Slow motion and fast forward

It is still spring in Ireland. It looks like the spring will never end. There are still trees without leaves, cherry trees are bloomed, and tulips and narcissuses are everywhere. It is spring in slow motion and I feel like doing something to speed up the process. I guess I can’t push the sap in the buds. That’s nature’s role.

On the other hand, it’s hard to believe that nature invented slugs and snails that eat big, soft and beautiful flowers. I had a slug attack on my petunias! They ate all the petals. Yum, slug delicatessen! Then I spread some blue chemical chips on the ground and the next day there was a snail cemetery in the flower bed. I couldn’t believe how many there were!

The other news is that we finally bought a car -- a 2001 Honda Civic. We picked it up from the dealer today, and we both got to drive it on the way home.

[Darse: We had been waiting for weeks for an advertised 1.3 litre Corolla to arrive from Japan, but when we finally got to test it out, we much preferred the 1.5 litre Civic. I was actually a bit unnerved driving Aaron and Christine's 1.0 litre Yaris, as it seemed somewhat under-powered when i needed acceleration the most -- like merging onto the highway, or turning in the middle of an intersection with double-decker buses coming at me in both directions... The 1.3 litre Yaris we test-drove was much zippier, so i thought the Corolla would be everything we'd want. But it didn't really have a lot of zip either -- maybe because it is much heavier than the fly-weight Yaris. The Civic isn't like my little sports car, but the it gives me much better piece of mind when it comes to evading all the crazy drivers! It is also in *amazing* condition -- it only has 36000 km, and has been impeccably well-maintained.]

The car is comfortable to drive and has lots of space inside. I think we made a good choice and can’t wait to see the Irish countryside now that we have wheels. Now we have the fast forward option for getting around town, too. We still intend to use the public transit system for convenience, especially to commute and to go downtown. The Luas LRT and Dart train systems are very good for that purpose. They don’t need 20 minutes to cross half of city center.
[Darse: the insanity of driving in downtown Dublin would require a full blog entry to itself. I fully intend to avoid it -- forever.]

Steps towards a better world

Lately, I’ve been studying a little about the financial and real estate markets. There are many signs to be worried about so I am trying to prevent any catastrophe that could happen to our personal savings and investments. I was looking for some funds that contain less banking and equities but they are not very popular. There are some about innovation, technology, health or education, but they are not doing very well. Actually, they never did. For some reasons people invest their money in real estate and banks. No wonder those have been thriving. And I can’t help thinking: what if people invested more in research, health, education, and especially in alternative energy? Wouldn’t it be a better world?


Recently I watched Jill Bolte Taylor’s TED Talk: My stroke of insight.

Video (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/229)

It’s an inspiring and eye-opening story. It’s also some degree of personal relief. My grandmother lived many years unable to communicate – speak, read, write – or walk, due to a stroke in her left side of the brain. She was imprisoned inside her body for so long, and yet, she might not have had a terrible life all that time.

There is so much in our brain. If only we would be taught how it works and how to train it. I am not thinking only about activating the right side of the brain, but in a general way. We are so vulnerable, spend too much energy, and live with so many wrong beliefs, because nobody told us how our brain works. It’s not easy to figure out by ourselves. Many scientists spent years of research that can be synthesized in a few sentences. But once aware of their conclusions, everything starts to make sense -- we are stronger, and even healthier. What if children would be taught about their brain like they are taught to write? Wouldn’t it be a better world?

Beautiful Sunday

Our regular visitors feeling at home

Bray esplanade and sea walk

I'm an alien... I'm a Canadian alien

Bray seen from the sea walk
The cliffs of Bray Head

Trying to catch the train

More sea from above

Home

I am home again. Home… I lived in six cities and four countries. Where is home? I visited Romania, the country where I was born. So I was home and then came back home? And when I’m going to go to Canada, it will be again, home? Some would say that home is where your heart is but what can I say, my heart is big.

