The Proverbial Axe

As an Infection
Is expunged from the body,
By such means is health preserved;
That is nature's way.

Is it not our obligation
To rise above nature
And to cultivate
Rather than eliminate?

How much more fruitful is an acre
When toiled and labored,
Planned meticulously,
Than when left to its own devices?

Only when a stone is squared well
Will it find its place
As part of a greater construct.

Before we cut off a limb,
Perhaps we should treat the wound?

It is fine to cut out a cancer,
Until you see all your problems as cancers.

A More Perfect Vision

So, during my stay in Midland this past week, one of my objectives was to go to the optometrist and have my vision checked out, both to renew my contact prescription and have new contacts ordered, and to obtain a written prescription to take to Wal-Mart so I can update the lenses on my glasses. I needed to do this because, since I typically only wear my glasses in the evening, I only have their prescription updated every two, three, sometimes four years. Needless to say, by the end of a cycle, they give me pretty bad headaches if I wear them for an extended period of time.

Now, as to why I had to do it with Wal-Mart, well, that's because of our glorious insurance program. (The insurance program that the state of Texas recommends for teachers, no less - I can't wait to see what the federal government will do.) Under this program, they will only pay for me to update my prescription once a year, and, once a year, I can update either my glasses, or my contacts. If I do both, my family has to pay for one. 

I suppose I do see the reasoning behind that. You only really need one or the other. Having the second as an option/backup is just convenience. Reasonable, I suppose.

Anyway, we apply the insurance towards the visit and my contacts (which saves an enormous amount of money) and decide to take my prescription to the Wal-Mart Vision Center, or whatever its called. It's where we always used to take me for my lenses when I was a kid, because it was always affordable. 

Well, apparently, there has been a massive lens shortage in the past few years that I'm unaware of that has inflated the price of lenses to ridiculous extremes. Having a new pair of lenses put in my old frame is going to cost $175.00. 

Granted, part of it is my fault. I'm so blind, they can't make plastic lenses for my prescription anymore. I have to go with one of the composite materials. Obviously, pricier than regular old plastic.

However, what doesn't make sense to me is the reason for such a high cost. Unlike every other practicing doctor in the world, the people who make lenses at Wal-Mart sit in a lab all day working on glasses. Perhaps the industry is simply more insane than I think, but it strikes me that they shouldn't have to pay malpractice insurance, since the can't, in any way I can fathom, do any egregious harm grinding lenses. Since malpractice insurance is one of, if not the primary, reason healthcare is as cost prohibitive as it is, and since it is in this situation not applicable, I mentally searched for another reason.

Well, what about high index polycarbonates? While the quality of the polycarbonate in these glasses is very high, I'm sure, polycarbonates in and of themselves aren't that expensive. A short list of things made of polycarbonates:

• sunglass lenses
• eyeglass lenses
• DVDs
• blue rays
• CDs
• drinking bottles/glasses
• MP3 player cases (high impact resistance)

Obviously, its a ubiquitous material. What makes the manufacturing argument even weaker is the obvious economies of scale. It doesn't take much poking around the internet to find the somewhat dubious statistic that 126 million Americans wear eyeglasses. Could find any reliable citations, but I'll accept this figure for now.

Assuming that approximately 1/3 of the US population does wear glasses, and regular plastic lenses can only be used up to a certain prescription, it would make sense that polycarbonate lenses are a relatively high, in demand item. Also, considering how much of the process is actually automated, and that optician certification is one to two years depending on the state, its not like you're paying for a neurosurgeons 9+ years of schooling, plus residency forever and a day, etc.

All these facts considered, lack of real liability, relative low cost of materials, short amount of training in terms of labor, the effect of economies of scale, and the high amount of automation used any more, I still wonder where the cost comes from. 

Considering that eyeglasses were credited with being invented in 1284, I think we should have found some way to perfect the technology by now. Perhaps even make it more affordable. Nearly 800 years after the fact, you'd think we would have perfected the technology. 

If nothing else, I now understand why the Lion's Club has eyeglasses drives so often!

Verdant Valley

As the sun riseth over green hills of Earth,
(As a soprano sweetly kissing a note),
God's Creation doth reveal itself
In its purest form , a Vineyard of Life,
Unspoilt and fertile,
Beautiful in its nature and
Natural in its beauty
An organism unto itself
It may well be
The Face of God.

Wings of Wax or Soaring Above Babel

Who can find fault in Daedalus?
What sin had he,
Except that of a dreamer's heart?

Who condemns ambitions to soar,
Aspirations to fly,
Escaping one's confines, dreams of
Becoming
Something more?

What was his sin?
Surely it was he, in Icarus,
Who lost all?
Tell me, where resides the
Cautionary Tale?

