Staying Young

The more we learn, the more we realize how little we know, and how much remains for us to explore. 

Whether we read about the latest technology or the wisdom of the ancients, whether we contemplate the mysteries of the cosmos or the secret world of nanoparticles, any type of learning activates and enhances our brain functions. The body of human knowledge is immense. It provides a bottomless well for the curious and inquiring mind. 

Curiosity and eagerness to learn are traits of the young. Whether you’re curious about the recipe of a tasty dish or a better way of taking care of an orchid, never hesitate to ask. Every person knows something that we don’t; it’s a matter of asking.

It may require putting away our cell phone once in a while and engaging in conversation with a stranger, for instance when standing in line. You may be pleasantly surprised about the intriguing ideas you may hear and how quickly time passes. 

When shopping for fish the other day, I noticed a lady buying a large amount of it. Amazed and curious I asked her, “You must be having a big party?” 

“No,” she replied. “I freeze it.”

“My home-frozen fish tastes awfully fishy,” I replied.

“Put it in a plastic bag and cover it with water, then freeze it,” she advised.

She was right. It made all the difference! Now that I freeze fish covered with water, it tastes like fish fresh from the sea. 

Can We Stay Young?

Can we stay young?  Yes, we can, in spite of age and a few wrinkles—and amazingly so. 
Try it. A new book and audio book, “The ABCs of Staying Young,” gives you some four dozen tips how to stay young and enjoy life. Both are available at amazon.com. The audio book is beautifully read by Blair Seibert.

Art, Glorious Art

Would History have run a different course if Adolf Hitler had never become a politician? If the Vienna Academy of Art had accepted him as a student? He ardently longed to be an artist. Yet the Academy turned him down for lack of talent. What irony of fate. What tragedy for millions of people.

In his despair Hitler deserted his roommate Kubizek, who had been selling his paintings for ten shillings each. He walked the streets, slept on park benches and for six long years ate in charity kitchens. Yes, Adolf Hitler.

In 1914, when World War I broke out, Hitler hurried across the Austrian border, changed his citizenship and joined the German Army. To vent his pent-up feelings he wanted hands-on battle. He earned the Iron Cross First and Second Class. They became his proudest possessions that he wore until he died. 

Yet painting remained Hitler’s foremost passion. As soon as WW I ended, he hurried back to Vienna and applied again at the Academy of Art. But, again, he was turned down. His fury was boundless, and he swore revenge. It must have been one of his most gratifying moments when a few years later he deprived Austria of its independence and annexed it to the German Reich.

More ironic, the government sent him to oratory training so he would spy for them on communist activities. Yet wherever he went he gave fervent hate speeches against the government.

The founders of the new German Labor Party heard one of his tirades, and were so impressed, they made Hitler a Committee Member. Hitler renamed the party the Nazi** party, the gruesome embodiment of tyranny.

What would have happened if Hitler had been more artistic? If the Academy had accepted him? If he never had become a politician? We'll never know. But it may have saved the world from years of agony and destruction at his hands.

Until next time,

Rosi

*      based on the book, "The Madman & His Mistress."
**    Die National Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei.  

Schatzi, my Chaperone

Schatzi was the tiniest dachshund I’d ever seen, with beautiful long curly hair, but he was sharp as a razor blade. He felt it was his mission in life to protect me. I was barely thirty then with two little daughters. My husband had left us, and since this was the swinging seventies when a single woman was considered free game, protection was a good thing to have.

I was the editor of a small German newspaper then and well aware that our advertisers were our most important asset. Our biggest client was Mr. Holze who imported alcoholic beverages from Germany. Mr. Holze was in his sixties, stately and of the old school. He had lost his wife a year or two earlier, but he continued buying the same two season tickets for the San Francisco Opera as he had done for years—the Opera needed to be supported he felt. 

One day he invited me to see La Boheme. Somewhat reluctantly I accepted his invitation—there was just too much work to do and not enough time for my children.  But La Boheme is one of my favorite operas, and I invited him to have a home-cooked dinner beforehand. 

We placed him at the head of the table, my two little daughters to his left, I to his right, and Schatzi, our dachshund, positioned himself strategically between the two of us, keeping a sharp eye on Mr. Holze. 

Mr. Holze, aware of his vast store of knowledge and experience, and my lack of it, proudly held forth with good advice. All very good counsel of course, and most likely I needed it.

Once in a while, and for greater emphasis when he’d explain that I must always do so and so or must never do this or that, he would pat my arm. 

