Word of the decade

 

dys·to·pi·an

/disˈtōpēən/

Learn to pronounce

adjective

1. relating to or denoting an imagined state or society where there is great suffering or injustice.

   "the dystopian future of a society bereft of reason"

   Similar:

   nightmarish

   terrifying

   gloomy

   hellish

   Orwellian

   dystopic

   despotic

   tyrannical

   oppressive

   repressive

   dictatorial

   totalitarian

   authoritarian

   autocratic

   futuristic

   science fiction

   grimdark

   sci-fi

   Opposite:

   utopian

noun

1. a person who imagines or foresees a state or society where there is great suffering or injustice.

   "a lot of things those dystopians feared did not come true"

(daily ex., morning dog walk 2.3 miles, pm jog 2.2 miles, rest day)

Common sense...I love this description.

 But where did the crowd get these “common sense” beliefs? Most were handed down to them by parents and grandparents in a generational game of telephone that leaves all players ill-informed.

      Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

     This reminded me of the following quote, also one of my favorites:

“Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people,”

― Laura Greenwood, Fangs For Nothing

(daily ex., morning dog WOG 4.3 miles, pm tm jog 3 miles) 

"To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to always be in no-man's-land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh." Pema Chödrön

 (daily ex. update, a gorgeous day, morning WOG w dog, 3.2 miles, pm tm jog 3.5 miles, while outside I chatted with lots of neighbors who were out also, so nice)

Her life changed the day she learned that she was just as valuable as everyone else. - Esther the Wonder Pig

 "He who saves a life, saves the world entire." --The Talmud

(daily ex. update, morning walk 4 miles, plus 20 min. of yoga, pm slow jog 2.5 miles)

Darling, you have outgrown the circus......S.C. Lourie

 (daily ex. update, morning dog walk 3.1 miles, pm jog 3 miles)

 I wonder if you know,

the work your body has done today.

And every day.

How much disease it has fought off.

How many times it could have failed but battled on,

how many ways it could have broken but did not.

I wonder if you know,

the work your body has done today.

And every day.

And each day it has done this amazing job,

without your help,

without your approval,

your acceptance,

your kindness.

Each day it has soldiered on,

regardless of the constant stream of negativity,

pulsing its way from your brain to your cells.

Not good enough.

Not attractive enough.

Not the right shape.

Perhaps it’s time to see your body for what is truly is,

An amazing and mind-blowingly competent machine.

To get your soul to where it needs to be in this life.

To let you live.

I wonder if you know,

how much better you would be as a team.

I wonder.

Donna Ashworth

From ‘I wish I Knew

(daily ex. update, morning dog walk 1 icy, cold dog-paw freezing mile, 25 min. of light snow shoveling, pm 4.2 miles of slow jogging)

 

Like Others

In the end,
I was like others.
A person.

Sometimes embarrassed,
sometimes afraid.

When “Fire!” was shouted,
some ran toward it,
some away—

I neck-deep among them.

     (by Jane Hirshfield)

(very cold, snowy, icy day.  Daily ex. update, morning dog walk only 0.5 miles, pm tm 4.6 miles.  Tomorrow's weather will be no better)