they say “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” -

but if we could, should we?

an old dog, or old-timer, looks silly when he wears
the latest fashions or uses the latest slang -

so damned silly that you’d think he’d become aware
of how ludicrous he appears and knock it off

if Abe Lincoln were still around today, he would not
be greeting his fellow citizens with a “Hey dude!” -

no, Mr. Lincoln would be way too smart for that

but how about you and me?

what are we going to do in the year 2108, when
we’re still around and kicking; thanks to the coming
scientific breakthroughs that will extend our lives
indefinitely?

breakthroughs that people like Ray Kurzweil are
writing about in non-fiction best sellers like,

Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever

will we still dress, speak and gesture as we do today,
or will we be making spectacles of ourselves??

des·ti·ny [ déstinee ] (plural des·ti·nies)

Definition:

1. the apparently predetermined and inevitable series of events that happen to somebody or something

2. the inner purpose of a life that can be discovered and realized - encarta

When we start out in life, is it at all possible for us
to have a sense of our destiny; a sense of what
awaits us and the meaning of it all?

I think most of us would answer this question with
a simple “No”; music legend Bob Dylan, however,
thinks differently

A few years back, at the time of the publication of
his memoirs, Chronicles: Volume One, he had this
to say about his sense of what was before him when
set out for New York City back in 1961

think of your earliest memory -

some recollection of an event or situation that you
had experienced early in life,

a memory, that for some reason, has stayed with you
through the years

are you alone?

if you are with others, what are they like - are they
caring, helpful, hostile, indifferent . . . ?

are you active or passive ?

what are the feelings associated with this memory,
what is its emotional tone?

does this memory involve a theme that has run
throughout the course of your life - for example,
rejection, isolation, support, encouragement . . ?

how does this memory relate to your early years?

how does it relate to your current situation?

pioneering psychologist Alfred Adler wrote,

The first memory will show the individual’s fundamental view of life, his first satisfactory crystallization of his attitude . . . I would never investigate a personality without asking for the first memory.

PonderingAbout our earliest memories is one of the
best ways to learn about ourselves

Oliver Raupach

above is Umschreibung (rewriting), a sculpture-
experience by artist Ólafur Elíasson

it’s located in the courtyard of the the Munich head-
quarters of KPMG

KPMG is, “one of the largest professional services firms in the world. KPMG employs over 123,000 people in a global network of member firms spanning 145 countries. Composite revenues of KPMG member firms in 2007 were $19.8 billion USD . . . . KPMG has three lines of services: audit services, tax services, and advisory services. KPMG is a Big Four auditor, alongside . . . ” -Wikipedia

Elíasson’s sculpture can be “experienced” -

one can loop upwards and downwards, and then
upwards and downwards again, and again; cycling
like days in a week, weeks in a month . . .

looking at the Elíasson’s spiraling Umschreibung set
against the repeating patterns of the KPMG building,
you can’t help but wonder about routine -

the routine “experienced” by KPMG’s 123,000
employees

how many of their days are unique, meaningful and
memorable?

how many are routine and forgettable?

how many of our allotted days will we remember?

conformity is defined as,

1. doing and thinking as others: behavior or
thought that is socially acceptable or expected
- Encarta

throughout the day, consciously or not, we choose
to either accept or reject conformity

that is, at some level, we decide whether we will
think and act in ways that are accepted and
expected

but -

what do such decisions say about us?

what factors influence our decisions?

what are the consequences of choosing to conform?

and

What should we do - conform, or not conform?

let’s see how some of our best thinkers have
addressed these questions -

The average man is a conformist, accepting
miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow
standing in the rain.
~ Colin Wilson

Fashion is what you adopt when you don’t know
who you are.
- Quentin Crisp

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the
majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
~ Mark Twain

The conventional view serves to protect us
from the painful job of thinking.
~ J.K. Galbraith

Follow the path of the unsafe, independent
thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of
controversy. Speak your mind and fear less
the label of “crackpot” than the stigma of
conformity.
- Thomas John Watson, Sr.

The opposite of courage is conformity. Even
a dead fish can go with the flow.
- Jim Hightower

Be who you are and say what you feel, because
those who mind don’t matter and those who
matter don’t mind.
~ Dr. Seuss

The individual has always had to struggle to
keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If
you try it, you will be lonely often, and some-
times frightened. But no price is too high to
pay for the privilege of owning yourself.
~ Friedrich Nietzsche

The reward for conformity is that everyone likes
you but yourself.
- Rita Mae Brown

We are half ruined by conformity, but we
should be wholly ruined without it.
- Charles Dudley Warner

Be neither a conformist or a rebel, for they are
really the same thing. Find your own path, and
stay on it.
~ Paul Vixie