Sunday, September 10, 2017
The Perspective of Time And The History Of The Future
By Donovan Baldwin
Early this morning I awoke and lay for a while fuzzily thinking about what I would call "the perspective of time", or, perhaps, "the history of the future".
Sometimes, this perspective is introspective, as in a great little article, which coincidentally, I read a bit later this morning, written by a close friend of mine, Olive Javier, titled "A Hundred Years To Live".
Approaching from a slightly different angle, I was thinking about how time allows us, as different individuals with different perspectives, to see progress and change, not always the same.
For some of us, this is history.
I remember kids in iron lungs, because we could not control Polio.
I remember my premature baby sister dying because, in 1949, we did not have the interventions which kept my grandson, much more premature, alive in 2005.
I remember when the word, "Cancer", was the same as, "This is going to kill you painfully, horribly, and certainly".
These days, I am looking back at "cancer" as a Cancer survivor, as are several members of my family. You don't hear much about iron lungs or Polio these days, and, fortunately, many more premature babies survive, living long and healthy lives.
People living in one era, and of one age, tend to see what is happening now as important, and what is past as ancient history. Well, history affects nations, groups, families, and even individuals directly and indirectly.
You AND I are the "history" of future generations. They cannot go back and re-write history any more than we can.
Maybe the future will turn out better if we write its history correctly in the first place.
Sometimes, this perspective is introspective, as in a great little article, which coincidentally, I read a bit later this morning, written by a close friend of mine, Olive Javier, titled "A Hundred Years To Live".
Approaching from a slightly different angle, I was thinking about how time allows us, as different individuals with different perspectives, to see progress and change, not always the same.
For some of us, this is history.
I remember kids in iron lungs, because we could not control Polio.
I remember my premature baby sister dying because, in 1949, we did not have the interventions which kept my grandson, much more premature, alive in 2005.
I remember when the word, "Cancer", was the same as, "This is going to kill you painfully, horribly, and certainly".
These days, I am looking back at "cancer" as a Cancer survivor, as are several members of my family. You don't hear much about iron lungs or Polio these days, and, fortunately, many more premature babies survive, living long and healthy lives.
People living in one era, and of one age, tend to see what is happening now as important, and what is past as ancient history. Well, history affects nations, groups, families, and even individuals directly and indirectly.
You AND I are the "history" of future generations. They cannot go back and re-write history any more than we can.
Maybe the future will turn out better if we write its history correctly in the first place.
Labels: cancer, donovan baldwin, future, history, iron lungs, perspective, Polio
