Under Two Suns

“That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, ‘See this, it is new’? Already it has existed for ages which were before us. There is no remembrance of earlier things; and also of the later things which will occur. There will be for them no remembrance among those who will come later still.” Ecclesiastes 1:9-11

I remember the first time I read that and thought, “WOW!! My mom and dad are right!!! To put this in some perspective, I grew up in a family that was all about learning – not education, but learning. It “bent” my view of education forever.

So we were the only kids I ever knew of whose Mom would wake us at 3:AM to watch a butterfly or a cicada pull out of a chrysalis or to see our sweet guinea pigs, Pick and Pack, have their first babies! And all the time it was about experiences and what did we learn from this or that experience. Why was it important? How could we use this in our own daily lives, starting right now!

It was great. And there were books EVERYWHERE. I do not remember a night, if my parents were not gravely ill, where they did not always go to bed with a book before lights out. We all read (well my little brother got out of it because he thought books were just too heavy to be bothered with, but he finally caught on later in his life!)

We read everything! I was in a book club when I was four years old and consumed anything with type on that I could figure out as soon as I knew my ABCs!

This stimulated my intuition, so I was always inventing scenarios that I would turn into stories to tell my Mom and Dad. And they would always listen – I don’t remember my parents ever telling me to go away they were too busy to listen (although I’m sure they must have.).

Precocious, imaginative, creative and inventive – those were my mottos – still are, probably, though the precocious has turned into passion (the nice kind of passion (strong enthusiasm not strength to go through 2x4s with gusto!).

Feet On The Ground Please!

Occasionally, my Mom or Dad had to help ease me back down out of the clouds so my feet could touch the earth again and they would share with me in various ways the discovery of the quote above. That history repeats itself and that there isn’t anything new.

Since stepping into the Virtual World I live in, it seemed as though here was a place where FINALLY, I could prove that old theory wrong. But my parents are still right. (Isn’t it interesting how you get the message that the longer you live the smarter they get?)

So since my time there, when I used to wonder if there would ever be more than 10,000 people on line at once (now there are mid 40K), I’ve seen some interesting parallels in this world to RL (Real Life), including the spontaneous uprising of a form of governance that is growing more “individual” based rather than the “benevolent dictator” it began as.

Avilion, is a good example to me. This is where I live and "work". It is Medieval and during a time when intrigue and spying and whispers were dangerous beyond imagination. When I first ventured in to this idyllic realm many months ago (read yesterday's blog about the excelleration of time), it was all about peace and love and classical Romanticism.

But over time it has grown to be like the time of Henry the VIII. Individuals are so politically motivated they seem no longer able to have fun because they are so busy watching their backs.

You just have to wonder….