It is, thus, discontinuities, the great discontinuities in life, that we seek to bridge, or reconcile, or integrate, by recollection, and, beyond this, by myth and art.
Invest in things that have the capacity for growth.
Thoughts for a Thursday from Saving Tarboo Creek
In the history of life, no gene has ever been expressed in the absence of environmental influences. These environmental influences, in turn, come in two distinct but interacting types: a genetic environment created by the unique combination of fifty thousand distinct alleles in every person, and an external environment with thousands of factors–temperature, disease, nutrition, learning experiences, social milieu, and so on–that influence whether a gene is expressed at all and if so, when, where, and how much. Likewise, it’s not possible for experience, learning, training, or other aspects of nurture to create a trait in the absence of the structures and potentials created by gene products. There is simply no such thing as nature versus nurture.
Rainy Days Are Productive Days
…and during no time of the year am I reminded as much than in the spring and summer. (more…)
Mother’s Day Special: To Mothers, From Authors
“My mother, Teddy Hedges, a professor of English, imparted to me a love of books and writing. She was the first one to publish my work, in a booklet she typed and bound when I was a child.”
– Chris Hedges (from War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning)
“For my mother,
Dell Temple Jamison
Who gave me life not
once, but countless times”
– Kay Redfield Jamison (from An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness)
and
“To
My most patient reader
and
most charitable critic,
my aged mother.
This volume is affectionately inscribed.”
– Mark Twain (from Innocents Abroad)
PSA: If your mother is alive and good to you: hug her, give her a call, treat her to whatever; do the most you can do to let her know you appreciate and love her. If your mother is gone, whether literally or she is emotionally or physically absent because she is abusive, addicted and using, mentally ill and untreated or whatever the case may be, thank her in your mind for giving birth to you, and treat yourself for staying strong in spite of your loss. Everyone is born from a mother, and everyone deserves today to celebrate.