The Golden Rule

Christ said to treat your neighbor
As you would be treated in kind
And to love God with
All your being.

As we are created in God's image,
Gifted with the Divine Spark,
Should we not also
Love our fellow man
With our being, entire?
For how can we love God
Without loving His cherished
Creation?

I think it poorly contrived
That initial disposition of
Man to extend his will
Over fellow man.

Any and all powers enacted by the majority
Will surely burn brightly, flames of oppression
When minority is such no longer.

It is downright foolish conceit
That presumes intellectual infallibility

Surely it is just to live and let live?

Beautiful Night in Canyon

It's an absolutely gorgeous and still night outside. Very silent and quite. Completely undisturbed. One of the nights that will make me miss Canyon. Neither too hot nor too cold. Still. Fresh. The kind of night that makes you want to wake up early the next morning to see the sun rise. (Not that I will... far too late into the morning for that.)

Makes me realize how close I am to my time in Canyon (and in college) coming to a close. And being out there alone, it's easy to reflect upon all the evenings I've spent out there with friends. Over the summer, 4th of July with fraternity brothers. Evenings after exec councils. (And sometimes followed by a visit to my girlfriend when we first started dating and were both super busy.)

It's easy, with the Panhandle wind and incredibly unpredictable weather, to overlook evenings like this. So I'm glad I was able to appreciate at least one more while I'm here. Probably won't be the last, but I don't really know that.

You only live once.

Possibly Hinting?

Creative Assembly, responsible for the Total War series of games (of which I'm a fan and perhaps even an afficianado) recently started up a Twitter feed, in which they announced that the upcoming total war title will be revealed at E3 in June. They also stated that they would be getting away from gunpowder for awhile, which cancels out quite a few time periods.

Then the little picture below appeared on their Twitter. It may be absolutely nothing. But, it may be a hint of things to come. Spartan style helmet - think they're suggesting something?

g at www.yfrog.com">

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Stolen from Facebook

I originally wrote this October 13, 2009, but felt it could and should be reposted. On some level, I've very proud of this little paragraph, something I truly believe and still resonates in me. I don't think I have come close to achieving it, nor will I ever, but it's always something I'd like to keep in my heart and hope to ever strive for.

I will say, it was largely inspired by The Four Agreements and its aftermath on my outlook on the world, though I've been influenced by many things since then, and this still holds true. I hope others can find some truth in it as well.

---

Imagine how beautiful life would be if you looked at everyone around you, and chose to love them a little bit more each day.

Imagine if you actively chose to look past flaws, find people's strengths, and revel in the glory and beauty of their individuality. Imagine if you did everything you could to cultivate those things worthy in life and use them as foundations for new skills, strengths, passions, and beauties.

Imagine how beautiful life would be if you were to wake up and declare, "Hate has no place in my life. I live for creation, the uplifting on mankind, the love of others, the compassion that I am capable of. It is not a duty, nor an obligation, but a choice to arbitrate peace and love between everyone in my life. I choose not to ostracize others as pariahs, but to love them unconditionally and cultivate the beauty in their life and my own."

Everyone has a capacity to do great harm with their words, to destroy relationships and leave people emotionally desolate. It is a survival instinct to lash out, demean, condescend, to do anything to make oneself feel superior to another. Everyone does it, often times without realizing it.

Imagine how beautiful life would be if, every time we felt a negative emotion, be it anger, frustration, disgust, hate (the vilest of all negative emotions), we stepped back and scolded ourselves and said, "How can I show my love for this person? How can I encourage the good *without* demeaning someone just as valuable, worthy of love and respect, as myself?"

What if we made the proactive choice to set a positive example, realizing we control our fate, our mood, no one else? If we feel negative because of someone else's actions, it is our individual responsibility to find the positive emotion from it, the positive situation in it, and to encourage a greater good. How beautiful would life be if, instead of expecting others to set a cheery world for us, we looked around and saw the world as cheery and beautiful for what it is?

We are the masters of our emotions, moods, fate, lives. We are the instigators of everything around us, whether we like it or not. Our every word, our every action, echoes and ripples through the social net that surrounds us. We have a choice to cultivate beauty, or to dwell on negativity. Happiness, beauty, and love of your fellow man are all choices, each one having a profound implication on our lives and the lives of those around us.

It's a struggle for me to avoid those negative emotions every day. It's a change in my mindset, and I'm a totally different person from a year ago because of it, and the change isn't finished. But its a beautiful change to make, and one I hope to inject into my life a little bit more each day.

So, I say again: Imagine how beautiful life would be if you looked at everyone around you, and chose to love them a little bit more each day.