We are predisposed to incessantly label and categorize everything. This was hammered into us at school and most of us have largely become products of that miseducation (or very limited education). We habitually look through a screen of patterns and labels that was handed down to us (by our primitive society). We see what we were taught to see. We usually recognize merely according to what we were programmed to recognize. What we see is usually very limited, second-hand, fragmentary, and banal. Then many of us end up depressed, ordinary, and — to a large extent — mediocre.
Please question what you were taught and (often) go beyond it. Please look without all of the crap that was spoon-fed to you. Please often look at things holistically, without all of the divisions, distinctions, separations, run-of-the-mill labels, and distance. Question what was poured into you. Go out, appreciate what you see, and breathe and live as if for the first time.
My Blog primarily consists of close-up nature photos (that I've taken locally) combined with original holistic-truth oriented prose and/or poetry involving mindfulness/awareness. I love nature and I love understanding the whole (not merely the parts and the details). I'm a retired teacher of the multiply handicapped.
I have a number of interesting hobbies, such as fossil collecting, sport-kite flying, 3D and 2D close-up photography, holography, and pets. Most of all, I am into holistic self-awareness, spontaneous insight, unconventional observation/direct perception, mindfulness, meditation, world peace, non-fragmentation, population control, vegetarianism, and green energy.
To follow my unique Blog of "Nature Photos and Mindfulness Sayings" and for RSS feeds to my new posts, please access at: tom8pie.com (On my regular Blog posting pages, for additional information and to follow, simply click on the "tack icon" at the upper right corner... or, on my profile page, you can click on the "Thomas Peace" icon.)
Stay mindful, understanding, and caring!...
Oh, you have said something so important – “We see what we were taught to see” – do we ever question this? And if so how? I know you do but then you pay attention…
Gosh I hope there are other ways to learn about this besides being a naturalist – as a naturalist I am a learner who is always on the trail of seeing/ feeling/sensing something new – making new connections – the forest is my teacher – the trees outside my window are saying something if only I could hear….
Sara, it is so great that the forest is your teacher! 😁 And everything is new at all times, but so many of us merely recognize old patterns and cling to them. We need to go beyond that!
gosh Tom – you know that having nature as teacher sure helps – wish I could engage others to try – you do that with your astounding photographs without ever saying a word!!!!
Yep. The more labels we paste on the process level of reality, the more we abstract ourselves away from that reality, a reality which at the most fundamental (and inaccessible) level lies deep within the objects and events of our perceptions. It is wonderful indeed when, at times, our programmed preconceptions and words slip away and we feel some degree of our connection to the natural world as Sara says in her comment.
Yes, like i said to Sara, everything is new at all times, but so many of us recognize old patterns and cling to them. Exclusively clinging to old patterns isn’t living; it is existing in (and “as”) the dead past. 😉
I heard a saying this week that made me chuckle: “Don’t let your studies interfere with your education.” The implication is that our real education is outside of the usual formal channels and must be taken on our own. Of course the real education begins with the learned labels and categories as you so aptly described.
Yes, don’t let your studies interfere with your education! Good advice. Real (i.e., true) education is dynamic and is not merely what involves the field of the known. The known is a very limited, fragmentary field. 😉
Good to question any assumption!
I’m by nature an organizer (of things, ideas, words into poems) … yet frequently stumped categorizing files I want to keep as many defy fitting in just one bucket. Likewise with opinions.
I have always had issues with labels and categories too. I mean, if it works for others, i respect that. However, i don’t think it is fair for people to force me to attach labels to my identity unless I genuinely want to. Somehow, a lot of people don’t understand that a person who doesn’t like labels deserves the same amount of respect as someone else who requires labels to survive.
Yes, a lot of people who are fixated with labels and categories, Upasana, are often rather incapable of being appreciative of someone who is not immersed in that kind of mindset. People who primarily look with patterns and distinctions mostly feel comfortable around others whose minds are primarily full of patterns and distinctions. (Birds of a feather flock together.) 😀
“Go out, appreciate what you see, and breathe and live as if for the first time.” I like that sentence and thinking Tom … I try to always be curious and also be astounded at the beauty and wonderment of nature. I spent Friday and the weekend out in nature, enjoying the perfect weather – I did so much walking and picture-taking I wore myself out, but I was sated with the experience which will carry me long into the week and beyond. I saw some new birdies and am ecstatic about it. Are these lovelies the byproduct of those pretty Robin’s eggs we saw a few weeks ago?
