, it appears that there is a natural tendency in people to adhere to routine more and more as they age. I don't know if this is based in biology or is merely a side effect of the fact that in this day and age we can literally afford to do so. Where in earlier times the necessities of life required that we stayed engaged with the surroundings and the side effect was people stayed healthier.

When the necessity of this involvement is removed, mental and physical function begins to erode quite rapidly and if there are any underlying medical conditions they become magnified. I am seeing this nowadays all around me as I observe people. Sometimes it is subtle, but many times it is severe and very hard to recover from because the modern way of dealing with this is to remove even more challenges. This makes the person "challenge averse", which of course becomes a loop, speeding up one's decline.

"The Choice to Grow or Stagnate"

Although this situation may produce many diverse outcomes, there is one I see consistently. Negativity begins to manifest in the person and they hold on to this darker worldview. Defending it rather than challenging it. This behaviour then spreads throughout the group. I myself feel the effects and have to keep bolstering my defences. The very activity I am undertaking a writing this article is one of the means I used to keep engaged with life. Later today I plan to take a trip into Vancouver using only my electric wheelchair and minimal public transit in order to stay fully engaged with humanity. I am also doing this because next weekend there is a premier of the indie film "The Decision" and I want to show my support of the film's creator, Steven Cayer.

Trailer: The Decision

"A sharp-witted 30-year-old man with cerebral palsy living in assisted care has his independence tested when his overprotective mother secretly enrolls him in a risky medical trial – forcing him, his girlfriend, and his neighbor to confront what freedom really means."

Showings:

April 11, 2026
Screening: The Centre in Vancouver For Performing Arts
777 Homer St, Vancouver, BC

Steven Cayer Executive Producer / Writer

The way out of this negative downhill slide is a situation I call "Useful Hardship" finding the difficulties in life and challenging them, whether that be going out in inclement weather or undertaking a task which requires learning and growth. One cannot let their life become to easy or comfortable. Hardship must be dealt with and that keeps the person engaged in life. More aware of themselves.

The inner journey a person experiences as they confront the difficulties and find solutions is just as important as the external one. It is deeply personal and frequently requires a long commitment to improve what ever the individual's issues are.

I can guarantee that there are many benefits to useful hardship. It will give you the insights required to know when you can change things versus when you must adapt to a new situation. You will continue to own the decisions which affect your personal and public life. Positive people around you will also see the effort being put in and they will stay engaged with you, seeing the wisdom gained throughout the years. There will be other benefits which only you will know about. That is for you to write about if you wish.

All the best in your journeys.

Take care Patrick Clark

** NOTE: The picture displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

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Completion Adversion

2026-03-19T19:35:00.005-07:00

Have you ever collaborated on a project, either personal or for work, in which there is almost a resistance to getting the job done on time?

The effort starts out simply enough with the concept and intermediate goals set out plainly. But as the project gets underway the goals keep evolving, meaning that a great deal of time is just wasted, because parts of the undertaking have to be redone.

I have seen the above scenario play out several times now with different groups, and persons. As a matter-of-fact my brother Tim who was very creative would often fall into this trap. His projects would grow, and grow. Eventually it was almost guaranteed that he would give up in frustration. Sometimes his undertakings would consume almost half a year. Thinking about my brother, I now wonder what was going on? To be clear, when he would undertake a task and get caught in this loop, it was not a pleasant experience for him. You could see the frustration build. What was once a weeklong project had become months long. What was preventing him from sticking to the original idea and timeline?

As I think back on this now, it is likely that completing the task was not the real goal, rather it was being "in the process", then nuts and bolts of the activity itself. In that kind of scenario, one would not want to reach completion because it would then be like falling off a cliff. There would be nothing left to do, and that would be depressing. So one way to avoid this would be to continually move the goalpost, a little farther ahead each time. But of course if one does not recognize what's going on and what is truly motivating the person, the result is built up frustration which would cancel out for the most part any beneficial effects of the experience.

Please feel free by the way to comment on this post if you have another point of view.

Speaking personally, I have a little bit of this behaviour, but I recognize it and can usually bring myself back to focusing on concrete goals. This took quite a few years of learning however. In my 20s and 30s I was notorious for starting projects that would quickly balloon into unmanageable situations. For me what began to break this behaviour was something that terrified me called a deadline. Now I am not terrified by imposed schedule because I learned that when one keeps things attainable, one benefits from success. In this case that "success" is the completion of a job or project. I'll be the first to admit however that it is always very tempting to go back in and add one more little adornment.-One more little future. Then I think about my dear brother Tim and common sense returns.

This is just a very short post to see if anyone out there has a similar experience. I also find as everyone gets busier in their daily lives, counterintuitively, there seem to be more people with a case of "Completion Adversion".

Have a great day and comments are always welcome.
Patrick

NEW DEVICES: When the "Out-Of-Box User Experience" Doesn't Work for the Disabled.

2026-03-13T00:00:00.004-07:00

Should the hardware manufacturers be required to provide fully configured hardware setups for their disabled customers when supplying them with new equipment?

Recently myself and a volunteer spent several hours over the phone assisting someone with a severe vision problem set up their new computer. They had reached out to us after several weeks of back-and-forth with both the manufacturer and the store where they bought the machine.

As the discussion on the phone went on it became very clear that nothing on the new machine had been configured for those with vision impairments. And I began to wonder, why the heck did the store who knew the customer from previous purchases sell them the machine without some basic configuration? One might argue that in the modern machine and with the diversity of disabilities that there is simply is no single configuration which would fit all persons in a particular category.Being physically disabled myself, I beg to differ.

Addressing just vision impairments for this discussion, to keep things somewhat simple, the store could have delivered the machine set to low resolution so that things looks of much larger on the screen, instead of allowing the computer to go to the highest resolution the monitor supported immediately upon plugging the initial startup. Which effectively made the machine absolutely useless to the customer. They couldn't see a thing on their monitor. Computers are very flexible and I would be astounded if there was no way to customize a few settings ahead of time. At the very least they could've provided the customer with a few avenues to get the machine properly set up.

To be clear, the volunteers and I will continue working with this person until we get things in order. But I find myself rather annoyed that technology companies, when that they produce computers or phones or indeed some other devices don't take the initial set up into account. Nor is it any good for a manufacturer to just put an "accessibility icon" in the corner of the startup screen… Because in this case the customer couldn't see it and probably wouldn't have recognized what it was even if it was within their visual range.

This isn't an isolated case either. I have seen it happen with, smart phones, smart TVs, and even some hardware specifically designed for people with disabilities. You would think that last group of product would be the exception. Nope. As a matter of fact it was a joystick, a $700 joystick, and it had the worst manual I have ever seen. Badly formatted and written in addition to being way too brief. My assumption in this case is that they assumed some technician would set it up for the client or customer and time. As a supplier of hardware one cannot assume that there will be a genius at the other end of the purchase chain to configure the device.

Now, we can't entirely blame the manufacturer and supplier. The customer must also take a good amount of responsibility. Unlike the general public, these devices are usually purchased to become an integral part of the person's daily routine and will be in use over a long period of time. I don't know the background in the above situation, but as a consumer you must take your time to fully review whether or not the device you are considering purchasing will actually work for you. This will mean, because I've done it personally myself,

After tentatively picking a product, there will be a lot of discussion as to whether it will work for a given situation. This means really looking at, in detail, how the device will physically fit in the chosen final environment. This may mean arranging a loaner device to test out whether or not it will work as anticipated. Checking to see whether the buttons are reachable, whether the screen is too bright or too dark, whether the pointing devices are calibrated to the person's sensitivities. Expect to take quite a bit of time on this initial stage. If the supplier is not willing to provide the time, then it is a good indication that this is not the right supplier. Seek a company that is willing to put in the effort.
No new device work exactly like the old familiar device, especially with technology. It will always change. Attention must be paid to in the case of a smart phone or computer aspects like: can some of the old software that is familiar be brought over to the new device. What replacements can be found for the items that cannot be brought over.
Plan ahead for the new device to change in some fashion. With software always being updated there must be a contingency plan in place should something like a new user interface be implemented by the company during an update and thereby moving or altering the position of all the icons. This can happen all of a sudden so arrange for this eventuality. Consider if applicable installing on the new device a Remote Desktop application and arrange for a friend or someone equally trusted to have the ability to remotely connect to the device to make the interface usable again.

These are just some ideas and thoughts I had for today. You could call it my Wednesday morning a rant. Have a good day everyone and of course feel free to leave comments.

Patrick

Tied To The Internet: Could we cope without it?

2026-03-07T18:35:00.013-08:00

What if, for reasons unknown, the Internet stop working permanently and for presumably other unknown reasons we couldn't replace it with any other technology? Just think up the number of things that would be immediately useless or incredibly limited. Your cell phone would for the most part be just a phone. I bet even text messaging wouldn't work because I am sure that somewhere embedded in the Short Message Service (SMS) technology is a reliance on the Internet. So scratch one fancy phone. Your computer, aside from your home network, would literally be a standalone machine. No email, video calls, and definitely not know uploading and downloading. No streaming. You get the idea.

Just the removal of one component of our technological life… A technology that is so integrated into everything now that I'm sure almost no one has a grasp of the full impact of the loss, should it one day disappear. My wheelchair gets updates over the Internet. That right. that in itself, tells us how deeply intertwined this communication technology is. I don't think society could go back, actually when the Internet didn't exist for the average person. It is tempting to think "Oh yes, society could go back" but in all honestly I don't think that thought is realistic. Not only have billions of people grown up with having the Internet and have gotten very used to looking up anything pretty much instantly. (Here we are not considering the quality of the information retrieved, just the fact that it can be retrieved easily.)I can't see business reverting to the old ways of doing things either.

It is however, and intriguing thought experiment. The public Internet began around 1993 when the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) put the underlying software in the public domain, and yes I just use Gemini to look that little factoid up. Any links in this article will be my attempt to corroborate these statements. That small amount of "research" took all of 20 seconds. If however we were back in the year 1989 or so, what what I have to do to find the information?… My first thought would be a trip to the library, and I'm probably only thinking that way because I am 66 years old and can remember using a library. However how would someone in their 20s or 30s if they were put in such a situation find any information. A library may be a relic to them, something they will only heard about from their parents.

