Cyberia - The City of Ladies

“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen
and thinking what nobody has thought.”
~Albert Szent-Györgyi von Nagyrapolt~

Discovery is one of my favorite words–been thinking about making a list of ‘em, actually. If ya think about it, life is all about discovery. As babies, we discover shapes and colors, new sounds…our toes…among other things. (My six-month-old nephew Iain has been here with his mama and brother, Brogan, for close to three weeks–they left last night–and it’s been fun to see him at this stage. He’s discovered his feet and toes, making it amusing for me to watch as one foot or the other came into his line of vision. When it did he’d grab it in both pudgy lil hands and pull it to his open mouth. Pretty soon you’d hear sucking sounds coming from where he lay. He’s also learning how to crawl. Iain has barely discovered how to get on his hands and knees. He’s not completely balanced on them yet, but it won’t be long before he’ll be pulling himself up on all fours fairly regularly.)As we grow older we discover likes and dislikes, hobbies, strengths and weaknesses. We discover how to do more things on our own. We discover our environment and the Elements. Rarely is there or should there be a day when we’re not discovering something new or rediscovering something we’d forgotten. Discoveries are what make life interesting and exciting.

My favorite discoveries are of the Self, about things in Nature and science and finding new hobbies/talents–I guess these fall under the Self category. Oh well. I love learning new things. Sometimes more so than others if the discovery is a sobering one, like a weakness I would rather not have. One of my more recent discoveries involves this journal or blog. In setting this up I had to learn SSI code and how to write and insert an external stylesheet. They’re not too hard to do once you understand how to write the codes. And really, SSI has saved me steps and some frustration.

I have also learned that to beat a weakness, you can’t just ignore it, for it won’t go away on its own. It’ll still be there in the background, waiting to rear its ugly, embarrassing head, taunting you. You need to confront the weakness, yet be smart and strong enough to avoid the temptation it offers. *sigh* I almost fell into the trap of my gravest weakness yesterday, and had I not known the feelings it would bring after all was said and done, and not wanted to feel dark and the shameful guilt I would have given in to the urge. Thankfully, I was strong this time. I mentally shook my head and stepped back. I didn’t, wouldn’t, go there.

Discoveries in science and medicine are not only exciting, but they advance societies as well. Not to mention, they tell us about the world in which we live, about civilizations past and what the Earth was like thousands, even millions of years ago. The only thing that needs remembering in the pursuit of these discoveries are ethics. Where would we be without penacilin or the process of pasteurization? How would we connect with distant ancestors, or learn about animals, plants and peoples that’ve and who’ve died out if there were never such discoveries? Life would be a lot more basic, simple and boring.

So, look for a discovery or rediscovery each new day. You might be surprised to discover life isn’t so dull after all.

“Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before.”
 ~Captain James T. Kirk, Star Trek~

Posted by: Shiloh