just by looking

  Yogi Berra is quoted as saying, you can observe a lot, just by looking. I love Yoga Berra quotes even though many are nothing he ever said, same as Confucius. But there are some whose wit and wisdom just transcend time. Now I'm one that does observe quite a bit, I have seen a lot just by watching. What I thought about this morning was how much I have learned simply by paying attention to what others are doing and more importantly, how they do it. 

  I decided my outdoor glider swing needed the cushions recovered. Well, I did work as a professional upholsterer at one period in my life. It's true I didn't do any machine sewing at that occupation, there were two ladies in the shop to handle that part of the process. That's where I did learn a lot just by watching though, so I figured I could handle this small project. I didn't learn quite as much as I had hoped but managed to struggle through anyway. I'm almost half way through and improving with each stitch. The fun is in doing it, the end result may or may not satisfy my standard. I don't let that stop me however, I'll try again if I fail. 

  What Yogi said is the simple truth of the matter. If you really watch and pay attention to what others do you can see a lot. Sometimes you see just how silly or incompetent they are. Yes you can see what not to do as readily as what you should be doing. I'm guessing we have TicTok for that these days. Mostly you watch that and see what you shouldn't be doing, bunch of idiots on there by all accounts. Well the truth is the internet is full of videos like that, whatever grabs peoples attention. It's all about likes and clicks these days. I've heard some make millions on there but I've never made a dime and no clue how I would go about that. 

  One thing I have observed is the written word is taken differently than words with a video. What I mean is, I can write an essay, an article or opinion piece that is favorably received, but if I include a photo or video of myself, or someone checks my profile page, it won't necessarily be taken as favorably. In the old days of recording records that was known, that's why Charlie Pride didn't have his picture on his early albums. He sounded great, but his look wasn't right. Not much has changed in that regard, not really. The only thing different being now everyone wants to holler about prejudice and how terrible all that is. So today, it may actually work to your advantage to be different in some fashion, you know, marketing that. We call that "empowering" ourselves. 

  I have always been one to watch. I have always been one to comment on what I've just seen as well. Perhaps because I was the youngest in the family I was forced to watch and listen more than I was given the chance to speak. I did grow up in a time when kids where to be seen and not heard. I was often told, speak when spoken to, not before. It was a form of respect for your elders, who were assumed to be wiser than yourself. I observed early on that wasn't always the case. I also observed that the degree of education a person had didn't necessarily equate to wisdom either. As I heard often, lots of educated damn fools in the world.

  Andrew Carnegie said, "the older I get the less I listen to what people say and the more I look at what they do." That's an astute observation from Mr. Carnegie, no matter your opinion of his actions. Yes I know he was one those robber barons, the filthy rich and evil people of the world. His list of philanthropic endeavors is astounding, although you don't hear much about them these days, just how rich he became. Everyone has heard of Carnegie Hall but few associate the two in todays world, it's just the name of the place. Over a fourteen year period Carnegie donated over 40 million dollars to building libraries. That's 674 million in todays money! But I suspect that came from watching what people were  doing more so than anything anyone ever said to him. 

  You know it's my feeling that the majority of us simply want people to listen. That's why we pay a therapist or other professional "listener." Those folks will just sit and listen to whatever you have to say, no matter how dull, boring or otherwise uninteresting it may be. Then they are obligated, by their profession, to respond to you in some positive fashion. That's the health care you will receive. Mostly just an explanation about why you feel the way you do. It's something you already know but don't want to admit. Their job is to get you to admit it, you're acting crazy.

 Lately the job has been made easier by the elimination of "crazy" behaviors in the explanation, er, diagnosis. Easier to agree with you than to you convince you otherwise, so that's the deal there. The revision of the DSM in response to society. People haven't changed much in over two thousand years, just the book used to diagnose. What is normal? What is abnormal? If you're a cannibal it's perfectly normal to eat the neighbors, if you're not, that's just crazy. The first edition of the DSM was published in 1952. What was crazy then is still crazy today, but not according to the book. It's been revised six times since then. Yeah, normal has changed. I'm observing and have seen a lot just by looking. Yogi also pointed this out with this quote, "if the world were perfect, it wouldn't be. "