Let's say a city like Vancouver British Columbia Canada was put in this situation. Would people begin to rally to the challenge of a pre-Internet existence? To be clear I'm not talking about rolling the entire city back to the year 1989 or so, just removing the Internet itself. This might make a fascinating book or at the very least a video series. That may be even better because the viewer could see the impact of losing a technology so critical to our modern lives.

False Creek, Vancouver BC Canada, circa 1980s
Click to download the full resolution image.
I, Patrick Clark, hereby place this image in the public domain.

This image was scanned originally from a "slide" (More information on what a Slide projector was can be found here,) which had faded and was corrected with scratch removal, white balancing, and slightly cropped because the original image was not aligned properly in the scanner. This photograph was originally taken by my father and scanned into a computer some years later running Windows XP. Restoration was done in 2026 on Windows 11 using Corel Paint Shop Pro 2023 by Patrick Clark.

I know the photograph of the Vancouver from the early 1980s is a little out of place with the topic at hand since at the time of the photo very few people knew about the Internet and it was still in extremely early development. But it does underline how much things have changed. I think cell phones were just becoming a thing and again they were expensive. But could the average person living today adapt to a world without Internet? I mean, my watch needs the Internet to set the correct time. There is no way to set it manually. So if the battery ever dies, that's it for the watch.

I have lots of old skills that would enable me to cope, and I do remember researching school essays by hand, raiding the aforementioned library. Or buying a physical book and reading the whole thing. These behaviours are sufficiently ingrained in me that I'm not even sure what skills I am using. Someone born in the 2000's however, would have their skills tied to the Internet.

Socialization

This could be most difficult for people who grew up with the Internet. Without social media and text messaging this could be very difficult to adjust to. It would include discovering the lost art of conversation. And conversation is pretty much a lost art indeed in some segments of the population. Go on public transit and there is very little discussion among the riders. Everybody is glued to their devices. There is a lot of subtlety in being social:

You have to pick up on clues in the environment.
Know how to keep a conversation engaging.
Know when to not engage someone.

These are all skills that can take many years, may be months if you're only rusty at the particular task.

From my perspective social media has done more harm than good. It doesn't allow people to naturally mature emotionally because they can write or say something inappropriate online and then just disappear. Do that in real life and you would get an unavoidable reaction from the other person. People I think would have a rough time regaining old skills. Learning how to be in a larger environment and sociable is something humans start to learn when they're young and it is complicated to say the least.

When I was about 15 citizens band radios (CB) were all the rage and I was caught up in it. This is the first time we saw people say things and act inappropriately go off the air. You couldn't do that before. If someone said something rude the other person or a group of people would let them know right then and there that whatever they said was unacceptable.

My CB radio a RadioShack Realistic TRC 30A
Circa 1975

Society needs people with good socialization skills. It is fundamental in getting along. The question is and I know I'm repeating myself - Could people pick these critical skills in adult life? Would there always be something rough around the edges with these people or could they successfully master socialization? My goodness the number of questions in this article so far is rather surprising. From my initial perspective it looks like we really do rely on the Internet in a lot of areas.

On the other hand, there are many positives that being able to communicate rapidly and exchange information brought to us by the Internet that have benefited people. So like life itself there are no absolute good or bad in this discussion.

I remember my parents absolutely freaking out whenever it was necessary to make a long distance phone call. The price was expensive and charged on a permanent basis. Now with just your browser, you can have a conversation with a friend on the other side of the world and the cost is negligible complete with real-time video.

Would handwriting come back in to use?

This is a point I really find a mind blowing. The fact that they do not teach handwriting in school. Initially it makes sense since everything is done online. But consider the intimate connection of writing something on paper. It involves a completely different mindset and I wouldn't be surprised if it ultimately affects in a positive way one's cognitive abilities. Not just the mechanics of creating a written sentence, the way you are putting together the thoughts in your mind. It is much more intimate than typing on a keyboard.

I know from personal experience using voice dictation that a person speaks in day-to-day language very differently than they write. Presumably this is due to the fact that you have time to think while constructing a paragraph. Voice dictation on the other hand there is a tendency to write very informally. So if someone always had access to the Internet and did not learn handwriting the challenges they would face would be quite large. After all this was a skill which took time to develop. Never mind reading someone else's handwriting. Both my parents were in healthcare and my father had particularly bad, almost abstract, and writing. Very few people have to deal with this now.

And all that is happened is that one component, albeit a big one, has been removed in this discussion. "The Internet".

I am really interested to hear your comments. When time permits I will also add a YouTube video version of this article. ... And here it is:

Have a great day!
Patrick

PS: This is the 200th post on this blog. I plan to keep on going😀.

Fleeting Micro Judgements

2026-03-01T19:50:00.005-08:00

Someone says something to you. In the milliseconds, before you have an initial reaction, your mind is already deciding the value of what what was just heard. It is determining before you have your initial feeling about the statement, whether the feeling you experience should be one of pleasure, disgust, or anger. In short your brain is putting a label on it before you're even aware of hearing what is being said by the other person. This happens very quickly, in a fleeting moment your mind may be considering something else. Nevertheless these judgements have made their mark and coloured your perceptions.

These "micro judgements" as I call them, work in concert with cognitive bias, are so automatic and often arbitrary, that it is a wonder the average person isn't a walking, talking body of contradiction. Fortunately our higher brain functions manage (i.e.functions that require advanced, complex, and abstract processing )to project the appearance of rational human being most of the time. But put someone under the right kind of stress however and these micro judgements can become visible.

These small almost instantaneous judgements reveal a far more complicated psyche. When I was in my 20s to my dismay, I found many negative biases. And I thought myself quite a liberal, so that discovery bothered me greatly initially. Then I realized that all of humanity has these contradictory and complementary micro judgements. I still didn't feel great about my little discovery but I did take away from the ongoing experience one simple fact:

"It is better to know about these biases, then it is to be in denial of them."

It is an ongoing journey of paying attention and personal learning. As opposed to ultimately being an emotional train wreck running in neutral.

Imagine if we were all taught in early school to pay attention to the judgements we make about everything around us. The insights a young mind would gain would be a phenomenal asset throughout out their lives. And I Do Mean Phenomenal. I see many people today who are in terrible emotional states because they are at odds with themselves, only they don't know it. They only know the manifested symptom. This "symptom" often catches them off guard because it doesn't fit in with who they think they are. Yet if we can get people to learn how to be introspective at an early age, I think we would unleash not only emotional wellness but probably who are better thinkers. -- "He paused, to consider deeply problems faced by society."

Today we spend a great deal of our time reacting to the external world, as though nothing else mattered. "It's all out there" is the mantra of the modern age. In truth, the most powerful modifiers are internally based.Take for example the emotion of Love. There is no greater feeling. It is so profound that it can instantly change your outlook on the entire world and those around you. Think of someone you love right now. All of a sudden the world seems a better place. Nothing external has changed. All you've done is acknowledge and get in touch with some totally internal experience. You can be in the worst mood and yet after thinking about a beautiful memory, all of a sudden things are markedly improved.

People must reacquaint themselves with their internal motivations to not only see the profound effect micro judgements have on their personal outlooks, but to understand the tremendous potential available. I think the larger world is that of the psyche. It is the totality of our complexity and also our potential.

Have a great day!
Patrick

Who says the world has to make sense?… See it like a child for a day. Or more often if you like😃

2026-02-25T00:00:00.014-08:00

I recently met a child of about seven years old, and the first thing he said was "You've got a big tummy." They were dancing around with blinking LED shoes when they said this. I thought to myself "What a joyful honest answer." I couldn't help smiling.

There was absolutely no malice in what they said, rather there was honesty and the simplicity of how they interacted with people. No judgements, no negativity, lots of playfulness and above all, simply direct. I don't's can learn a thing or two from this encounter between the old and the new.

As adults, perhaps it is time to look and think a little bit like a child. When you next open your front door, take just a moment and look around your surroundings as someone much younger. Not only will you go down memory lane, I'm betting you will realize just how many layers of complications and considerations grown-ups tend to put on themselves. Most of the time this is good, but if we begin to do it subconsciously without thinking there is a chance we can lose touch with the simple pleasures of life. Things need not be complicated. And it could be quite refreshing 😄

I'm reminded of a time when I was very young in Trail British Columbia when my brother had received a miniature working steam engine, complete with a boiler, and a flywheel. I was fascinated by this little gizmo. So I asked my dad if we could build one out of a coffee can. He looked at me and said "I don't think that would work." The more he tried to explain why this would not be a good idea, the more my young mind went wild with ideas on how to fix each of his stated issues. You see, he was looking at it as an adult, and rightfully so, but I was looking at it as a child and coming up with solutions, albeit based on the cartoon logic of the Coyote and RoadRunner" (Thank God I was exposed to those cartoons, back then). Even though we never built this steam engine. I have learned something very important from the experience and lingering memory. "Keep your mind open to the possibilities--Even If They Are Ridiculous. Because from that ultimately not so ridiculous answers may emerge."

Today's lesson then is to remember to think like a child on a regular basis. Just stick your head out the door, or a look around the corner with the attitude you had when you were five or seven years old. The world is about exploring and some of the best toys come from being open to the simple ways of seeing things. Take it a step further if you find this enjoyable. Do it regularly. Don't worry about limitations, details, or whether you may make a mess 😉.... If it puts a smile on your face then you have gained something magical.

Most of the really creative and free people I know stand touch with their childlike perceptions and frequently revisit their own mental playground. Leaving behind all the considerations and the judgements that adults have.

Is matter-of-fact I'm have put a few days on my calendar right now and if I can find a way to do this regularly I may go off and fly a lollipop and dunk it in my chocolate pudding!

Have a great day everyone.
Patrick

Buying The Ephemeral

2026-02-19T00:00:00.014-08:00

I sat down, to get an idea of just how many subscriptions and other payments are made in one year to services and products which are totally ephemeral. I don't mean in the classical definition of the word ephemeral, that is things which lasted only one day, rather I mean purchased items which have no physical shape. Take for example a movie subscription on Netflix. Then their software, it to today has no physical product and even if you're lucky enough to have a box which the product came in I bet that's all it is an empty box with perhaps a license key.