For me, home would be where I feel safe and comfortable. It is just a matter of getting used with your environment. When I moved in Canada, everything was foreign, different from what I knew. It was easy there, though. The society is built in order to accommodate newcomers that is, everything is well explained. In Ireland, things weren’t that simple anymore. Everybody knows this and that, if they lived here forever. But I think they are catching up with North America because the newcomers group is significant now. I was really surprised to see how many foreigners are in Dublin. In both cases, after three months I started to feel safe and comfortable. The longer you stay in one place, the more you get used to your environment.

Now, after almost four years, I visited Romania. I was amazed how familiar was everything I was experiencing, and yet, I was detached, observing and having fun of things that in the past would make me frustrated and angry. I guess my attitude was due to the fact that I knew I will leave soon. In a way I was disappointed that things didn’t change much. On the same token, I knew this will happen, that’s why I left in the first place. In a sentence I would say: the private business and property exploded whereas the public services and government duties are extremely disabled. I wonder when the elected leaders will realize that they have to work to improve people’s lives, not only their own pockets.

The time was short but I was happy to see my family, old friends, taste foods that are hard to find here, remember how it feels like to walk on streets with many loose dogs, and travel with crowded means of transportation. The weather wasn’t very good either, overcast and foggy, melting snow and lots of mud. Next time I’ll go in a better season. :-)

And above all, I was happy to return in Dublin, not only because the streets are always clean but because here is Darse and most of my heart is where he is.

"The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything"

I’ve been thinking a lot lately. A friend of mine asked a hard question: what makes life worth living? Or in other words: we are born, we live, we die. Is that it?
Being such a hard subject, I couldn’t answer quickly. I have this habit of thinking a lot before answering hard questions. Also, it’s embarrassing, at my age, to not know this already. The problem with the meaning of life is that it is something very personal and it changes over time, like everything does when new data are gathered. I am going to try to find a general answer, though.
Let’s see. The things that matter most in our lives are the things that are there for the duration of our whole life. Such constants are: oneself, others, the Earth, the Universe. Further, I will try to explain why these are the constants, why we should focus on them, and how we should treat other important things as variables, including family, career, passions, and possessions.

Oneself
We must live with ourselves all our life, whether we like it or not. So we better like ourselves, or change into somebody that we like, in order to live happily ever after. But do we really know ourselves that well? To create a healthy life-long relationship, we need a deep understanding of the other person, to be able to love and accept him or her with all their virtues and faults. The same is true of ourselves. We have to understand our body, our mind, and our feelings. If we know how they work, we are able to shape them. Thus, we can prevent, avoid, and diminish pain. Controlling pain leads to less fear. We are in charge now.
It sounds selfish, but it is a simple fact that we are the most important person in our life.

Let’s take some time to know ourselves better.

Others
Our lives depend on others. Here I also include other life forms. We cannot live without them. We ought to treat them like ourselves; that is, learn about them, listen to them and understand them. We can transform hate and indifference into respect and gratefulness. Just look around! Every little thing in our life is produced by something or somebody. There is no way we can make most of these things by ourselves. Isn’t it uplifting knowing that we can cooperate to survive? Cooperation is the only way that everyone can win – without it, someone has to lose. Then why are we threatening other people and other species? Is it because we don’t know, or we are indifferent, or we are scared of the unknown?

Let’s take some time to understand others.

The Earth
I guess you already know why the Earth is important in our life. Yes, it is the only home and spaceship we have. Our lives depend so much on it. Recently, we started to listen to it. Let’s hope we will understand what the Earth is saying before it is too late. It is unlikely that a miracle will happen, so we better prevent further damage. Do we really know what is going on and what can we do to help?

Let’s take some time to learn about our planet.

The Universe
Apparently, there is no “reason” for anything in the Universe, yet, if you look closer, you will find that everything is interconnected. There is a flow of causes and effects, unforeseeable emergence of complexity, ultimately leading to life, so that the Universe can know itself. Knowledge is the new toy, and it will be developed until it reaches the point of a new, unpredictable outcome. On a universal scale, it is very likely that we won’t find out what’s next in the grand scheme of things. Regardless, our purpose is to expand knowledge and limits. We already know a little about the Universe, but the real challenge is to touch it in order to know far more. Maybe our destiny is to reach the stars. We’ve been dreaming for millennia about it. Before leaving home we have to pass the maturity test: can we survive in our own world before trying to survive in a foreign one?

