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Thread: Life and all that

  1. #21
    Senior Member silverlifter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Life and all that

    Quote Originally Posted by guyy View Post
    and that scene from Stalker came to mind when i read your post.
    The magical moment in that film, that is unparalelled in modern cinema, when colour is introduced is exactly the sort of transcendence that provides hope, and meaning, and a sense of luminous quality to the everyday travails we all face. If I have any religious sensibility, Tarkovsky captures it perfectly. Every frame of The Mirror is like that.
    Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    As great a film as it is, and I am a fan of Tarkovsky, I prefer the book [Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, for anyone curious] However, I like the film because it more closely aligns with my 'experiences in the Zone' while playing the computer games, especially Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl.

    As an aside, didn't Spielberg use the same 'introduced colour' device in Schindler's List?

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    I see things the same - to a point. I work with the elderly, and before death, for many of us, there are many years of suffering from health problems, complete loss of mobility, dementia, eating puréed food, diapers...sometimes health consequences of poor life choices, sometimes not. Doesn’t seem to matter. Even worse to be living in a youth obsessed culture where the elderly don’t matter, where a blind eye is turned to poor care and ridiculously bad staffing ratios. I look around at all of them and think how sad it is...that people work hard their entire lives, try to live the best they can, and this is how they end up? It just doesn’t seem fair. And of course, being around it all the time, one can’t help but think, is this what fate has in store for me? It’s depressing as hell.

  5. #24
    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: Life and all that

    Quote Originally Posted by Igraine View Post
    I see things the same - to a point. I work with the elderly, and before death, for many of us, there are many years of suffering from health problems, complete loss of mobility, dementia, eating puréed food, diapers...sometimes health consequences of poor life choices, sometimes not. Doesn’t seem to matter. Even worse to be living in a youth obsessed culture where the elderly don’t matter, where a blind eye is turned to poor care and ridiculously bad staffing ratios. I look around at all of them and think how sad it is...that people work hard their entire lives, try to live the best they can, and this is how they end up? It just doesn’t seem fair. And of course, being around it all the time, one can’t help but think, is this what fate has in store for me? It’s depressing as hell.
    That's hard stuff, and you have painted it stark and true. I can't do much from here except offer a virtual hand on your shoulder in friendship. I don't do the job you do, but I've just finished about a quarter of a century of personal eldercare, having taken all four parents plus an uncle through their last journeys. My mom was the last, and she passed 2 years ago. The longest was my father, who had open heart surgery and suffered a stroke, and spent the last 7 years bouncing back and then fading out. It's hard, hard stuff.

    I have no children and only one sibling. I/we will likely be on our own at the end, and are planning on how best to do it. I've given thought, serious thought, to living to the max and then pulling a Thelma and Louise ending! I doubt I could pull it off, but it makes me smile to think of that exit ramp.

    I don't know you but it is clear this is a lot on your shoulders and psyche. I hope it won't seem out of place or too intrusive to suggest that you seek counseling (if you haven't already). Those of you who are the walking angels, taking care of our elders, need your own caring professionals to heal your souls. I hope you can and will allow that care to assist you, and I wish you all the best.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    I've given thought, serious thought, to living to the max and then pulling a Thelma and Louise ending!
    I’ll hold the camera... should be spectacular!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    Quote Originally Posted by lsmith42 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    I've given thought, serious thought, to living to the max and then pulling a Thelma and Louise ending!
    I’ll hold the camera... should be spectacular!
    There is comfort in knowing I can always count on you...
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by lsmith42 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    I've given thought, serious thought, to living to the max and then pulling a Thelma and Louise ending!
    I’ll hold the camera... should be spectacular!
    There is comfort in knowing I can always count on you...
    Always!!!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    Two years ago my passing was imminent and so I made my peace with life. All those little cares that take away from the experience of existence are meaningless before the face of the cosmos. We humans have been very good at inventing meaningless activities to keep ourselves occupied. No matter how much life you have it can never be enough. Simply existing and experiencing life makes it worthwhile. Waking each morning and looking out the window at the birds and animals that inhabit my garden is enough for me to place myself within the grand complexity which expresses itself as life. There is only one life and each of us individually experiences our part of it, just as the animals outside do theirs. We are not separate or distinct from, as our individual experience tricks us into believing. Life is a continuum and we are lucky to get three score and ten to experience the grandeur of a cosmos that make the experience possible.

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Igraine View Post
    I see things the same - to a point. I work with the elderly, and before death, for many of us, there are many years of suffering from health problems, complete loss of mobility, dementia, eating puréed food, diapers...sometimes health consequences of poor life choices, sometimes not. Doesn’t seem to matter. Even worse to be living in a youth obsessed culture where the elderly don’t matter, where a blind eye is turned to poor care and ridiculously bad staffing ratios. I look around at all of them and think how sad it is...that people work hard their entire lives, try to live the best they can, and this is how they end up? It just doesn’t seem fair. And of course, being around it all the time, one can’t help but think, is this what fate has in store for me? It’s depressing as hell.
    That's hard stuff, and you have painted it stark and true. I can't do much from here except offer a virtual hand on your shoulder in friendship. I don't do the job you do, but I've just finished about a quarter of a century of personal eldercare, having taken all four parents plus an uncle through their last journeys. My mom was the last, and she passed 2 years ago. The longest was my father, who had open heart surgery and suffered a stroke, and spent the last 7 years bouncing back and then fading out. It's hard, hard stuff.

