I Just Saw a Face

So I'm racking my brain for an entry topic today, unsuccessfully, when I absentmindedly look off to my right and see one of Kate's hair clips sitting alone on a small white table. At the angle it's sitting it looks very much like a fairly unattractive human face.

Entry idea.

Our brains are wired to look for patterns, and one of the most iconic images our minds scan our environments for is the human face. I, and probably most of you, tend to see faces everywhere. In scribbles, the backs of cars, and dirty blotches on the sidewalk. Anywhere there is a random assemblage of shapes or patterns, my eye sees a face.

And that's positive because it shows that not only are we wired to recognize the human face, which you'd expect, but we also have a strong tendency to seek that pattern out. Meaning we have a strong, innate desire to find others of our own kind. To be social creatures.

Try paying attention to the patterns you recognize in random assemblages. I'd be willing to bet more often than not you'll see a face.

Hope Springs Eternal

I think one of the more admirable qualities of our species is our never-ending wellspring of hope. Even in the worst of circumstances humans have the capacity to belief that things will get better. We're always imagining our situations resolved, our circumstances changed for the better, and we pine for those better realities. It's great that, and you'll never hear me say this in any other context, even in the face of facts, even beyond any reasonable assurance of a positive resolution, we can still hold out hope for change.

It's a reaction to a threatening world that could be reduced to a simple survival mechanism. But I prefer not to think of it that way. I imagine more as an offshoot of the same cerebral processes that allow us to perceive beauty. To create art. To see objects as more than just their physical mass. To imbue an essentially meaningless, purposeless universe with both of those properties, based on our own unique brain chemistries. Hope represents the imposition of the concept of "beauty" on life situations, seeing even difficult, painful situations from the best possible perspective and imagining tidy conclusions.

Whether hope is fused with action toward the realization of that imagined better existence is only peripherally important to this discussion. Hope, even apart from action, is a sustaining force for people in the face of adversity, and is responsible for humanity's long march of progress.

But yes. Hope buoyed by action is more potent than either element separately.

As a side note, I'll say that hope is only positive when applied toward positive ends. Just like any human attribute hope can be twisted and used for destructive purposes. One can hope for exceptionally ugly things just as easily as good. And that hope can motivate people toward ill intents just as quickly as positive ones. So the benefits of hope are metered by purpose.

A Slightly Coerced Shout Out to Rich

Our friend Rich made a comment about wanting to get into a blog post. So this short entry is all about the power of asking for what you want. A lot of people don't bother, or are too scared to ask for things. For help. For advice. For emotional...stuff. For money. Whatever. If you want or need something and someone else either has it or can help you in your pursuit, ask them. More than likely they'll say yes. But only if you open your mouth.

People, at least the people worth knowing, are inherently good, I think, and are willing to do more than most other people give them credit for, as long as they know what you need. Life is far more enjoyable if you start with the premise that other people are there to help you, and you for them. Then life is just one big back scratch.

Rich also asked us not to mention his chronic flatulence and almost primate-like toes. The lesson here is that asking is the first step toward getting what you want...but it's not a guarantee.