Going back to the old days, good times and missing old friends

Going back to the old days.....

Recently I was send an interview by Conan O'Brian. I can not remember off hand who he was interviewing, but the comments these man made were brilliant! He started off by saying that we live in a wonderful time in history, but nobody is happy. He said that sometime he thought that it would be good if we suffered another great depression. His thinking was that if we went back to the old days where we would be taking a horse drawn carriage, or walked to work we would probably be happier.

To back up his statement he went on to say that we have access to all of the technology, and information in the world but we take it for granite. Remember when we actually "dialed" a phone? We used to hate when we had to call somebody with two zero's in there number. Then we would call and the people may not even be home. The phone would ring and ring and ring and we would Wait. Think about that for a moment...We were actually using technology that created sparks to communicate with people. If they were not home we didn't send them a text, or left a message. We would call them back later if it was truly important, or we would talk to them when we saw them.

Another fine example that this man used was the opportunity to use the Internet while flying. As the plane reached altitude the flight attendant came over the intercom and announced that it was safe for passengers to use the Internet while they were in flight. So this guy was cruising around on the Internet for approximately ten minutes. Then the attendant announced that they were having difficulty with their WI-FI connection. The man next to this guy immediately uttered that not being able to access the Internet during his flight was BS! Imagine that. Apparently everybody on the plane, and the airline OWED this guy because he should have complete access to technology he found out about ten minutes prior.

Good Times....

I have never been a fisherman. I could never really see the point. Yesterday my neighbor talked me into going to Tucannon for the March 1st opening of fishing season. We hiked into a little picturesque lake. Lucky for us we were able to find one that was not clogged with avid fisherpeople (trying to be PC). MY neighbor went to one side of the lake and I decided to go the other side. It was quite. I started to get bored. Then I started listening. The white noise in my busy, hustled life faded away and I heard something that I have not heard in a while. I heard wind...and running water. I heard an occasional fish jump out of the water gasping for a feeble inspect that looking more appealing then my hook. I heard deer. Then I heard "Fish on!" Then a few cuss words as my neighbor lost a big bite.

In that brief moment in my life I think I understood what Emerson, and Thorough wrote about. I almost understood what Chris Chandless was looking for and eventually gave his life for in the book (and now movie) "into the wild" By John someguy (totally forgot his last name, but it is my moment). In that brief glimpse of life I felt at peace.

Will I every become an avid fisherman like my neighbor and Ty. Probably not. But it is fun to watch people obsess about things. Oh...And I like nature, and solitude.

Missing old friends

Recently two people that I admired and respected passed away. They were both men that the world is lacking now days. They took responsibility for their actions. They were always there to lend a hand to their communities, and never asked what they would get out of it. They never complained. They looked after my family even though they had families of their own. They were men of honor. They were hero's. They were veterans. They will always be my friends.

Theraputic Community

Recently I moved back into my old counselor position in a drug unit. It is formally called a "theraputic community", but realistically it is a drug program. No I am not on drugs, and this blog is not going to be about addiction. But I think the public in general could learn a little something about a theraputic community.

A theraputic community is a cognative behavioral modification program for addicts. In the prison setting we mainly focus on drug, and alcohol addiction, but you could be a drug and alcohol addict and not use alcohol. The main theme of this program is to provide and teach addicts how to live in a structred, caring safe environment. To basically teach them the the drug/alcohol induced life that they have built is not normal. One of the main ways that the theraputic environment is achieved is by holding each other accountable. The offenders like to call it snitching, but really nobody is telling on each other. You confront others behavior to the person who has to problematic behavior. Confronting a behavior would go something like this..."Hello Mr. A I noticed that you cut me off on the freeway. You also flipped me the bird as if it was my fault. Your behavior put me and my family members at risk. Out of care and concern I want to bring this to your attention." Mr. A would then say this..."Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I will get on top of that behavior."

It sounds simple dosen't it. That main problem with addicts, and criminals in general is they have a lot of criminal thinking errors. Dr. Samenow and Yolsch did a study on why criminals think the way they do. Through their study they found that criminal have a lot of general thinking errors. One for example is a lack of trust. Another would be "zero state" meaning I am me therefore I am. Or in laymans terms I am special and the rules do not apply to me.

But here is the point of this blog. Everybody has thinking errors! Have you ever been running a little late and pushed the pedal down a little hard to make an appointment on time. You probably thought "Oh I am not a speeder. I know the sign said 65 MPH, but I am late and I need to be there. They need me. Besides there are never any police around when you need them." You my friend just committed a thinking error. Now don't go writting yourself off just yet. The difference between how addicts think and how us "freedom lovers" think can be radically different. For instance. We we eventually get a ticket for going 75 in a 65 we go pay the ticket. The criminals most likely never had a license to begin with and probably have warrants out so they are not even going to mail their ticket in, nor go near a court room.

The point is we are becomming a society that does not want to confront behavior. We can confront behavior out of care and concern but we tend not to because the behavior has not effected us yet. We tend to think that we would be violating peoples god given rights or freedom. Most often we do not like it when people confront our behavior. But all we have to say is "Thank you. I'll get on top of that."

When I sat down to write this blog I had a really good point. The point of this blog has long since escaped my mind and I and thinking about practicing fiddle. So take from this what you may. Developing your character is a journey of truth.