When you start to add all of the items up, it can be quite a shock. Not only is there nothing physical to show for the money you are spending, it is the fact that we have moved very quickly in this direction. I can't help thinking that this is a "Sucker's Game" in the end.

It used to be that everything you spent money on you came home with. As the late
George Carlin used to say in his standup routine "You Have so Much Stuff! And you need more places to put it." Now we don't need any place, and in that I find an issue. I Miss My Stuff!.

When I first got into computing, the software came with huge binders of information. It cost an arm and a leg, but you had something physical. Even though it had a software license there was no time limit. As long as you had a computer that could run whatever the product was. It would work… Fast forward to 2026 and every time major software is launched on your machine it connects to a remote server run by the company who made the package. If it doesn't make that connection your software doesn't run. Here's the kicker, and nobody seems to mind.

So what we are witnessing is a huge change in the mindset of the consumer, and from my perspective, this puts a layer of abstraction between the very products you use and the knowledge of what you need in order to use them. If your Internet connection goes down how many of these products you know will stop working? Probably many more than you think. Recently, I worked was someone whose printer was not working. It turned out that the printer needed to be hooked up to the Internet so that he could call home approximately once a week. It was doing this because the owner had joined a subscription ink service. To make matters even more interesting, when they decided to cancel their subscription the printer shut down again because the ink cartridges were parked of that subscription. Ultimately the person I had to go to the store and physically by new cartridges to get things going again. Even though the subscription cartridges had plenty of ink left and they had been fully paid for.

Not too long ago this would have resulted in a complete consumer revolt. As I recall a mini revolt was generated when Windows 95 and Windows 98 implemented a crude version of automatic updates. People were really put off by the fact that Microsoft could scan their computer. If they only knew, back then what was coming… Back then as well you had to go to the Microsoft update webpage to do the scan so it was quite different than it is today, but it was the beginning of a transition from the physical product to the ephemeral.

It is so easy to lose track and receive a surprise Subscription Renewal notice saying something like "Thank You! Your subscription has been automatically renewed." It adds up collectively very quickly. Personally that is why I have every auto payment option in my bank account turned off. On the occasion where a store requires the authorization for automatic payments, once the transaction is complete I go in and it disable that authorization.

Let me know your thoughts on this topic. If you feel like it please also feel free to relay some personal experiences.

Have a great day!
Patrick

Compartmentalization Of One's Place In Society

2026-02-14T00:00:00.018-08:00

As many of you know, I live in a supported living environment, which simply means the due to my physical disability I have 24 hour care. On the whole however I am quite independent and am always up to some activity. I really do have a curious and thoughtful mind. This is in sharp contrast to many of the people in my building who for lack of a better phrase, regardless of the severity or mildness of their condition don't have a "life" outside of the institutional framework. That is everything about their existence revolves around this facility. They may go outside but only to the local shopping mall or occasionally a movie theatre. There was a constant complaint that they are board or in other ways disgruntled and yet they do nothing to alter that state. As you can imagine, this results in a very routine life. For them every day is essentially the same as the one before it and frequently the names of each day don't seem to matter. A Wednesday has just as much importance as a Friday, which anyone working a standard week would know is definitely not the case. Friday is the beginning of the beloved weekend, and it still issomething I get excited about 😃

I've been in this facility for about seven years now and many times I've tried to encourage people in the building to broaden their horizons and do more. I mean we live in a day and age where we are simply flooded with information and opportunities… How could one not have an outside interest or opinion upon which to expand their life upon? Whenever I bring up this point, people asked me what they should do instead of looking inside of themselves to consider what they want to do.

"You will never be satisfied with life, if you ask others what to do. You must ask yourself, what you want to do with life."

This cyclical behaviour of people asking others what they should do and then rejecting the suggestion, only to go back into the same routines repeats constantly. Honestly this is now something I find a little annoying, because many of the people living in my building could be doing something more rewarding with their lives, but there is always something that has blocked them. I think, I might have an idea now what that issue might be.

Is it possible that they have locked themselves into a social caste like system? Perhaps they believe that because of their condition and because of where they live that they are compartmentalized into a limited set of opportunities. Very much like the caste system in other countries. You are born into a level of society and that is where you must state. That may sound like a ridiculous thought, but I am reminded of a friend who during a meeting of one of the groups I belong to, and I'm paraphrasing said "We are the elites, of the disabled in our age group. "At the time I thought this was a very arrogant statement. But now I am reconsidering this, although not from such a literal point of view. At the time the group I was attending we were talking about the geriatric disabled. People born in the early 1960s. The group grew up in a totally different culture especially in the early days, there was an implied social caste: "You are not normal. You are different. The opportunities in life for you will be very limited." While this is an exaggerated statement, we did take subtler messages like this to heart and even to this day at 66 years old I still have to fight the occasional belief that I feel pulling me into this limited set of opportunities. I think that is what my friend meant. Analogous to electrons trapped in the valence rings of an atom. Each electron stays within its own orbit until forcibly nudged out of it. It is not a perfect analogy and I am by no means a chemist so please take only the very general concept of this idea, in other words don't shoot the writer of this article for being inaccurate. What I mean to say is our people locked in their own or mental orbits in my facility? Do they just feel that they are part of this caste system and must stay within their own orbit.

As we all know, even though we are thinking beings of emotions can override logical thought. And if you think you belong in one orbit, or one caste you emotionally hold yourself to that level. This way of approaching the problem does make a lot of sense to me. I am not sure of the solution, aside from nagging everyone around me to death to get off their butts and do something with their lives. Which I will continue to do, so not to worry. But, if what I propose here is true, then there are undoubtedly others who are equally compartmentalized and limited by the very nature of the way they are feeling and thinking about their lives. So this is no small matter and I shall take it with me as I moved through my various activities moving forward.

Down the road there will likely be a video companion to this article because it is rather profound from my perspective. Videos however take time to get right and in the meantime I would love to hear from you, dear reader.

As you can see the, I have created a companion video. The more I think about this topic, the more profound it becomes. I really do believe that a lot more emphasis needs to be placed on it. Being visible issues are easy to see and therefore simple to focus resources on, but it is ultimately the subtle beliefs and behaviours which have the long term impact.

While I was making the video there was a concern in the use of the word "Caste" was inappropriate, but I think it is perfectly accurate. It describes an involuntary classification placed on the individual-based only upon the situation they were born into. More importantly, as the person grows up this often becomes a self reinforcing belief so that it is fundamental in everything they do. If we step back and take a wider perspective you can see the limits and judgements being placed on many people.

To a greater or lesser extent I think everyone knows about this but I think it is been vastly underestimated. Just because something is subtle only means that it may go on unnoticed by the larger public. It does not mean that it is any less deserving of attention and ultimately resolution.

Do you think the ideas put forward in this article have merit? Let me know your experiences and thoughts. In the meantime of course have a great day and take care.

Patrick

** NOTE: The pictures and the thumbnail of the video are from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

Change May Bring Discomfort But...

2026-02-10T19:37:00.009-08:00

...It Is Guaranteed to show you something positive you didn't expect.

It is always wise to remember that no matter who you are and how observant you are there will be many times in the life where one becomes, quite accidentally, a little too comfortable.

That is, in the absence of an external force acting on the human being, we have a tendency to stop our own evolution by becoming a little too comfortable with whatever the current situation is. This stops most people from developing further. That is until something comes along and shakes them up a bit so that they continue on the road of life.

Everyone falls into this trap many times over a human being's admittedly short lifespan. When people become content for a long period of time they inevitably stop evolving. Which is a shame, because that is the very time to undertake something new and shake up the tree. To be clear I don't mean you have to do this every day, but I do you mean that it should be frequent enough that you are keenly aware of the benefits. And what might the benefits be you ask?… Far too many to mention, and for each person the list is unique. I can tell you however that it keeps you engaged with the very process of life. Allowing you to notice things you might otherwise have not seen. I bet you as a matter of fact that when you see something new especially if it's unexpected, there is always something deep within that feels a little uncomfortable. That feeling of being "uncomfortable" is an extremely important sign because it means that you are looking at an opportunity to change. You may not like what you perceive as the change, and indeed there may be a fair bit of resistance to the new concepts you are confronted with, but I promise in the end you will gain more than you lose. Usually in ways that are imperceptible to other people. But you know what has occurred.

Click picture to view / download full
resolution printable copy.

This artwork is hereby placed in the
public domain and is based upon material
in the public domain. Patrick Clark

So please don't allow yourself to become overly comfortable or complacent. You should always try to shake each day up a little bit. Because the only meaningful constant in one's life is "change itself".

So go out and do something you were not quite expecting today. Shake up the day!

Feel free to let me know in the comments if you had any Eureka moments 😉

Take care Patrick

Moving video and pictures from a Android phone to a USB stick and back

2026-02-07T19:04:00.111-08:00

One of the scenarios I hear from people frequently is regarding their phones storage filling up. The phone call or discussion goes something like this:

They are getting messages from the phone that they can no longer take any photos because there is no storage space left… Usually at this point there is also a message suggesting that they pay for more online storage as well.

These two messages totally confuse the issue for most people who are not technically savvy. If they buy more online storage, the problem on the phone seems to go away for only short amount of time and then there is another message asking them to upgrade.

So my purpose in this article and accompanying video is to attempt to untangle this mess of running out of room on the phone for photos.

First off let's make clear what online storage is and why the phone is using it. When you take a photograph with your phone it is stored in two places.

Inside your phone as you would expect, and this does take up physical storage space.
The phone also sends a copy of the photograph to online storage. So you have a backup of the photograph.

Great, except unless you're paying extra the amount of photos which can be stored online is rather limited. So you start getting messages about running low on storage pretty quickly after sitting up your new phone.

This behaviour of automatically backing up photographs is pretty much the default configuration for phones now days. Some phones however are configured a little bit differently and they will not display this message about running low on storage until both the online storage and the phones physical built in storage are full. If this is the situation a phone is in then it's a real mess because usually the phone cannot do software updates since there is no room to actually put the update.

So what do you do?

Answer: Transfer your photos from the phone's physical memory to another device, usually a USB memory stick or an external hard drive, for safekeeping. This does mean that you won't be able to look at all your photos on your phone, but because you now have the photos stored somewhere else you can use other devices to look at them. And if you really want to you can transfer them back to the phone at any time.