The wrong thing to do—Schatzi did not approve of touching. He uttered a sharp, prohibiting yelp! Dear Mr. Holze quickly retracted his hand, while I could barely keep from bursting out laughing.

the Joys of Aging

“It’s annoying to get older,” Mary looked disapprovingly at the mirror.

“You wouldn’t want to remain a baby all your life, would you?” She frowned at the absurdity of my answer.

“Not a baby; but in my twenties!”

“I like getting older and hopefully wiser,”  I laughed.

“But we’ll be old one day,” she shot back.

“And wiser.”

“Old or dead,” she grimaced. “At what age are we old? 45?”

“Of course not! But then, some people look sad and elderly at 45, some are still youthful at 80.”

She looked at me quizzically. “How can anyone feel young at 80. Pretend?”

“Of course not!! But it would be depressing if we felt as old as we look;” I grinned and added, “I keep my bathroom suitably dark — it makes me look 20 years younger. Try it.”

To tell the truth, I had never felt happier. Less work, fewer responsibilities, fewer deadlines; yet more leisure, more kindness and more time to do what I want. Every morning I get up with a smile, thrilled to be still alive. I walk on the beach, and am delighted when I have walked two miles. I invite dinner guests and if a dish isn’t perfect, who cares? We laugh. Actually, after so many years of cooking, dinners turn out pretty well and pretty effortlessly. Yes, life couldn’t be better.

What makes Us the Way we Are?

Is it genes or environment, ancestors or teachers, food, Karma, or our place in the family that determines who we become or who we are? Or do all these factors have an impact?

The latest epigenetic research suggests that our genes may be the prime suspect. 

This may be good news or bad, depending on the type of characteristic we are looking at. We have thousands of them, some good, some not so good. 

Suppose we are inherently lazy. Does it mean we can sit back and point at that gene of ours as an excuse? 

Not necessarily, unless we are willing to favor that lazy-gene and strengthen it. Because our genes have epigenetic characteristics—they can be influenced, slowly, over time, and with plenty of effort. 

Practice makes perfect, they say. It’s an encouraging motto. If we practice tennis or playing the piano regularly and long enough, we are bound to get better. However, it will not change our genes, nor will it turn our children into tennis champs, unless they themselves practice, practice, practice.

It’s a pleasing thought that we need not be born with great talents, but that we can achieve greatness with our own effort if we so desire.

Free Will or Predestination

Philosophers have argued the question of Free Will versus Predestination for centuries. Are we free to choose? Or is our destiny written in the stars?

Strong arguments can be made for and against either case. 

We certainly are free to decide whether to eat a second piece of cake or not, but it’s a different matter to choose our career. Opportunity, talent, connections, effort—all play a role.

From early childhood it was my fervent dream to become a prima ballerina. I happily performed for many charitable events while mother played the piano for me. The life-long, all-consuming effort to become a first rate ballerina did not deter me. 

Opportunity, however, was a different matter. When a dance company asked me to join them, my father irrevocably said no. And to disobey my father was out of the question. Predestination? No. Lack of opportunity? Yes.

Yet opportunity and effort do not define predestination, though they do cause definite limitations.

Maybe our first question should be what is the purpose of life? Is it to become a better person? Or is it to atone for our sins in our distant past? Or is it to evolve on the timeless, mysterious ladder of evolution?

We may never know the answer, but it confronts us with the question of reincarnation. Is reincarnation a fact of life? Will we be born again, on this planet or another? Looking about me, life appears to be continuous. Even the weeds reappear every year; why should the human spirit simply perish?

Let us suppose then that our fate is not entirely predestined. Predestination has its limitations—many factors that speak for it; yet many factors speak against it. Could it be influenced by our actions? The thought of karma comes to mind. It is we who sow the seed of what we will reap. The more we practice playing the piano, the better we learn to play it. The more we practice self-discipline, the easier it is to decline that extra piece of cake.

How about free will? 

Are we able to freely exercise our will? I fear free will has many limitations too. Some factors speak for it and some speak against it.  And yet, with enough effort and patience—possibly over many life times—we may eventually achieve what we are striving for.

 
Perhaps our basic yet most important endeavor should be to become a better, kinder person. Kindness encapsulates what most religions preach.  Treat a person with kindness and they will—in most cases—treat you with kindness too. Or, as we are told, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Of course, we all know from experience that not all people will respond in this fashion—probably because they have never known kindness. But then, kindness is never wasted. Kindness is the most quintessential of all virtues. 

Life may not be easy, but the more we learn to accept it and try to make the best of it, the happier we are bound to be. As Goethe said, "Wer immer strebend such bemueht, den werden wir erloesen." In plain English, Try and try again, and you'll succeed.