I know I have submitted more than one post consisting chiefly of random thoughts. And I have submitted multiple posts that have taken sudden changes in direction, perhaps giving an impression of aimless wandering; (though I believe in most cases I eventually arrived at a consequential destination). This week I have been scattered. I believe the primary distinction between random and scattered is in one's response. For me, random can be odd and amusing whereas scattered is generally annoying and distracting. I know it's semantics but I make the distinction because this is how I have felt this week (annoyed and distracted), and I want to study these scattered thoughts that have been flitting and darting about so perhaps I can make some sense of my disquietude and find a meaningful landing-place. I hope not to overload this post with too many quotes, but that is where I will begin. Some weeks it is better to let others speak.

• "If only we'd stop trying to be happy, we could have a pretty good time." --Edith Wharton

• "Affliction comes to us, not to make us sad but sober; not to make us sorry but wise." --Henry Ward Beecher

• "One is not idle because one is absorbed. There is both visible and invisible labor. To contemplate is to toil. To think is to do." --Victor Hugo

• Below are some short passages from John Stuart Mill's essay 'On Liberty' (from the Oxford World's Classics edition published in 2008):

"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind." (pg 21)

"And the world, to each individual, means the part of it with which he comes in contact; his party, his sect, his church, his class of society... ...He devolves upon his own world the responsibility of being in the right against the dissentient worlds of other people; and it never troubles him that mere accident has decided which of these numerous worlds is the object of his reliance, and that the same causes which make him a Churchman in London, would have made him a Buddhist or a Confucian in Peking." (pg 22 - 23)

"To call any proposition certain, while there is any one who would deny its certainty if permitted, but who is not permitted, is to assume that we ourselves, and those who agree with us, are the judges of certainty, and judges without hearing the other side." (pg 26)

"Our merely social intolerance kills no one, roots out no opinions, but induces men to disguise them, or to abstain from any active effort for their diffusion...   ...But the price paid for this sort of intellectual pacification, is the sacrifice of the entire moral courage of the human mind." (pg 37 - 38)

"However unwillingly a person who has a strong opinion may admit the possibility that his opinion may be false, he ought to be moved by the consideration that however true it may be, if it is not fully, frequently, and fearlessly discussed, it will be held as a dead dogma, not a living truth." (pg 40)

"When the mind is no longer compelled, in the same degree as at first, to exercise its vital powers on the questions which its belief presents to it, there is a progressive tendency to forget all of the belief except the formularies, or to give it a dull and torpid assent, as if accepting it on trust... ...the creed remains as it were outside the mind, encrusting and petrifying it against all other influences addressed to the higher parts of our nature; manifesting its power by not suffering any fresh and living conviction to get in, but itself doing nothing for the mind or heart, except standing sentinel over them to keep them vacant." (pg 46)

• In reviewing these passages, I don't know if I am annoyed and distracted because I have been reading Mill and recognizing the weight of his words, or if his words are hitting me harder because I am annoyed and distracted by this 'season' of ('Ho-Ho-Ho') jolly good cheer and merry-happy spending in praise of the gods of commerce and the tyranny of the majority.

• I must act to resolve my worldly concerns, learn to not be stifled by what others may think, more frequently take my heart from my pocket and pin it to my sleeve, keep reminding myself that having learned from the past I must Live in the moment for the future, and finally, I must find my rhythm and move forward.

• Anything less than 7,280,444,244 feels small and inconsequential.

• I heard on the news this morning that the town in which I live is considering an ordinance that would require all 'handicapped' signs to have a new logo depicting an 'active' forward-leaning person in a wheelchair as opposed to the 'passive' seated person currently depicted. According to the report the state of New York has already legislated this change. I have to ask - Who does this benefit? And - Couldn't we find a better way to spend our tax dollars by, for example, improving our city bus service? Or by educating drivers on the rights (or even the existence) of pedestrians? Or tackling a more significant challenge to a disabled person's self esteem - (say, under-employment)? Sometimes little problems eat up big resources.

• Whatever you do, don't think about the monkey; and don't dream that dream.

• It is often more efficient and productive to match your environment with your goal. An academic environment encourages learning; a relaxed environment encourages leisure; a masculine environment encourages bravado; a feminine environment encourages cooperation; a quiet environment encourages reflective thought; a boisterous environment encourages laughter and fun; but to find calm in chaos, or to create order from disorder, or to learn from adversity enriches one's essence and strengthens one's resolve. If it is not a regular occurrence, I believe that we should on occasion choose to swim upstream.

• Anything greater than or equal to nothing is substantial and significant.

• I cannot trust moneylenders; and I cannot trust myself to efficiently manage my financial situation. Who can I trust? I am at a loss...

• Grace is the ability to face fear, ask questions, and listen to the answers

• It is not always where you land; often it is how far you fall and what you hit. Loving support can (and for me, does) benefit at many levels, but it will never be the same as standing (steady) on my own two feet.

• 7,280,924,926...