The video goes into greater detail of the transfer process but here in brief are the steps, just so you get some idea of what is going on and how to do it. These steps are specific for the Android Operating system for phones. With iPhones the procedure is considerably different. If I can get my hands on a current iPhone I will make a video and article for those as well.

Before proceeding… Phones and anything related to the Internet changes frequently. It is quite possible that the procedures outlined below no longer match your phone. These instructions are specifically geared toward android-based operating system phones and tablets. Use them at your own risk. When in doubt Do Not guess. Take your device to a professional who can provide specific guidance.

Buy a USB memory stick with a Type "C" plug as shown in the picture below. The USB stick will connect to your phone using the same connection as the one used for charging. If the phone does not have this style of USB connector take the phone to the store when you are purchasing the USB stick and see if you can get a compatible USB stick or an adapter. (In the video I recommend a USB stick with at least 32 gigabytes (GB) of storage. But after thinking about it if you can get 64 GB that would be preferable. Pictures and videos can be quite large now days.)

A suitable USB stick with a "Type C" connection on the end.
This represents 90% of all new cell phones.
Plug the USB stick into the phone. If you get a message indicating that the stick must be "formatted", click "yes" to proceed. This will only occur the first time you use the stick and may not occur at all.

Be aware though that this formatting process will erase anything previously put on the USB stick. So when in doubt always use a empty stick.

However once the initial format is complete the next time you use the same stick the phone will not go through this process and you can add more photos to a partially filled stick.

Now login your phone as you normally would. This is usually the screen you see after initially see right after logging in. I will call this screen the "Home Screen".Note that the link screen on your phone will look different, screenshots below are simply once I took from my phone. However after you have logged in your phone should look familiar. As long as it does you are on the right track.

Example of a phone's
"Home Screen" .

Swipe up on the home screen so that you reveal all the apps (a.k.a. programs) contained in the phone.

Find the one named "My Files"or just "Files". Tap on it to open the app.The placement of the icons will look different, but you should be able to find the app on the screen somewhere.

Tape on the "My Files"
app to open it.
We will now copy a few pictures from the phone to your USB stick.

a). You should see a "Categories" section under which you will see one named"Images". Tap on it.

Tap on "Images " category

b) This will display the photos you have in your phone. You should see a small checkmark in a circle at the top of the list of photos. Tap on it to start selecting images. This will automatically select all the images in the phone to be copied to the USB stick. If there is a photo you don't want to copy, tap on the photo in order to clear its checkmark.

Tap the checkmark to
select images.

c) Now, with the pictures selected to be copied, tap on the three vertical dots located in the upper right corner of the phone. This will display a menu from which you can choose the menu item "Copy to".

The 3 dot menu

d) Choose the USB drive, then tap on the "Copy here" button that appears and your photos will start copying to the USB stick. This may take some time, depending on the number of photos selected.

Tap the USB stick
(a.k.a. USB Flash drive)

Tap "Copy here"

Photos being copied to
the USB stick.

e) Now we want to remove USB stick but do not physically pull it out of the phone yet. On most android phones, the safest way to disconnect a USB device, is to go through a process called "ejecting" or 'un-mounting'. This ensures that there is no corruption when you pull the stick physically out of the phone. On most phones, you go back to your home screen, swipe down and long press on the message that indicates your USB stick has been inserted. This should give you the option to eject the stick, at which point you can safely pull it out of the phone.

At the phone's Home Screen swipe down to
reveal the option to disconnect
the USB drive from the phone.

Tap on "Eject" to properly
disconnect the USB stick
from the phone.

A Message will briefly appear
indicating that it is safe to
remove the USB stick.

7. Now that the USB stick is safely disconnected and stored somewhere. Now you can go into your phone and delete pictures as you normally would. This process varies a fair bit by phone, but I simply use the same app "My Files"(a.k.a."Files") which we used to transfer the pictures to the USB stick to select the checkmark on each picture you want to delete and then it tapping on the Trashcan, it appears in the upper right-hand corner of the phone.

Moving photos to the "Trashcan"
on the phone.
8. Placing the photos in the phone's trashcan removes them from view but it does not actually delete them. For most android phones you must take one more step, that will actually free up the storage in the phone. You must empty the trashcan. The procedure varies quite a bit amongst android devices. Here is how you do it on Google Pixel4a phone.

a) Once items are in the phone's Trashcan, they can be permanently deleted by going to the "Hamburger menu". Options will appear on the left side of the phone,

Tap on the "Hamburger menu"
in upper right corner,

b) Tap on the word "Trash".

Step 1, Permanently Removing
files from the phone.

b) Step 2: You will be given the option to delete all the files in the trashcan or alternatively, to select only a few.

Step 2. Confirming the permanent
deletion of files in the Trashcan.

There will be no way to retrieve the files after this final warning. They will be gone permanently. Additionally if you have online back up enabled on your phone these files will also be removed from the online backup service. Being very certain that your files have been successfully copied to the USB stick before this step.

Step 3. Final Deletion. Once you tap
on "Delete" the files are permanently
removed.If you have online backups
enabled it may be removed as well.

The same process outlined above also works for removing video clips from your phone. Just choose the "videos" category instead of images. This will save you a great deal of space as videos take up a lot more storage.

It is also possible to copy photos from a USB stick to phone. In that case reverse the above procedure. See the video for more information approximately 15 minutes from the start of the video.

I highly recommend that you watch the entire video since it goes into much more detail then the article can.

Have a great day and take care!
Patrick Clark

Then Something Marvellously Positive Happened...

2026-01-30T00:00:00.016-08:00

Sometimes, just sometimes, something happens that catches you off guard and make your day. As though the world was saying to you "Hey, here's a surprise, if you're quick enough to notice it." and in this situation it was a friend of mine would recently become a grandfather telling me about the child's name. It wasn't the name that caught my eye, it was the expression on his face. Absolute and complete joy!

I swear the guy lost 20 years in a split second and it was astounding to see this just instantaneously happen. To know that this was a regular at the end around the world millions of times a day doesn't matter. Nothing could discount this experience. I don't even know if he realized intellectually just how much joy he was feeling, and I guess it doesn't matter.

So the next time someone tells you or expresses an opinion that nothing good ever happens in the modern world or that everything is negative I want you to think about this short little post and video. It reminds us all that good things are constantly happening. We must however be open to listening for them. They are there, taking a multitude of forms, some short some long.

Hypothetical site, not real.

Can you imagine if there was an online service similar to Facebook but focused on posting positive or inspirational stories and events. That would be pretty cool. There probably is, somewhere on the vast Internet and if not, which is something I find highly unlikely, we must find out why. Maybe it's just the simple fact that we are conditioned on an evolutionary level to look for negative things first. It is better to suspect that there might be something hiding in the bush, then not be aware of it in the first place. Regardless however, such a service putting a positive angle on events would be a welcome and needed commodity. ("Commodity" is not the word I would use, but it is the word that came to mind as I write this text.)

In the video below, it is easy to see how pleasantly I was blown away by my friends expression as he told me about his new relative. I wish I had been able to get a photograph of his face. I am really not understating it when I say that he became 20 years younger. These really are the things we need to retrain our modern brains to pay attention to. That is to look for positive experiences, rather than the default negative.

In the past I know that various people and companies have tried to start "Good News Networks" and that it is always been an uphill battle. I think the idea would be much easier to address if one would start small. That is pay attention to the small things that occur in life, then progressed slowly, up the ladder until you can start something like a positive stories network, or organization with the same goals in mind. The modern person has been conditioned, not to look for the uplifting things and therefore we have many negative behaviours to deal with and resolve before we can tackle the big projects. However as any of my readers know, I am an optimist and I keep seeing the beauty and life intermingled with a little bit of magic.

Feel free to start a competition with your friends to see who can come up with the most positive experience of the week. It may sound a little corny, but you never know, such a simple start may ultimately lead to a big idea.

So there you have it, my retelling of a short little experience which happened to me. It might be in short but it sure wasn't insignificant for either the grandfather or myself. Things are always happening in the world and it is not always one-sided.

Have a great day Patrick

** NOTE: The picture "Welcome to Good News" is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

How has the quality of "News" being reported changed over the years?

2026-01-27T00:00:00.005-08:00

I think everyone will agree, in 2026, the average person now has access to information regarding what is going on in the world much more readily than in times past. Indeed, people now have what they might consider to be too many sources of information.

How has this affected our perception of the world? Personally to me, I think the individual is now put in the unenviable position of being the "Chief Editor" of the articles and information that come across their virtual desk. I remember when I was very young news would come from a few well-respected sources, Walter Cronkite, comes to mind as well as, in Canada CBC news. Which I still listen to today. It seems to me that the coverage of the events in the media has also drastically changed. I love detailed articles be they visual in nature or in print or newscast. Have you noticed that often when an event is being reported the most important details about the story which would help you put it into proper context are missing in the report?--I have. You can't always put this lack of information down to withholding information because it might affect some aspect of the story. The media needs to get back to much deeper coverage in order to educate the listener.

What constitutes as news has also dramatically changed, I think what is going on is because we have now switched from a information content based driven media system, to a newsroom system that must put out regular snippets, the quality of the information has gone way down. Indeed what now qualifies as newsworthy is sometimes completely underwhelming.

However there is still plenty of excellent reporting and dialogue going on in the media at large. It must be sought out however and supported. As far as the person receiving the news goes they must also not expect everything to be quickly understood. Some topics take research and that means effort on the part of the audience which of course takes time. This has an excellent side effect in that it helps keep a community well informed and engaged with each other. This is something I think we need to get back to.

I am currently considering several bigger and more in depth articles for the blog as opposed to the short little snippets. The longer more in depth articles however take time and usually involve an accompanying video. For now, however I just want you to consider ways to deepen your understanding of what is going on in the world by seeking out information and news resources that go beyond the three minute podcast.

Have a great day everyone and stay tuned.
Patrick

** NOTE: The picture displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

Where Will Your Magic Moment Be Today?

2026-01-24T00:00:00.006-08:00

Somewhere, in the next 24 hours you will experience something positive.

It will be amongst a flurry of other activity. The challenge will be to notice it.

