I was riding down an interstate highway this afternoon, going home from my grandson’s soccer game. Since I wasn’t driving I was daydreaming.
I noticed so many office buildings, apartment buildings, gas stations, and more blurring past me, and I wondered what this highway was like a hundred years ago.
A hundred years is nothing in the timespan of life.
But it’s the difference between cars and buggies. Electricity and coal.
And I wondered what these roads looked like a hundred years ago.
Was there a traffic jam with buggies like there was going east on Hwy. 94? Were there exit ramps taking them to landscapes unknown? Office buildings ever other mile filled with thousands of desks doing thousands of tasks?
I know it was still a struggle to live back then. No phones. No electricity. No iron lungs. Child labor. Prohibition.
But they survived.
They survived without computers and electric razors and Porches. They survived without The Voice and The Walking Dead.
I know they also had syphilis and diphtheria. They didn’t have the polio vaccine or a heart lung machine.
You know where I’m going with this.
What do you think the world was like before all this instant ticky tacky gratifications like Facebook and freezers?
It was harder. It was scarier.
But it was quieter.
There was more time to look inside and contemplate our role in the world. Our future. Our past.
We cannot change where we are, what we’ve developed, nor where we’re going. Our children’s children will go places we only dreampt of in science fiction and fantasy.
That’s what people thought a hundred years ago, too.
They couldn’t do a thing about horse dung in the streets or malaria or lack of refrigeration.
But they could dream.
Just like we can dream.
Dream of a quieter world. A peaceful world. A world where time has no meaning, nor does politics or war or greed.
They dreampt of that a hundred years ago.
We can dream of that today. And tomorrow.
Until then, find a quiet place, far away from the maddening crowd, and connect with your soul. You live in a city; find a park. You live in the countryside, find a different countryside. Listen to what the Earth is saying to you. It talks to you, it talks to me…even when you don’t feel like talking.
It’s the only peace and quiet you can find that’s true and good.
And we all need a little true and good in our lives. Right?
I have included your blog in INTERESTING BLOGS in FRIDAY FOSSICKING at
https://thatmomentintime-crissouli.blogspot.com/2018/11/friday-fossicking-2nd-nov-2018.html
Thank you, Chris
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I love the lively exchange of ideas here. Thank you, my friends, I’m glad this conversation sparked your creativity and reminiscing.
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I miss face to face long chats 😑😑
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I do too. And long, hand-written letters…
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Awwh… Those letters are priceless
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I’d do anything for more peace and quiet but I live in an overcrowded country and people like to make noise; music,loud parties, loud machines, trucks, cars motorcycles…..I know that it can all be less loud with a bit of consideration for others but loud seems to be a lot more fun, the louder the better but it makes people sic and deaf, kids as young as 8 have already hearing problems, pregnant mothers are advised not to go to parties with loud music as their unborn child can get hearingproblems in the womb !!!! Can you imagine !!! And yes, 100 years ago people had peace and quiet but life was hard and people died young….I don’t think I would liked to live like that.
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I know you’re right…but seeing the cars jam the highway, buildings jamming the sides, it made me sigh for a bit of the country…isolated from modern technology. Except I wouldn’t want to burn coal in my heater or not be able to flip the light on…
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You always have to take the good with the bad, if you want a tree in your garden you have to accept the fallen leafs in Autumn….
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Oh…you have such a way with words. And we all take the good..as much as we can…and deal with the bad when it hits. There’s bad swirling around me these days…not me, but those I know. So I’ll hold on and spread sunshine when I can and help others get through their bad, too.
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Your so right Claudia, we must find a piece of peace within ourselves, and contemplate the realities of life.
Its Time
We’ll miss you,
Mother Earth.
Your splendour,
And imposing style.
From forest canopy’s,
To the desert Nile.
New creations,
Beauty, gone.
We’ll lose you,
Father Time.
Your rhythm,
And stoic guile.
From ancient history,
To the future files.
New millennia,
Awaiting, gone.
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This is so beautiful. We must find a way to incorporate the stillness and contemplation of the countryside with the street smarts of the city. I’m sure we all find a way to do that eventually…
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I’m lucky Claudia that I can immerse myself in my writers haven here, like being shut away in my own little world and I can actually forget what day it is. 😊 😊 I suppose one of the positives of living alone 💛🤔
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There are many positives to being alone…mostly learning about yourself. And to live in the moment, for tomorrow you may not be alone.
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😊 Yes, it’s taken me a while, but I’m getting used to the idea, and feeling comfortable with myself. ☺️🤔
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It’s like we take the cards we’re dealt and try and make a design out of them. Proud of you, Ivor…
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Yes now that I’ve accepted being alone, my writing has become my design, and my design is becoming more embellished
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Sometimes I think we need to go back to those slower times.
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At least start minimizing our cache of “things” we collect as if we can’t live without them.
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Agreed
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Yes, we all need peace and quiet in our lives. Thank God for my angel room/sanctuary. I love it! I spend the first hour or so up there every morning! Have you seen a picture of it?
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No I have not! I love the idea!
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