Deus Dat Incrementum.

 
Woo!  I made it to the butterfly garden 🦋 🪴 with only 3 pauses during physio!  I felt marvellous about that, I admit. Then this afternoon I walked to the mosaic sculpture, which I saw from the hill on which the butterfly garden is located. Its another volunteer run place, which normally is used for growing vegetables, but right now has flowers. It’s all part of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) grounds which are beautifully maintained to encourage walking outdoors.  CHEO is part of the Ottawa Hospital complex. I’ve spent a lot of time at this hospital over the last 9 years, and I must say that they do a good job with the artwork and the gardens which help tremendously with mental health.  I’m often inspired by the paintings at the cancer centre, particularly in the radiation units. Truly awesome.  They are of Arctic landscapes or of wildlife, and are brilliant.  I’d be perfectly happy to never see them again, honestly, if it meant that I was recovering!  But meanwhile, they are beautiful and it’s encouraging to see them.  I’m looking forward to being able to wash my hair myself, it will be another marker on my road to health.  I reread one of my earlier blog posts today, and I was struck by how much I’ve improved over the past month. In that post I couldn’t easily turn my head to read the information board next to my bed, and needed help to use the bathroom.  Things are much better than then!  Which leads me to believe that things can be even better than now.  Here I am, checking out the apple tree!

I was also thinking more about last night’s injunction to not judge and the comments that I got back from everyone.  For myself, the part that really stood out was the statement, “the measure you give is the measure you receive” What if, by closing our minds we are denying ourselves the chance of growth?  Or, more realistically, we are wilfully closing our minds against learning and becoming better?  What if, in our determination to hold one viewpoint, we fail to recognize that there are other wonderful possibilities that lead us to better things?  In business, for example, it would be like deciding to conduct your strategic analysis exercise but omitting a threat analysis.  That immediately weakens your analysis and leaves you vulnerable.  It’s an oversimplification, but still gives you an idea of what I mean. It’s not worth risking a complete and valuable analysis for carelessly skipping a step. If we want to be open to all the great things that are possible, we need to remain willing to be open to everything, including the uncomfortable.   If we opt to limit ourselves from fully recognizing  

Why should it matter whether people close off their minds?  If we do our own best, why should it make a difference? I’m going to be blunt on a couple of points.  For the most part, I can laugh at some of the theories that circulate, because they are so ridiculous that they’re only value is comedic.  Most of the “medical” ones fall into this. But there are some that are so blatantly stupid that I can’t tolerate them.  Any of the pro-plague ones (AKA “anti-vaccine”) are in the stupid category.  I am horrified that so many people don’t have a enough of it grasp of basic science to be able to filter out fiction, and I’m dismayed at the failure of the school system to prevent this from being such a prevalent issue! It’s dangerous, and because of that, it stops being funny.  Also in this category are many of the race-based ones which have crossed from amusing to dangerous.  

In this, our growth relies on the availability of reliable existing content. If it’s polluted by inaccurate material, then there’s a greater risk of harm or death because of it. So keeping the data clean is beneficial to everyone.  So please, let’s be sure to only share accurate information from reputable sources. That also helps us be able to filter out things that are questionable more quickly, so they can be verified with greater accuracy.  At the end of the day, we will be better able to receive what we need and share what is appropriate with others.  But if our ability to receive and process information is corrupted by the garbage of the conspiracy theory groups, we become confused and unable to understand actual science.  So please, don’t do that!  Real science™️ only!  If you’re unsure whether it’s accurate, don’t press share. Here’s one of many articles that can help!

Ok, I’ll be back to lighter content tomorrow.  Someone tried to pass on some nonsense today that began to stress me out 😉😳. So have a picture of a pair of nesting birds in a tree and a tiny succulent garden!