We are also busy with activities and obligations, while at the same time, being not so subtly, attuned to the negative things that we frequently don't notice small moments of enlightening pleasant events. Now evolutionarily the human species is more attuned to the negative things. After all if you were in the wild you would want to be aware of that line hiding in the bush. Trouble is that advertisers and other influencers have learned to manipulate this trait and the things have gotten out of hand. We are absolutely bombarded with the darker side of life so much so that it takes some effort to see the more positive things out there. I promise you however they are there. Small little dots of pleasantness or calmness scattered about.

Make it a goal today to notice these little moments of uplifting insight. They may be very short, but don't discount them. Indeed, add them up and see what the average amount of daily positive insights there are. To this over a week and I'll bet you will be surprised.

One of the things that everyone has to deal with now days which is unique to our generation and those coming after us, is information is coming at us and an incredible rate. Everything is delivered to us almost instantaneously now. We don't even have to type in a query on a keyboard anymore, you can just ask the question directly and for the most part you get an answer. I find that amazing personally on one level, because I see the potential of this technology, however I wonder on average how this technology is used every day. It is used to uplift, or is it used to depress? Give me a moment, I am going to run off and ask "Gemini" this question right now. The question I posed and the answer will be posted immediately below this text.

The question: "Are there any statistics on whether questions posed to Artificially Intelligent services like yourself or chatGPT are of a negative nature versus a positive query?"

Google Gemini produced quite a response, a mini report on the subject.

As always take everything produced by an AI system with scepticism. I have not verified any of the information contained in the report. Use at your own risk.

Having said that, it does appear to ring true to me. One thing I take from this output is questions to such systems I won't be as "flowery" in my queries.

Google Gemini's response begins now:

The question of whether users are "nice" or "mean" to AI is a significant area of study for researchers. While there is no single, real-time "dashboard" for all AI queries, several large-scale studies and dataset analyses provide a clear picture of user behavior.

Generally, the data suggests that most interactions are neutral and task-oriented, but a small, vocal minority of users engages in highly emotional or "negative" querying.

1. The Majority: Neutral and Utility-Driven

Most users treat AI as a tool rather than a social companion. Analysis of public datasets like ShareGPT and WildChat (which contains over 1 million real-world interaction logs) reveals that the vast majority of prompts are:

● Informational: Fact-checking or asking for explanations.

● Productive: Writing code, emails, or summaries.

● Creative: Generating stories or brainstorming.

A 2025 study by OpenAI on "affective use" found that while users do occasionally personify AI, the majority of users engage in relatively neutral ways. The emotional or negative queries typically come from a "tail set" of power users who use the AI for more personal or experimental reasons.

2. The "Politeness" Statistics

Interestingly, there is a distinct divide in how people frame their prompts. Some users include "please" and "thank you," while others use blunt commands.

● The Accuracy Paradox: A recent study from Pennsylvania State University (2025) titled "Mind Your Tone" found that rude or blunt prompts actually resulted in higher accuracy (84.8%) compared to "very polite" prompts (80.8%).

● Why? Researchers suggest that polite language often adds "linguistic noise" or "redundancy" that can distract the model from the core instruction. Direct, imperative commands (e.g., "Solve this.") provide a cleaner signal to the AI.

3. Negative vs. Positive sentiment

When researchers perform sentiment analysis on user prompts, they typically find the following distribution:

Sentiment Type	Characteristics	Estimated Prevalence
Neutral	Fact-based, coding, "how-to" instructions.	70% – 85%
Positive/Polite	Including "please," "thank you," or "good job."	10% – 15%
Negative/Hostile	Aggressive commands, testing "jailbreaks," or venting.	5% – 10%

4. Sentiment Mirroring

A phenomenon called sentiment propagation is often observed in AI interactions. If you are negative or aggressive, the AI may inadvertently mirror that tone (though safety filters now "soften" extreme emotions).

● Positive Prompts: Tend to increase the "verbosity" (length) of the response.

● Negative Prompts: Often lead to a decline in factual accuracy (up to 8.4%in some tests) because the model may shift toward more speculative or defensive language.

Summary of Trends

● The "Venting" Factor: A small percentage of users use AI specifically to vent frustrations they wouldn't say to a human.

● The "Test" Factor: Many negative queries are not "mean" in intent but are "adversarial"—users trying to trick the AI into saying something offensive to see where the boundaries are.

● The "Directness" Shift: As users become more "AI-literate," the use of social pleasantries like "please" is decreasing in favor of efficient, direct prompting.

End of Google Gemini's response.

Now let's get back to the topic at hand and that is being aware of the positive events that occur every day in your life and mine. Remember to when you're speaking with people to give them the benefit of the doubt and not to check everything so personally. If need be step out of your comfort zone for a moment and look at at the bigger picture. Even if your Magic moment isn't immediately apparent stepping back from an event often gives you some insights which can allow you time to mold your emotions and indeed see the magic which may be just around the corner.

As you can tell, this is how I tend to approach every day. Knowing that somewhere in the next 24 hours there will be something unexpectedly pleasant. Maybe very brief in duration, but it will be there.

Have a great day and don't forget to keep looking. Maybe make a journal of the events you are now noticing which you might otherwise have ignored. You may be very surprised. Let me know in the comments.
.
Patrick

A Midwinter Season Of Procrastination

2026-01-23T00:00:00.006-08:00

Time to talk about this notable topic, "Procrastination". I said, in a very short February 2023 post, that "It had reared its ugly head". I can tell from the shortness of the article and the minimal amount of effort I put into the graphic that I must've been really out of sorts in this regard. Probably stalling on many fronts.

Here it is 2026 and the situation is back again, not as bad, but still annoying as hell. It's a good thing I wrote the original post because it does have some good points. For once I'm going to listen to myself. One of the things I'm going to recognize is that I have been keeping this blog going pretty regularly and it is doing quite well averaging around 7000 to almost 8000 visitors a month.

SIDE NOTE: Not bad for a blog that has issues with google's "smart phone spider", which is how they scan everything today on the Internet. For those of you in the audience that art totally "geeky", a "spider"is simply a program that scans the Internet for new content. It does this by pretending to be a device, in this case a smart phone. When it gets to the site, the blogger server attempts to send it a smart phone compatible webpage and the process by which it does this by makes the Google spider think something fishy is going on so it doesn't like to add page to the Google index. Because of the way blogger is set up there is not much I can do about it. Fortunately, enough of my articles make it through however.

And now back to the topic at hand, procrastination. Where was I… As you can tell this is a very informal post as I just try to work through getting ready to get things done today. Rather than try to do everything my goal today is to focus on only one thing, if possible, because sometimes reality comes along and goes, "Nope. I'm going to fill up your plate."

One more side note. Unlike other websites, I never take anything off this site and so it has become a bit of a historical crucible with articles going way back to 2012.. So if you post a comment, it is here forever and apparently Blogger.com service on which this site depends it's doing quite well. So disciple be around for a long time I think. So while I'm working through my little boat of procrastination please feel free to use a new feature I added if you're using a laptop or tablet you will see at the top of every post a "Read a Random Post" button, feel free to use it is much as you like.

Anyway, I'm getting on with the rest of my day. Take care and their other items (articles) in the queue. So stay tuned for more.

Patrick

** NOTE: The picture displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

The shift to AI in content creation

2026-01-21T00:00:00.002-08:00

Image created by Ideogram AI

AI has been a boom in content creation, there can be no doubt about that. The graphic at the top of this article was created in about five minutes using a service called Ideogram AI . But just how far will this trend go.

The field of AI is still very young and evolving rapidly. No one knows where it will go or whether it will hit a brick wall. My plan is to use it here and there but not over rely on it. So the question becomes where will AI settle into the scheme of things.I very much enjoy creating graphics and video by hand. There is just something in the process that I find very fulfilling.

This is a very casual article and at this very moment it is more a thought sold the following text is likely to of old over the next few days. One of the things holding AI back is each huge power consumption. That simply is a problem that must be overcome. But it is easier said than done. The other thing is the fact that I have heard that when processing a request from a user, each work in their question is given to a separate CPU. It is no wonder there is so much power being utilized. Quantum computing may help for certain aspects but from one of heard this may be a very small specialized subset of queries and/or problems.

Perhaps a good starting point for this discussion is how do you use AI currently in your content creation. Myself it is currently with graphics and occasionally gaining insight into technical questions which are usually related to servers or the web. These types of questions tend to be those that are hard to use a traditional search phrase for because of their complexity. Chat GPT or Gemini in these cases give me insights start from and occasionally almost accidentally contained within their responses is the answer.

It is amusing to think how quickly I've gone from an attitude of "I feel guilty when I use AI, because it is cheating." to "Gee, this can be very handy when used properly." However one thing is for sure, some AI's are definitely better at certain aspects. I use mainly Chat GPT and Gemini and to pay for a subscription to Ideogram AI . The one thing I don't do however with AI is completely trust the answers. Much is been said about "AI hallucinations", and after taking a introductory course on brilliant.org I understand why these mechanisms sometimes fail in their answers. I worked with someone recently who on the other hand by the sounds of it completely trusts AI in their daily activities. They were rather shocked to find out that I don't. They use the phrase that caught me off guard in our discussions as well. "Oh, you did it that way… That was before you could use AI." They acted like everything before the creation of AI was somehow almost prehistory. Although AI has been worked on for many years and has gone through many starts and stops, it hasn't been around no functional state for too long

As I recall in the 70s there were great predictions that AI would be everywhere. As the euro went on a however and the 80s approached, many researchers thought it was an unobtainable goal. There were minor breakthroughs here and there but interest in artificial intelligence almost evaporated. Then of course as everyone knows not put too many years ago chat GPT exploded onto the scene. And now we find ourselves in a similar situation to the 1970s. Great prognostications on all sides of the debate.

In my mind however the question still remains, "To what degree will AI be used in content creation?" And of course this question can be expanded to other fields. Hopefully there will always be a human component in the equation. Humanity must not get to a point where we don't understand how the solutions are being achieved at. It's a little frightening to think that in some aspects we already don't know how things work. It is indeed critical that we strive to have a fundamental understanding because that also means that we can direct the ultimate goal of whatever the endeavour is.