Let’s take some time to dream.

And Everything
Now, that the constants have been described, perhaps you’ve already figured out what the variables are - family, career, passions, possessions, etc. I call them variables because they can come and go, and in many cases there is not much we can do about it. Obviously, if we rely entirely on them, sooner or later we’ll be hurt by loss. Spending some time developing the constants will reduce the impact of variance. For instance, if we know and trust ourselves and others, then shocks like a divorce, or getting fired, or losing wealth, etc. will be less disastrous and recovery will be faster.
Although subject to change, these things are invaluable because they give us the opportunity to experience and discover ourselves and the world. However, we should take care that we do not identify ourselves with the family, career, possessions, etc. A somewhat detached point of view should be maintained so that we control our lives, not the external factors. When they do so, we feel trapped and thorn. Detachment is hard to achieve, but the result is to see things as they are.

Let’s take some time to see our lives from other perspectives.

Our life is a ship sailing on the sea of constants. Variable wind and waves are the events that make the ship struggle, stagnate or go forward full speed. It is up to the captain to make the right decision in order to reach the shore. Is the sea his friend or his enemy?

-- --

After reviewing the text, I realized that this is a super-condensed version of my thoughts and it would take many pages to express my ideas fully. I hope I didn’t jump to conclusions without a good explanation, and in any case, I plan to develop the topic in future posts.

Mundane things

It’s been a while since I last posted. Darse is to blame. He stole all the hot subjects so I am going to tell you about the dull ones.

During the past days I was busy with mundane things. We bought some office furniture that I had to put together, we received a new leather couch for the living room and I arranged the guest bedroom. I also spent a lot of time looking for things on Internet like where to buy things, ordering some IT stuff and finally, booking my flight for Romania.

Yes, after almost four years, I am going to Romania for a week. It is the second time since we met that we are going to be apart for more than two days. Tough days are heaving at the horizon.

The great news is that (hurray!) we have all our papers issued. It is very funny that Darse has an immigrant card ;-). They didn’t give me one too because I am an EU citizen. We had a very long day because of that. We woke up at 6AM to beat the rush at the office but it turned out that there was no rush at all, at least there wasn’t before 9:30 when we left. It was a very short night, and on top of it, we received a call at 1AM from the Credit Card Company to confirm some shopping that I did yesterday. Crazy!

Sunday we had the first guests since we moved. It was a nice evening with good wine and good talk. I really enjoyed it. It seemed too short, though.

Things are getting even better. Monday I received the treadmill. I can walk and even run for however long I want in spite of the wind and the rain. I strategically positioned it in front of the big window facing the garden and it is like being out there but sheltered from the elements.

Life is very good!

PS: I attached some pictures taken during the New Years Eve in Dublin and Charleville castle.

Dame street, Central Bank



Ceilings in Charleville Castle, Tullamore

Life is good.

Engage!

OK. I guess it’s time to start the blog. I promised everyone, but it seems that the first article is the hardest. So, here it goes. I am writing it.

First of all, I hope you’ll excuse my left-handedness (;-) in written English. You already know the cause and also you know that I do my best to overcome it. Darse’s supervision is not easy to get and I'd rather publish our adventures while they’re “hot” than to wait forever for him to have some free time. This is another reason why I postponed the issue of the blog and why some posts are a little outdated.

Secondly, this blog is intended to substitute multiple e-mailing and to allow us practice writing down our thoughts. The comments are not enabled; whoever wants to say something about our posts is welcome to write us to the known e-mail addresses. We’ll be happy to hear from you.
[Edit: okay, maybe we'll try it with comments for a while.]

Now that we are all set - we have rules and framework – we have left only one thing to do: “Engage!”