These past months have been hard ones for so many reasons. A special co-worker of mine retired a bit over a year ago. His duties became mine, also, with no additional help until two weeks ago. Trying to cover my responsibilities has meant month after month of seven day weeks, often with additional hours on the weekdays as well.
Compound that with the heretofore unfathomable atrocities in our political lives, and it has made it a dark time in many ways.
More below!
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We face challenges. Big ones. Small ones.
For the second time since I joined Daily Kos, I am posting a two-paragraph Michael Crichton quotation about chaos in life. It came from his book, The Lost World. The use of the quotation makes no statement about my opinion of his book, or of the man himself. But I do find his quotation remarkable.
"Of the self-organizing behaviors," Ian Malcolm said, "two are of particular interest to the study of evolution. One is adaptation. We see it everywhere. Corporations adapt to the marketplace, brain cells adapt to signal traffic, the immune system adapts to infection, animals adapt to their food supply. We have come to think that the ability to adapt is characteristic of complex systems-and may be one reason why evolution seems to lead toward more complex organisms."
He shifted at the podium, transferring his weight onto his cane. "But even more important," he said, "is the way complex systems seem to strike a balance between the need for order and the imperative to change. Complex systems tend to locate themselves at a place we call 'the edge of chaos.'We imagine the edge of chaos as a place where there is enough innovation to keep a living system vibrant, and enough stability to keep it from collapsing into anarchy. It is a zone of conflict and upheaval, where the old and the new are constantly at War. Finding the balance point must be a delicate matter - if a living system drifts too close, it risks falling over into incoherence and dissolution; but if the system moves too far away from the edge, it becomes rigid, frozen, totalitarian. Both conditions lead to extinction. Too much change is as destructive as too little. Only at the edge of chaos can complex systems flourish."
In many ways life can find us surfing at the edge of chaos. Do we stay precariously balanced atop the wave, with its extraordinary energy, or do we fall over the back side, becalmed? In this past year, I’m describing the closest approach I can recall in my life. Work has been a huge, ongoing focus. But throughout it all I have resisted. Resisted the dark forces, resisted the weakness within, the temptation to despair, to back off. I feel good about that.
Well I know how quickly election day is approaching. I’m very happy that demands on my time are subsiding (slowly!). I intend to begin making the fight much more energetically, much more emphatically now. I’m very thankful for my exceptional friends and political allies. You mean the world to me. I’m excited about remaking our world with you.
On to tonight’s comments! Formatted by brillig, one of the most resolute friends you could ever have!
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Highlighted by hester:
This comment by shmuelman, from Laura Clawson’s New York Republicans defend decision to invite hate group leader to speak, despite violent aftermath, should be a diary of its own.
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, October 14th 2018, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
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