Who knows there may be a Renaissance of the AI prehistory techniques. Much like there's been a revival in the use and enjoyment of vinyl records. Which is something I never saw coming. I really thought that vinyl records were going to stay as part of history. I really hated when I would get a brand-new record home only to find in a few weeks that there would be an inevitable "snap, crackle, pop" sound because some dust, despite all my best efforts, had invaded the grooves.

Anyway let me know what you think, and please watch this article as it is very likely to leave multiple over time.
Take care,
Patrick

** NOTE: The picture displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

Time before us

2026-01-17T12:33:00.002-08:00

When it really hits home that there are a finite number of days to live, it is not only profound, it begs the question: "Was life worth it?".

I'll get to my answer in a moment, but boy do you start reevaluating everything in your life and surroundings from my totally different perspective. Considering things like:

Should long multiyear projects be undertaken?
Is it really worth buying that large big-ticket item?
Since the end of life is now more than an abstract concept, each day becomes "a limited time event". How to spend that time wisely?

The list goes on from there, and the closer one examines it, the clearer it becomes that life is a pretty unusual state to be in. Or perhaps, to put it another way, the very act of considering the above questions, and being conscious about doing so is incredibly inspiring. There-I have just given you my answer to the question "What It's like Worth It?"-"Hell, Yes!" - The good and bad.

Perplexing, only I think the bad was just as important as the good parts of life. When considering the negative experience as a whole after the fact. By definition, you are not going to get anything positive out of the negative experience while you're in the middle of it, unless you literally stepped out of the experience for a moment to consider it from another viewpoint. It is all about taking stock of life; the whole experience. Not being a passive passenger but as engaged with life as much as you can be. That is my take away if I was asked to sum up my reading of existence and it would be a 10 😊😊.

I think it is very important, especially as we are now dealing with more and more technology that is impersonal and literally reformatting the social norm that everyone periodically take stock of their life and if you don't find it is worth it so far make changes to make it a worthwhile experience. These need not be huge changes. Often it starts with a slight mind set adjustment. Take a look at what your preceding to be true automatically. Is it negative or is it positive?. There are quite a few articles on this blog about this topic, I'll link to a few here.

Funny how this article started out being about the limited number of days before us, meaning of course, "me" and is transformed itself into a short article on how to appreciate life. At least my approach to getting more from life and it is really pretty simple:

Pay attention.
Don't do things automatically.
Change your routines regularly and then occasionally change that. Become irregular for a little while.
If you are uncomfortable with the idea of "change" consider why that seems to be the case. Often it is based on a misconception about the change itself.

Okay that's it for this brief Saturday article. Have a good day and of course let me know what you think.
Patrick

What Are the Origins of Enthusiasm?

2026-01-14T14:12:00.003-08:00

Some people become enthusiastic regularly. While others just never reach thier "Ignition Point".

I have noticed this to be the case in my surroundings, but I think it's true of the wider world as well. Once again, it boils down to a few simple differences in general outlook and expectations of life.

Enthusiastic people are:

Curious. They want to know why something works a certain way. They desire a deeper understanding and are enthusiastic about the undertaking of learning.
"Change" is one of their favourite words as well as an action. They innately understand that the world and their life changes frequently. Usually in subtle ways, but sometimes in overwhelming ways. The key is that they welcome and accept this fact.
It is innately understood that the personality and perhaps the very person will change throughout their lifetime. Remaining static and holding onto the old ways is not one of their goals. This point is one of the most important aspects of their character. It is understood that nothing is permanent. Everything about life is in flux.

Unenthusiastic people don't share the above-mentioned points.

There is a false belief that they will remain the same, throughout life. That their character as it is today, will always be. Furthermore they actively will avoid change. Sometimes they will put quite a bit of effort into staying static.

They prefer staying "Comfortable", within known boundaries. This means that they eventually will become very frustrated because things naturally change around them. Yet they will profess a desire to experience or acquire new things. This is a contradiction, you can't avail yourself the benefits of new things unless you come out of your boundaries.

The result of these two behaviors , "staying the same" and remaining "comfortable" means that they don't grow and will retreat into past memories while limiting the negatives they perceive in the modern world. I think this condition has been brought about by the simple fact that in today's world there is nothing that really forces the human being to go outside of their comfort zone. There is no need to hunt, or seek shelter. 100 years ago this was definitely not the case, a person had to avail themselves of opportunities if they wanted to survive.

So, the message is clear. If you are sincerely seeking enthusiasm in your life. You must embrace change and acknowledge that the person you believe you are today will not be the person up tomorrow. You may not the comfortable with change but in order to grow it is a necessary fact which must be undertaken. Do this and the enthusiasm for things in your life will begin to appear.

Have a great day everyone and of course take care.
Patrick

** NOTE: The picture displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

Differently Interacting with the Physical World

2026-01-11T13:16:00.001-08:00

What I find most fascinating is how different people interact physically with the world. The subconscious decisions about where things are placed it's actually quite a study. I see these small automatic choices being made because I view my environment from the perspective of someone in a wheelchair.

Even trained staff who are more physically where than the average person fall into these automatic decisions; a cup get placed on a table within their comfortable physical range, which may or may not be useful to me. Of course I correct them when necessary, but I do find it fascinating and often watch the physical choices they make throughout their work day in regards to the placement of things. This is only scratching the surface though, it really gets one thinking about how people interact with their physical space around them and one may infer from such observations a fair bit about the person.

Original photo

Click photo download original untouched image
Hereby placed in the public domain by photographer Patrick Clark.
Photo taken on: 2015-08-07 2:50:25 pm
Camera model: Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

I don't remember too much about this particular photo except it was a nice August day and I was wondering around Vancouver British Columbia. Something about the simplicity of the simplicity of the image just appealed to me. Feel free to download the full untouched photograph by clicking on the above image.

Some people are deep thinkers who naturally taken a lot of information about their environment. You can see the wheels turning in their mind as they figure out how to best solve the problem. Whether that be comparing items when shopping or simply the placement of a cup on a table. They tend to be very creative in some of their solutions. It is marvellous to discuss with them almost any aspect of life. Of course occasionally these deep thinkers can overthink the situation aswell. They end up going for the most complicated answer only to realize that something simpler was the best solution to begin with.

Some people are efficiency experts. They tend to move through their environment a little more quickly and the placement of items may not be optimal for everyone or indeed themselves. But it is what is most effective for the moment to achieve the task at hand. As a rule I find they like to move in an orderly manner from one task to another, "A to B and then on to C". Once a pattern is established they tend to stick with it, even if it is not producing the optimal outcome. They don't readily tend to think as deeply unless something surprises them. They prefer a routine which allows them to achieve their daily tasks in a predictable manner. This does not mean they are not aware of their surroundings, they prefer however to get things done and then move on to the next task. This makes a lot of sense, in our busy multitasking world.

The last group tends to boggle my mind and I end up wondering how they make it through life. These people are pleasant but deal with things, for lack of a better phrase, "at arm's length". For every task they want a step-by-step breakdown of how to accomplish it. They do this not in order to understand the situation but rather to avoid thinking about it. They tend to be very regimented in any given situation and are seemingly oblivious to nuances. Once again these are very nice people but you will never have an in-depth conversation. They just don't work on that level. One gets the feeling that they would prefer to have a step-by-step manual for life. People like this fascinate me because their approach to life is so different than mine, bordering on alien.

When scientists gets to the stage where can actually decode messages in the human brain sufficiently to construct the individual minds reality I think we are in for a big surprise. I don't think human minds process reality as uniformly as we are given to believe. That is I think the human experience is very different between people. I hope I live to see this because it will force a reevaluation of not only social norms but deeper considerations. Hopefully this will have the effect of expanding understanding and inclusion.

From the basics of how we individually interact with the physical world and our own environments, to deep considerations of society and the world as a whole. I didn't expect this short little article to go down such a rabbit whole. If you've never considered such questions spend the next week or so observing how different friends and people interact with their environment. Or just consider how you personally interact with it.

For me this way of looking at things and how people work with their world allows me to custom fit my reactions to each individual person and when I can I try to step into their shoes and consider the world from their perspective. It sure makes one appreciate the diversity of life and experience.

Have a great day!
Patrick

This seems a fitting question to answer for the first article of 2026 👀

2026-01-08T18:50:00.019-08:00

One of the questions I hear often regarding this blog is, "Where do you get the ideas to write about on your website [blog]?"

This seems a fitting question to answer for the first article of 2026.

The inspiration for ideas comes from the fact that I keep not only my mind open, but I'm also very aware of my environment as a whole. One's environment is always changing, people come and go, and if you look closely can pay attention new things are always happening. One has to take an active role in this process though. You cannot just wait for it to come to you. Be ready to embrace change of all kinds. In brief that is how I come up with new articles. I may be talking to someone, or hear something, or just a flash of insight. I never really know where and how the motivation for a post on this website will appear.

Let me stress that you have to be active in being open to new ideas and mixing things up a bit. By that I mean not being too comfortable with your current environment. If you find yourself being bored and that is a really good indication that you have to shake up your situation. You cannot wait for an event to come to you. Chase an idea and get used to doing this on a regular basis. The idea may or may not pan out but it is the process that is most important. The process of being aware of your surroundings and keeping yourself open to experiences will result in ideas and insights becoming part of your daily life.

So, to summarize:

Actively seek change.
You must put energy and effort into the undertaking. It will not come to you without effort.
Get comfortable with the idea of short-term discomfort. This is required when exploring a new frontier as in an idea or activity.

I created this poster to remind myself that "Change and Challenge" are opportunities. You can download a printable copy or order a full poster:.

Click the picture to download a printable
version on your computer.

Please feel free to download and print out the image if it inspires you. If you would like a unique hard copy version of this printed on steel as a poster it can now be purchased at "Displate" in several sizes. Full disclosure, I do receive a percentage of every sale.

Click here to view all posters available on my Displate page

Things are changing... As they always do.

We live in an unusual period of history, in that unlike previous generations, for the most part we don't have to put in any energy to find a basic answer to our everyday questions. All that needs to be done is ask the local virtual assistant and the answer is provided. On one hand this is fantastic, everyone has access to a knowledge bank of information, and even though it may not be totally accurate it gives us the ability to investigate further. The initial work of figuring out how to attack a problem has been done.