    I have no children and only one sibling. I/we will likely be on our own at the end, and are planning on how best to do it. I've given thought, serious thought, to living to the max and then pulling a Thelma and Louise ending! I doubt I could pull it off, but it makes me smile to think of that exit ramp.

    I don't know you but it is clear this is a lot on your shoulders and psyche. I hope it won't seem out of place or too intrusive to suggest that you seek counseling (if you haven't already). Those of you who are the walking angels, taking care of our elders, need your own caring professionals to heal your souls. I hope you can and will allow that care to assist you, and I wish you all the best.
    Thank you for your nice reply. I’m ok. I have a good support system, especially in my coworkers. And I’ve always been a little on the cynical side, so nothing new for me to have a few negative thoughts. It’s inevitable that the older we get, the more we think about our own end.

    I loved the ending of Thelma & Louise...but there’s a reason they stopped mid frame with them still in the air. The car landing in the canyon in a fireball would have been slightly less romantic.

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    Quote Originally Posted by RobJohnson View Post
    Don't you guys ever get tired of life and all the hassles of dealing with the daily torment?

    Somedays I really have to hold the balance in my hand and question so much thinking about values and what is all for.
    Hi Rob, we haven't seen you back in this thread for a bit - hope you're feeling better with the change of the seasons. What pen and inks are you using today?

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    Quote Originally Posted by RobJohnson View Post
    Don't you guys ever get tired of life and all the hassles of dealing with the daily torment?

    Somedays I really have to hold the balance in my hand and question so much thinking about values and what is all for.
    We were put on Earth to have fun, even if we can't always bounce out of bed every morning like superballs on speed.

    Sure, sometimes life can be a ginormous pain in the ass. For every thing that sucks in this world, however, there are ten things that totally rock. Driving up the Pacific Coast Highway shrouded in glowing orange mist as the sun sets, for example. Or chillin' at the hot springs, a leftover bit of the 1960s based on radical acceptance. Also going to an art fair in a redwood forest, like stepping into a fairy tale. Or even going to a jazz festival on a river beach. And also a million other things that are awesome, some in small ways and nearby, others on a larger, grander scale and farther afield. They are there around each of us, we just have to look a little for them. Hell, the search is half the fun!

    Best of all are some of the amazing people around us. They are there, too, and are excellent!
    Last edited by Pendragon; May 4th, 2021 at 03:34 AM.

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    Quote Originally Posted by Igraine View Post
    I see things the same - to a point. I work with the elderly, and before death, for many of us, there are many years of suffering from health problems, complete loss of mobility, dementia, eating puréed food, diapers...sometimes health consequences of poor life choices, sometimes not. Doesn’t seem to matter. Even worse to be living in a youth obsessed culture where the elderly don’t matter, where a blind eye is turned to poor care and ridiculously bad staffing ratios. I look around at all of them and think how sad it is...that people work hard their entire lives, try to live the best they can, and this is how they end up? It just doesn’t seem fair. And of course, being around it all the time, one can’t help but think, is this what fate has in store for me? It’s depressing as hell.
    Something you should consider. If you were not a nice person, a responsible parent, or a contributing comunity member at 35, don't expect others to suddenly come to your aid when you turn 80.

    There is a reason adult children want nothing to do with their parents.

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    Quote Originally Posted by Pendragon View Post
    <snip> For every thing that sucks in this world, however, there are ten things that totally rock. <snip>
    Life can be very beautiful if you look at it the right way.

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    Quote Originally Posted by Chuck Naill View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Igraine View Post
    I see things the same - to a point. I work with the elderly, and before death, for many of us, there are many years of suffering from health problems, complete loss of mobility, dementia, eating puréed food, diapers...sometimes health consequences of poor life choices, sometimes not. Doesn’t seem to matter. Even worse to be living in a youth obsessed culture where the elderly don’t matter, where a blind eye is turned to poor care and ridiculously bad staffing ratios. I look around at all of them and think how sad it is...that people work hard their entire lives, try to live the best they can, and this is how they end up? It just doesn’t seem fair. And of course, being around it all the time, one can’t help but think, is this what fate has in store for me? It’s depressing as hell.
    Something you should consider. If you were not a nice person, a responsible parent, or a contributing comunity member at 35, don't expect others to suddenly come to your aid when you turn 80.

    There is a reason adult children want nothing to do with their parents.
    Very true. Mean, nasty people get old too. And I’ve had many whose families, when you would call them, would say things like “Don’t bother us. Just let us know when he’s dead.” But that isn’t the case with all of them. Of course, with both partners working today, it’s not like a few generations ago, when mom was at home and available to take care of an elderly parent....but some of the families DO have someone at home, or could afford to hire a caretaker, and they don’t. It’s a dirty job, I mean, who really wants to change diapers on an 80 year old? And if they have dementia, you have to have a hell of a lot of patience. It’s a full time job in itself.
    Last edited by Igraine; May 9th, 2021 at 11:19 AM.

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    Default Re: Life and all that

    I haven't seen the OP @RobJohnson since he posted this thread. I'd like to know how he is doing. It's a bit concerning, especially considering the nature of this thread. Does anybody have contact with him?

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