Early Retirement for Injured Federal Employees
That is the question, isn’t it? In this monetary-based system of thought, we always ask that one, and the follow-up: What was the price paid, and was it worth it? Are the two questions and issues divisible, or are they inseparably linked like Siamese twins sharing a vital organ? […]
Metaphors abound, of course; of the stream of life, its cadence, likened to a steady march and the cyclical nature wrapped in the repetition of the growing dawn followed by the setting sun. The regularity of life represents a rhythm and monotony that provides a blanket of comfort (there goes the metaphor, again) that can be extracted from the lack of chaos. Most of us thrive best within the regularity of life’s monotony; it is the very few who seek and relish the chaos of life. […]
It is something that cannot be avoided; it is part of life, of living, of engaging. The history of it existence is palpable; the tactile images throughout can be experienced in images painted and words described; and the various religions embrace it – some as a foundation that allows for forgiveness to alleviate that felt by others; many, as a foundation to explain it away; and still others, to train a disciplined life in order to avoid it, or at least to contain it. Whether by meditation or medication; through enduring or embracing; […]
At what point do we describe a dream as merely a dream, and not a nightmare, and does the contrast between the two as set in comparative standing against one’s daily reality change the equation at all? Are some people more able to tolerate greater tumult of images ensconced within the framework of the “inner eye” that receives the moving reels of dreams, nightmares and memories? Is there a connection between reality and dreams, reality and nightmares, and dreams and nightmares? […]
This is a world where loneliness prevails. Despite all of the “connectivity” that is bandied about, the fact is that the suffering of human relationships has been on the rise since the industrial revolution, and perhaps even before that. The proverbial term itself has taken on a double meaning (for those who are comfortable with a more sophisticated linguistic and grammatical ascription, that would be a “double entendre”) – not only in the traditional sense of the phrase as encapsulating the abandonment to make our own way in the world, […]
The squirrel jumped into the rabbit hole. Then, the floods came, and Noah didn’t like the color of his shoes because they matched the starboard and not the bow, and when the rudderless drift occurred, then did the turtle finally come out from the squirrel’s nest, high atop the water’s edge. The medical conditions caused a lot of stress, and if it wasn’t for the Supervisor who constantly harasses me, I wouldn’t have filed a complaint against him, but the doctors never said I couldn’t work except when the heart attack occurred and Bessie my dog ran across the street and got hit by a car. […]
Have you ever had a dream (or nightmare) where you are the only one out of sync? Whether in a choir or perhaps playing an instrument, and everyone around stares with irritation or dismay, and no matter what efforts you expend, nothing seems to allow for a synchronization of movements, sounds or stylistic applications? Or in other similar circumstances, whether in sports, dance, or other events requiring coordination of efforts and timing of actions, the personification of self reflects a complete lack of capacity to become a quiet pendulum of rhythmic beats. […]
The idealist possesses the dreams of hope and promise; the skeptic, the singe of hurt enough to dampen the spirit; and the cynic, well, he is the grumpy old man who has seen it all, been battered about by the reality of experiential confrontations where tales make the sweat pour from salted wounds too hurtful for words to embrace. Do they represent a tripartite spectrum of thoughts, feelings and motives, or merely unconnected differences demarcated by time, encounters and length of procrastinated envy? Do we all begin with the zeal of idealism, pass through the comfort of skepticism, then end up bedridden in the cocoon of cynicism? […]
The term, “decapitalization” often refers to the deliberate and systematic process of imposing harsh government policies in order to alter the private sector’s hold upon society’s commercial entanglement and mercantile involvement. In some grammatical contexts, however, it can denote the reduction of capitalized lettering into “small” letters, and thereby change its appearance, import, and even “meaning”. e.e. cummings is a fine example of this. Or, on a “title page”, one would expect that the concept of “Life’s Wisdoms” would be capitalized, for essentially two main reasons: The first word, “Life”, is too great a theme not to ascribe the signification of it, as well as being the beginning part of the title; […]
We can lie to others; others can deceive us; one can persuade oneself of a falsehood in order to live a deception; and we may even be able to persuade others, despite knowing the truth, to tell a lie and come to believe it in order to create an atmosphere of believability for third parties to concede. The capacity for human nature to construct walls of deception, and double-walls of duplicity, is fathomless and without competition. Everywhere else in the animal kingdom, the stark reality of the innate essence for survival prompts and compels in order to meet the day’s needs and arrive at the horizon’s end so as to lay one’s head upon a pillow of restive sleep; but not for man. […]