Unfortunately this has a downside in that the skills we need for introspection and understanding of ourselves have rapidly declined and these are the very skills necessary when discovering new ideas to explore. Because it is in the exploration that you discover not only how to find an answer, you discover something about yourself along the way.

I often wonder if I'd be born in the 1990s as opposed to 1959 whether I would have my own investigative skills developed. For all of my teenager years research of all kinds was done manually. One had to go to a source of knowledge, be at the library, or an authoritative organization and bring all the pieces together to make a hypothesis. I am very grateful to have been born it at this transition period in that I can avail myself of both systems.

How do you come up with your own inspiration? Is it a different approach than mine? Let me know in the comments.

May we all have an excellent 2026!

Of course more articles are on the way.
Sincerely Patrick Clark

** NOTE: The picture displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

You Are Alive; Why Would You Not Take Advantage Of It?

2025-12-27T16:41:00.008-08:00

WOW, life... I am going to take advantage of this!

Image generated by Ideogram AI.

Imagine for a moment, that you are a sentient life form on another planet and just like human beings you live and die a certain amount of time. But you know for certain there is no afterlife. Would this affect how you approach your existence?

I ask this question because I find an ever-growing number of people don't take advantage of what their life offers. Put simply, that is that they are aware they exist; they can affect change in their environment and yet they do not alter their situation in a positive manner but instead reinforce negative behavior, and all the while completing bitterly about the situation. This is analogous to putting one's hand in very hot water and yet insisting that they do not want to take their arm out of the scalding liquid, because that would be a change. For years, this same group of individuals keeps stating that they are unhappy but they keep doing the very things that entrench their discomfort. Any change in the status quo is met immediately with negativity. Offer to give them empowering tools and they resist that too.

The only way I can rationalize this in my head, is that they must be waiting for some marvellous afterlife. But I'm willing to bet they would resist that change as well. This boggles my mind. Yet I know people just like this today, in the 21st-century. A time in human history when there are so many opportunities, regardless of your physical or mental situation. It does take a fair bit of work in some cases to utilize these opportunities. One may have to negotiate with funding sources for equipment, or take a field of study. In the situation where the person cannot do any of the things necessary to utilize opportunities, they can form a group which could assist them in reaching a goal.

To illustrate, the other day it occurred to me that anyone can create artwork. You can literally give one the many AI services like the online service IDEOGRAM a description of what you want and it will produce an image for you, this service has a free option so to create this image would cost the person nothing. Then they could dictate the text to go along with the image to their phone or computer. Again this is free to do. So basically you could write a book complete with images. You could then use this new book to mobilize others to assist you further. Perhaps form an organization which would then in turn qualify for funding. You could then pay your self a salary.... This is an oversimplification but you get the idea. The old axiom comes to mind "Where There's a Will There's a Way."

The older I get the more enthusiastic I get about what life has to offer. Because I now know that the opportunities are short and should not be taken for granted. I have also seen what "The other side of the coin" described above, looks like and to me that is mediocrity at best and indeed a waste of life at worst. I shall scream: "That Ain't Me, Baby!" Until the end of time.

Maybe things are too easy and the beginning of the 21st-century. When you think about it, it's the challenges in ones young life that build the skills of self-reliance and deeper understanding. Do any of my readers remember learning how to use a physical card catalogue at a library? If so leave me a comment. That one skill brought together many aspects of awareness and understanding.

The card catalog in Manchester Central Library
March 2010. Photo: Ricardo Creative Commons License: CC BY 2.0

Now you just go to your favourite search engine or A.I.(Artificial Intelligence) resource. There is no need to work out a solution, now one just tells the machine what you want and poof the answer is there. There is no need for the individual to change or evolve. Maybe that explains some of the behaviour I described above. These people are waiting for something else to do the hard work of finding a solution. Then again it is unlikely that the solution would work if the person was not willing to adopt alteration in their behaviour.

I was told of a similar situation earlier this year and involved a person on welfare. To be clear they were very poor and just getting by. This year the provincial government made available at extra $200 per month for people who also havw a disability. The person I am talking about would indeed qualify for the extra money in this case. But there was a catch, there was a separate application process. To this day they still have not filled out the one form in order to get the money.

Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction June 20, 2025
News release: "B.C. helps people keep full federal Canada Disability Benefit"

I am so grateful that my life experiences have shaped me in a way that allows me to see the possibilities. Difficulty is not a problem, it is an asset, an opportunity to get creative, and thereby in solving the problem one gains a slightly deeper understanding of the world Add up these difficulties and their respective solutions and what you are left with is quite in the encyclopedia of understanding. The ultimate toolkit for life if you will 😀

This Christmas was particularly shocking in the supported living building I am a member of. Most tenants actively argued against Christmas celebrations or decorations. In the six or seven years that I've been here I have never seen it so bad. Yet as mentioned above by maintaining the negative status quo one only entrenches and makes worse the situation. Dr. Seuss's the Grinch could take lessons from this crew. However the staff were able to break out the ornaments and festivities that go along with them at the last minute. It did result in a mild elevation of the buildings' mood. So there is a way to improve the situation.

This pleasant turnaround in the atmosphere actually really surprised me. I was convinced that absolutely nothing would break them out of their "Ebenezer Scrooge mindset". As I have said before in this blog, I think mindset plays a major role in one's life. (Click this link to see all the articles dealing with mindset and motivation on the blog.) Much larger than it is given credit for. I would go as far as to say: "your mindset, not only affects how you see things currently, it can affect your long term health". And I don't suggest this idea likely. Since a person's mindset has an impact on their entire perception of the world, I don't think it is too much of a reach to suggest that it may have a health impact if the same mindset is held on over a longer period of time.

What I'm suggesting is that a profoundly negative mindset and open you up to a whole variety of health concerns. Maybe not biologically but definitely because you are not going to see the warning signs. I have noticed that many people in my facility have verily shallow inner awareness. Most of their stimulus comes from external sources like the Internet, various substances, all of which are just a form of distraction.

This reminds me of the old story I was told as a young child about the ostrich which would stick it's head in the sand so that it did not see the approaching threat. Or to put it another way, "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind". Of course this behaviour doesn't do the ostrich any good at all except it is a virtual guarantee that the poor birds life will be shorter. The same holds true for anyone who holds on to a negative mindset or seeks constant distraction from a real-life.

It can be very difficult to break this pattern, but as the short Christmas experience positively by the tenant in my building has shown it is not impossible. So, since you are alive and reading this or watching the companion video, please take the time to do something large, or small, with your life right now. That step may be all it takes to change your perception and have a great new year in 2026.

Take care Patrick

** NOTE: The picture "Image generated by Ideogram AI" displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

Merry Christmas 2025 🎄 🧧

2025-12-25T14:12:00.006-08:00

I was going to post a serious article today… And then I thought: "What am I doing? It's Christmas eve afternoon 2025. Time to lighten up" so out with all the heavy duty philosophies and opinions. I just want to wish everyone a great holiday season.

As you're reading this short little blurb of an article, stop and take a moment, allow yourself to let go of all the stuff going on in life right now either locally or globally. Put everything on hold I just relax into something… Have a chocolate bar if that's your thing… Stop working for a few minutes and just changed change gears. There will be time for all of this in the new year, right now think about something you haven't thought of in a long time that makes you feel good. Whatever it is don't apologize for it or quantify it in any way, just enjoy it. If you have children giggle with them over a really bad joke, something ridiculous 😆

One of my fondest memories was sitting on the floor with my father who had polio. Watching him explain some little gizmo or idea he had. The sheer glee which exuded from his expressions and excitement was contagious. For half an hour everybody in the house turned into a kid and just enjoy the moments.

I'm going to put together a little video for this hopefully I can dig up the Christmas hat I have kicking around somewhere in the apartment, and if so you will see it on my head as I exude playfulness and joy.

Even when it's not Christmas remember you can just take a few moments put a smile on your face for absolutely no reason. Other people may look at do a little strange but you shouldn't worry about it. Just enjoy the moment.

With that I'm going to wish to a very Merry Christmas and an excellent new year. I have a bunch of articles planned, I think I have three or four on the go right now in various states of preparedness.

See you in 2026
Patrick Clark

The Spirit of Joy

2025-12-09T21:30:00.018-08:00

Many people know I am an agnostic, and yet I very much enjoy the season of Christmas and New Year's. This is due to a simple fact, it is one of the few times in the North American calendar during the year where people are encouraged to feel "Joy" in their religious beliefs. It occurred to me, that it is equally valid to give oneself permission to feel joy for the sake of being happy in itself.Here's a spontaneous idea… Click the search button below to do a search on the word "joy" right now and see what comes up. We both could be surprised 😃. There is no trickery here, it's just a simple search on a single word. Indeed the results will probably change over time.

There are so many things going on in the world that are negative or complex. So regardless of how you want to frame it take the season of joy at face value. Put down the negativity for a while and allow yourself to smile and maybe even feel wonderful. Approach everything from a slightly younger perspective, being curious and playful. North American society has given you permission to do so during this time of year so take society up on that offer.

My apartment has twinkling lights and Christmas music playing. The day after Labor Day, I went out and did a impulse buy, an illuminated two thirds of a meter tall Christmas elf because it was something that I knew the child in me would go crazy for and indeed it did. I also purchased, a Santa's Workshop figurine pictured below (unfortunately the illuminated elf is very difficult to get a clear photograph of. If I ever manage to get one I will of course update this little article.)

Santa's Christmas Village by Spode.
With battery-powered LED illumination.

Remember the magic and joy you felt anticipating a new toy at Christmas?… Looking at the present under the tree, and wondering which one of them might be the one. There is nothing stopping you from rekindling that glorious feeling today or at any time of the year but during the festive season one can really get into the spirit of things. I have spent the last two weeks drawing pictures and making Christmas screensavers for the computers and rooms in my facility, which happens to be an assisted living building. The funny thing I noticed right away was that when I did something in the spirit of the season, somebody else added their own declaration or ornament. It's contagious, and it's a positive contagion something that helps bring out the best in people. Have you ever made a paper snowflake out of a sheet of plain old stationary? It can be glorious fun! It does not matter if it looks great. The only thing that matters is if you enjoy it in such a way that it brightens your day.