Great for you, Linda! Being close to nature is beautiful and spiritual! 😊
The fledglings in my picture are some kind of little wrens. There sure are a lot of them! 😁
Yes, I constantly try to learn things that were not taught in regular school curriculums. I began questioning teachers about their teaching practices while in ninth grade. I ended up spending a lot of time in the detention room writing “I will not… ” on a chalkboard for questioning their authority. 😀
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
Oh, you have said something so important – “We see what we were taught to see” – do we ever question this? And if so how? I know you do but then you pay attention…
Gosh I hope there are other ways to learn about this besides being a naturalist – as a naturalist I am a learner who is always on the trail of seeing/ feeling/sensing something new – making new connections – the forest is my teacher – the trees outside my window are saying something if only I could hear….
Sara, it is so great that the forest is your teacher! 😁 And everything is new at all times, but so many of us merely recognize old patterns and cling to them. We need to go beyond that!
gosh Tom – you know that having nature as teacher sure helps – wish I could engage others to try – you do that with your astounding photographs without ever saying a word!!!!
Sara, we both wish that more people were open to nature’s secrets and infinity! 😉
Yep. The more labels we paste on the process level of reality, the more we abstract ourselves away from that reality, a reality which at the most fundamental (and inaccessible) level lies deep within the objects and events of our perceptions. It is wonderful indeed when, at times, our programmed preconceptions and words slip away and we feel some degree of our connection to the natural world as Sara says in her comment.
Yes, like i said to Sara, everything is new at all times, but so many of us recognize old patterns and cling to them. Exclusively clinging to old patterns isn’t living; it is existing in (and “as”) the dead past. 😉
I heard a saying this week that made me chuckle: “Don’t let your studies interfere with your education.” The implication is that our real education is outside of the usual formal channels and must be taken on our own. Of course the real education begins with the learned labels and categories as you so aptly described.
Yes, don’t let your studies interfere with your education! Good advice. Real (i.e., true) education is dynamic and is not merely what involves the field of the known. The known is a very limited, fragmentary field. 😉
👏❤️🎶
Thank you! 🤩
Good to question any assumption!
I’m by nature an organizer (of things, ideas, words into poems) … yet frequently stumped categorizing files I want to keep as many defy fitting in just one bucket. Likewise with opinions.
Jazz, i feel we need to go way beyond fitting and assigning via categories and attributes. There are much deeper layers. 😊
I have always had issues with labels and categories too. I mean, if it works for others, i respect that. However, i don’t think it is fair for people to force me to attach labels to my identity unless I genuinely want to. Somehow, a lot of people don’t understand that a person who doesn’t like labels deserves the same amount of respect as someone else who requires labels to survive.
Yes, a lot of people who are fixated with labels and categories, Upasana, are often rather incapable of being appreciative of someone who is not immersed in that kind of mindset. People who primarily look with patterns and distinctions mostly feel comfortable around others whose minds are primarily full of patterns and distinctions. (Birds of a feather flock together.) 😀
I can tell myself that I’m all about patterns and distinctions, then 😂
Maybe not necessarily, Upasana. Watch carefully and find out; you may be surprised! 😉
In your picture, I see a forlorn face that encourages me to take your advice and live fully.
Well, Astrid, i do not see a forlorn face but please do take my advice and live fully beyond what was spoonfed to you. 😉
“Go out, appreciate what you see, and breathe and live as if for the first time.” I like that sentence and thinking Tom … I try to always be curious and also be astounded at the beauty and wonderment of nature. I spent Friday and the weekend out in nature, enjoying the perfect weather – I did so much walking and picture-taking I wore myself out, but I was sated with the experience which will carry me long into the week and beyond. I saw some new birdies and am ecstatic about it. Are these lovelies the byproduct of those pretty Robin’s eggs we saw a few weeks ago?
Great for you, Linda! Being close to nature is beautiful and spiritual! 😊
The fledglings in my picture are some kind of little wrens. There sure are a lot of them! 😁
“enjoy yourself”
Yes, I constantly try to learn things that were not taught in regular school curriculums. I began questioning teachers about their teaching practices while in ninth grade. I ended up spending a lot of time in the detention room writing “I will not… ” on a chalkboard for questioning their authority. 😀