How long is a piece of string?

It's been said by some that time is a mere human

 construct,

a term that humans use to define a ''continued sequence 

of existence and events that occurs in an apparently 

irreversible succession from the past, through the present 

and into the future''.

The most ''direct knowledge we have of time

 is subjective'', and as such, time moves only in one direction:

onward/forward.

How we experience time however, well that's

a totally different thing.

For example:

Sitting in a dentist chair having a root canal done

we may experience time as passing very slowly.

Having a good time with friends we may experience

time as flying by.

Being engrossed in an activity we really enjoy(flow)

we may experience time as non-existent.

In short, ''clock-time'' is measurable whereas time

as we experience/perceive with our minds, is not.

With our minds we can ''travel'' back in time,

imagine all sorts of events taking place in the future,

and or be firmly present in the present.

According to clock-time however, regardless of how

we may experience time, it moves only in one direction:

forward.

-How long is a piece of string? asked the child.

-Very, very long child, longer than you can

imagine, answered the grand-father.

-How long is a piece of string? asked the teenager.

-Very long, son, so long one cannot see the end of it,

answered the grand-father.

-How long is a piece of string? asked the man.

-Reasonably long, son, answered the grand-father.

-How long is a piece of string? the man asked himself

as they lowered his grand-father into the ground.

Sitting in his grand-father's chair later in the evening

the man noticed a sealed envelope with his name

written on it on the side table next to the chair.

Carefully he opened the envelope.

Inside of it was a piece of string and hand 

written note.

''Dear Lukas,

how long is a piece of string?

Life is like a piece of string.

At the beginning of life the string seems

endless but as life and time passes, 

it becomes a little shorter each day.

I'm telling you this so that you will

value and treasure each moment of your

life so that when you know how long

your piece of string is, it will not

fill you with fear but with gratitude.

Know that I have loved all the times

we have spent together,

grampa

''Aging is not an option, nay, it is a privilege.

Therefore we need to treasure each moment

of time allotted unto us.''

(Citizen Z)

about the image: acrylic on large canvas

Imagination will take you everywhere..............................

Imagination.

The ability to form mental pictures of something not present,

something yet not known or experienced.

There was a knock on the door. I put down my paint brush

and opened the door.

Standing on the easel was a painting I was working on.

David, a fellow artist entered the room and walked

up to the painting.

-Is this what you are working on at the moment? he asked.

-Yeah, it's number four in a series of paintings I'm working

on, I answered.

-Where do you get your ideas from???? he exclaimed.

-To be honest David, I don't really know. Imagination

I guess?

-But how do you tap into that imagination?

I have never really seriously pondered where the ideas for

most of my artworks come from, so David's question forced

me to do some pondering.

What is imagination and where does it ''live''?

Some say that imagination is considered to be 

''a creative faculty of the mind'', a ''process of the mind''

used for thinking, creating, fantasizing, remembering,

etc. so it ''lives'' in the brain.

Hmm, be this as it may, it does not answer how to

tap into it.

Some suggest that when we tap into our imagination

we access a sort of ''library'' consisting of a collection

of experiences, memories, stories, ''movies'' and a bunch

of other new ''stuff'', and then mix them all together in an

infinite number of different combinations.

Hmm, but why do some people seem to be more

imaginative than others?

How can some people just ''tap into'' their imagination

and others find it rather difficult?

Having been asked too many times to count where my

imagination comes from and so far not having been able to

find (in my view) a reasonable/acceptable answer, I am

going to go out on a limb and offer a few of my own suggestions.

First: Asking the question ''But what if...xyz.........?''

(= as in having an open mind)

Second: A willingness to ''fail'' (= as in not the desired outcome)

with a mindset of trying different options until attaining

the desired outcome.

Third: Entertaining ''gut'' instincts, wild notions, crazy ideas

 and ''over the top'' possibilities.

Basically, perhaps the overarching ingredient in having a ''rich/vivid''

imagination is a willingness to step out of one's usual mental/mind

comfort zone and into the uncomfortable zone.