If for whatever reason you can't be joyous right now then put it off until the opportunity presents itself. When I was about 14 years old I had to go into the hospital over the Christmas season and for much of that year. When I finally got out in July my parents held Christmas all over again. Yes we had Christmas in July! And it was spectacular. My young mind discovered that it's not "the when" that matters, it's giving yourself permission to indulge in play and a smile.

As I write this this short article, I keep getting inspired. What if you gave your self permission to at some point in the day to play? This could be very liberating… For it to work one would not worry about rules or a schedule. You would just play when ever the opportunity or idea occurred to you. What defines "play" would be entirely up the individual. Just thinking about it inspires me.

I must begin again to pay attention to how young people play. Not just learn what they are doing, but to discover what atmosphere and mental state they put themselves into. I am willing to bet that for most people as they grow up, they lose touch with some of the lessons learned in childhood. I vividly remember mom and dad telling us on weekends to go out and play, the exact wording was "Time for you to get out of the house." This wasn't said in a negative way. It was just the way our weekends went. Kids were self-sufficient to a larger extent back in the 70s and 60s… At least that is how I remember it. We would go out for a few hours and perhaps wonder back in for lunch, and that was conditional on the fact that we might be too involved in our playing to worry about something as mundane as eating 😀. I definitely remember feeling like the comic strip character Dennis the Menace.

Yes, by all means dear reader, set up some time play. For just a little while put down all other concerns. This will definitely encourage joy once again.

That's it for this very short post. Here's wishing you all the joy and happiness in the world, which you can dream up any time!

Take care Patrick

Your Mental Margin

2025-10-17T19:16:00.021-07:00

"Use It or Lose It" holds true for your mental well-being as well.

Ever since joining a cognitive therapy group I have become very aware of the way people process their environment and indeed their own sense of reality. I joined this group because I am 66 years old and even though I am in good health I have noticed a slight decline in my memory and cognitive skills. So when the opportunity arose I jumped at joining the group.

The adage "Use It or Lose It" really has come into focus for me as I look around and I see young and old people mentally drifting through life or taking things for granted. Assuming that the facilities for have now, they will always have. Mind you I think everyone does this at different stages of life to some degree, I recently saw a video clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger who is now 78 years old, as of the writing of this blog post, commenting that when he was 30 years old he never thought about losing muscle mass. Especially with the incredible amount of exercise he committed to every day. The idea even if it occurred to him what it seemed inconceivable. What makes "Use It or Lose It" even more important is, we live in a world that is much more interconnected and technical on all levels. Society and individuals simply cannot afford being ignorant of society and technology. The late astronomer, Carl Sagan said, and I'm paraphrasing this:

"We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces."

It is my point of view that in order to get the best out of life, one must be fully involved in all aspects. One must avoid taking things for granted or as I've mentioned many other times in this blog going on a kind of mental autopilot. The more you exercise your mind and body the more margin you build up. To put it another way, the more reserves you have to deal with the challenges of life the better. A little bit of difficulty throughout one's life is necessary. Try not to become overly comfortable in your lifestyle or routines. Make a commitment to do something uncomfortable and potentially productive every few days or weeks. It is these uncomfortable activities which tend to break down the walls of isolation and help to keep you connected to the society and realities around you.

When was the last time you read a physical book? The act of reading something written or printed on paper is very different than reading the same material off a screen. Come to think of it when was the last time any of us read a book or other physical medium like a magazine or newspaper from beginning to end.

It is these kind of things that help you stay connected and alive in the world. It helps build up your mental and your physical margins, so that when your help does decline you have a much better chance of enjoying your later years with friends and family.

I probably will add more to this article in the next few days. But for tonight I wanted to get this out there just as a starting point.

Second instalment: October 18, 2025

Speaking about "mental margins"and really using the facilities of one's brain to think and consider a person's environment. I keep meaning people who really don't understand at all how different things in their life relate to each other. This leads into a real difficulty for them when they try to use technology. For example a friend of mine recently bought a Smart TV. They asked me to assist them in the set up and I realized partway through that they did not have any comprehension of what was meant by a "smart TV". As a result they are having great difficulty using it. When their PVR (Personal Video Recorder) had a momentary glitch in a recorded program and froze for a few seconds they immediately thought it was a problem with the new TV. They don't see the separate components which make up modern media experiences. To them the television set is all encompassing and so when I explained initially that they had to use two remote controls one for the PVR and one to control the volume on their TV they really got confused. It was not until I realized how they were looking at the devices that I understood what the problem was.

There are extenuating circumstances here which I won't go into but it still remains that a great number of society's people are now using hardware and services with no understanding of how it all works together. This is a point of greatest concern for me because it guarantees that not only will the devices not be used to their best advantage, it is for certain there will be confusion and problems down the road. Yet I am also reminded that there are many very creative people out there still. But when I run into people that don't want to learn or expand their boundaries I get a little frightened. It reminds me of the movie "Idiocracy" (movie trailer) which takes place in the future in a city where everybody has been dumbed down. It is a comedy but the underlying message cannot be ignored. "Use it or lose it"

There has been a shift in attitude toward knowledge and learning

In my family, understanding a concept or discovering how something worked was a real sign of achievement, as a matter of fact I remember the expression on my father's face when he would describe some little aspect of an idea, there was sheer joy in his face. The message and the behaviour were transferred directly to his children. At the time we might not have understood what he was describing fully, but we got the message that it was something worth striving for. Now, knowledge and learning seemed to be, if not devalued, taken for granted… After all there's always "Google" or ChatGPT to fall back on.

What's missing is the sheer excitement which I still experience when I discover and understand something new. I still have quite a number of eureka moments in my life 😀. This means that many people also don't really appreciate discovery and achievement anymore. Especially if the undertaking involved some commitment over weeks or months. In part, this is likely due to everything being viewed as transitory, as well as what now qualifies as a lengthy commitment.

Take care Patrick

Side note: The Rose photograph (More about the creation of this image in the article "Find Some Time to Disconnect from All the Chatter") depicted at the top of this article is based on images generated by an AI initially and then slightly adjusted by me. The moment I saw the Rose I thought:" It be great to have this backlit in a light box. Wouldn't you know it, I did some searching and there is a small company on Etsy which does just that. Here's a link to their storefront: Q AND L GIFTS. You do have to provide the artwork as a very good scan but I have been most impressed I must say. This is not an official endorsement of this product and I am not being reimbursed I just thought others might find this beneficial.

The Feelings You're Not Aware of

2025-10-12T10:22:00.005-07:00

Angel and boy figurines found outside a cabin in
Nakusp British Columbia Canada, 2017.

"With the tremendous variety of outlooks, beliefs, attitudes and different ways of dealing with one's reality I find it incomprehensible that one reality fits all."

It is my position that people go through their daily lives using various levels of awareness, and that there is a tendency to intuitively believe that your particular brand of reality for the most part matches others. I think this is an incomplete picture. Allow me to explain:

With the tremendous variety of outlooks, beliefs, attitudes and different ways of dealing with one's reality I find it incomprehensible that one "reality" fits all. Indeed one's own personal perception of their reality does not have to match at all any other persons. There may be some very general parameters but I think they are quite flexible. To be clear I'm not talking about any sort of health condition, these are just you physically fit and healthy individuals you meet as you go throughout your day. The "average Joe" if you will.

Now, adding to the mix, unconscious feelings and other motivators you are not aware of. These may be struggling motivators in the back of your mind. Not strong feelings, but those fleeting supple reactions. Social they may be, but their cumulative effect should not be discounted or ignored. The message I have for you today in the short little article is to be aware that these emotional transients exist and you may discover a fair bit about yourself by paying attention to them.

For each person, these brief background feelings may be incredibly mild or momentarily very intense. But because they are so short in duration we move on with our daily activities without even noticing them consciously. They can colour our conversation, bring up an old feeling, make you feel good or bad about a particular situation… Ever wondered why your mood abruptly shifted while you were going about your day? This may be where the answer lies. If you can open up a dialogue with yourself, you never know what you will find.

Well, look at that., another incredibly short but concise article. I know the Internet prefers thousand word essays, but I think for today this will do. It is the weekend here in Surrey British Columbia and we are getting ready for the Canadian Thanksgiving. Wherever you are, and whenever you read this, I hope you are having a great day and feel free to post a comment.

Take care Patrick

Approach Life As Though Your Brain Lived in a Fish Tank.

2025-10-04T10:08:00.005-07:00

Image generated by Ideogram AI.

"If your brain lives in a fish tank, you might as well make it a party!"

People have always said: "The environment affects you, and you affect the environment." Whatever context you consider that statement in, planet wide or just your immediate surroundings, it means that changing one aspect affects everything else. It also means that you see everything through many "layers of filtering". This view of life has always reminded me of an aquarium. One small change in any aspect of the water, temperature or inhabitants, massively alters everything. Similarly each one of these acts like a filter when you observe the animals and indeed the aquarium as whole; it's all layers of filtering. When viewing the world with this point of view we can all be considered to have brains that live in fish tanks. Reality is heavily dependent on the context as a whole.

Okay, so if that's the case, let's take it one step further. I suggest you that any one of these multitudes of layers can be adjusted at any time by you. If someone is playing music that is not to your liking, rather than asking them to change the music, consider for a moment, what "layers"you are interpreting the situation through and adjust those. Consider why you are paying attention to the music in the first place. Think about it, no one is forcing you to pay attention to it. In the moment, choose to pay attention to something else. The very process of realizing that this layer of filtering can be adjusted may be very empowering. You are using the aspects of your own fish tank to your advantage.

This is an extreme simplification of life, but the central idea remains the same and it just as valid. All the layers of your interpretation can be changed at will and usually at any time you want. It's just that we are usually too preoccupied to stop and take the time and effort in order to manually change gears.--Yes we're back to my favourite topic of turning off the mental autopilot. Perhaps in years past when life was slower people naturally and there autopilot turned off, and probably were more aware of themselves, that we normally have time to appreciate today. But dammit, if they could do it so can society and people do it today.

That's it for this short little post. I hope it gives you something positive and perhaps wonderful to think about. Feel absolutely free to act on it. If your brain lives in a fish tank, you might as well make it a party!

Take care have a great day.
Patrick

** NOTE: The picture "Image generated by Ideogram AI" displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

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