TIME TO STOP AND REFLECT

The learning journey continues...

Having chanced upon this reflective piece [author unknown], written just after 9/11, it seemed appropriate to post it on this blog today.

The Paradox of Life Today

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn
less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait.
We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than
ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.

You can choose whether to share this insight, or just hit delete. The reactions, as cited on the discussion forum where it was found were mixed with some stating that this is an “..example of overgeneralization leading to an unwarranted negative view on life.”

Make up your own mind!

IT'S THE START OF A NEW YEAR!

The learning journey continues...

No, don't worry, I haven't lost my marbles, well not yet at least. It really IS the start of a new year for many people across the country.

First of all, there are the school children, ready to go back to their new classrooms [and a new school year] and see their mates, whom they have been without for over six weeks now.

Then there are the mature, adult students, who are embarking upon new courses in a new Academic Year in Further Education [FE] and Higher Education [HE].

Not forgetting the working staff who have to find time to study alongside their normal day to day jobs, often embarking upon new distance learning and eLearning programmes around now.

Then there are the lecturers, like me, who are also starting a new year of teaching.

My newest lecturing role is part time at Birkbeck, University of London with my 'new year' for them starting in October on their Certificate in Management.

Then there is my other part time lecturing role for University of Westminster [where the 'new year' starts a little earlier at the end of September] on their CIPD Post Grad Masters in Personnel & Development.

Finally, I have just trained as a marker and assessor of student assignments for a new distance learning management programme designed to be more flexible and fit in with the working staff in the NHS across the UK.

Phew!

This New Year thing comes round really fast, in just four months time it will be Christmas, and then another New Year!

Józefa