However, I have found that sometimes we may use our

 imagination not so much in a life-affirming and ''creative'' way,

but rather in the opposite, a more harmful and anxiousness

 ridden way.

Imagination: The ability to form mental pictures of

 something not present, something yet not known or experienced.

It is possible to sort our ''library'' consisting of a collection

of experiences, memories, stories, ''movies'' and a bunch

of other new ''stuff'', and then mix them all together in an

infinite number of different and potentially 

dangerous/scary/anxiety inducing combinations?

Those in the ''know'' suggest that for those of us who suffer

 with anxiety related issues often use our ''negative''

 imagination as a sort of defence mechanism, as a way

to protect ourselves if things don't work out.

''If I anticipate the worst then I won't be blindsided

when or if it happens''.

Using our imagination to ruminate on possible 

worst case scenarios may feel as if we are protecting 

ourselves from disappointments,

bad outcomes, hurt feelings and as if we are in control,

but according to people in the ''know'' what it does is

keep us stuck in an unhealthy thinking pattern. 

But we can unstick ourselves: We can change.

Change begins with us thinking differently.

''If we always do what we've always done we'll

always get what we've always got.''

(Henry Ford)

''Life only happens in the now, so whether we use our

 imagination to imagine a bright and hopeful future

or one full of darkness and uncertainty,

This remains true;

the future will never reside in the present.'' 

(Citizen Z)

about the image: A) ''A young girl imagines''

Photo edited in Elements

B) ''What will be the toys for the children in the future?''

 Acrylic and eye pencils and white charcoal on large canvas

 

War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.........

 There's a phrase that as time passes has come to bewilder me.

The phrase is ''lived experience''.

Especially when it's used in sentences as: How could you

possibly know if that's not part of your lived experience?

I get that the phrase for many of us probably

means that without a first-hand involvement or a direct

 experience of something/an event/situation, it can be

difficult for us to really know another person's experience.

(Perhaps we may be able to understand, but not really know?)

The bewildering part of that phrase for me is that even

a lived experience is still ''knowledge'' based on a person's

perspective, interpretation, personal identity and history.

Alas, may it not be subjected to different kinds of bias

and so subjective rather than objective knowledge?

This leads me to ponder if it may not be possible that

perhaps some people with a ''lively imagination''

may be able to utilize their imagination and ''know''

something with the use of an ''imagined experience''? 

Although, I suppose, even an imagined experience would

probably be subjected to bias.

Hmm. Tricky.

(I have no lived experience of war, but in my family

there are, and there were (now passed away) people who do and did.

If my grand-parents had not left Germany when they did,

I probably would not have been born and thus able to write this.)

Why do nations go to war?

Some say that nations go to war if the advantages are

deemed to outweigh the disadvantages and a mutually

agreeable solution cannot be found.

Which makes me wonder: Says who? Those who are

actually going to fight it, putting their lives at risk or those

 who strategize behind secure and safe confines?

''The most shocking fact about war is that its victims

and its instrument are individual human beings,

and that these individual beings are condemned by

the monstrous conventions of politics to murder

or be murdered in quarrels not their own.''

(Aldous Huxley)

War always brings destruction. Destruction of homes

and habitats. Destruction of infrastructures. Destruction

of historical/cultural/ancestral and religious assets.

Destruction of resources and livelihoods.

Destruction of relationships and 

communities, and much much more.

But perhaps worst and most destructive of all,

…even when over, 

for those with a lived experience of war,

whether as part of any of the armed forces or as civilians,

… it may never cease to be destructive

in one way or another.

  In all honesty, as far as I can ascertain, 

nothing good comes with war,

because regardless of outcome, 

… a lot of innocent people die.

Although I have no lived experience of war,

my imagined experience tells me that

no matter ''who'' wins or loses a war -

- the aftermath of war brings sorrow and heartache 

to all who experienced it.

''War does not determine who is right - only who is left.''

(Bertrand Russell)

''War does not decide the justice of any question.

It only determines which party is the most

ferocious and savage.''

 (George Nicholson)

about the image: Ink on paper, edited in Elements