At the beginning of the week (for those who aren't on my friends list on Facebook so don't already know) I underwent an operation to remove a cataract from my right eye. People I spoke to who have had it done all told me that it was nothing to worry about and that I wouldn't feel a thing. It would all be over in no time at all. Everyone tried to console me and I tried to take it all on board but if I'm honest I was still a little apprehensive.
Learning about something, whether from books, professionals or friends and actually experiencing what they are describing can be two entirely different things. It's the difference between saying, 'People told me about it' and 'Now I know what it's like'. Ask any young mother who has just given birth for the first time or a sports fan who watches a game on television while other fans go to the venue and watch it in person. You can't really absorb the atmosphere and the feeling of being carried along by other fans who also want to cheer on their team. The singing, the cheering, the banter. They will tell you that there is no comparison between watching it on a screen and watching it for real. The experience far outweighs seeing it second hand.
Also at the beginning of the week we had the rare occurrence of the supermoon and lunar eclipse that could be seen around the world. Many people stayed up to watch it. Others who had work or other commitments really needed their sleep so opted to watch pictures shown on the news the next morning. Although I am retired and don't need to go to work, I still slept through the night and missed actually seeing the event as it unfolded. The pictures I saw were indeed quite spectacular and it's an event that won't happen again until I'm well into my 90s, if I'm still with life that is. I'm sure though that for those who did see it, they would look at pictures and just know that you can't capture the same feelings of awe and wonder at the workings of the heavens. You have to be in it to feel it.You can have a great deal of knowledge about a subject or event but that doesn't compare with the actual experience. We can look at photos or pictures, read articles or books but the experience allows us to identify with the occasion and the people involved. It involves emotions and conjures up feelings of wonder and pleasure. We never know what the future will bring or how long we have in this life so it's a shame if we spend too much time just having second hand knowledge rather than living the occasion with all that that entails. It's rather sad that so many people spend so much time learning about something that they never get to really enjoy experiencing it. Embrace the moment to the full. Immerse yourself in the experience. Go for it, even though you may be a little apprehensive. In the nicest possible way I want to say 'Get a life!'
2 comments:
That last paragraph really reminds me of one academic conference I went to. It was a conference about rural people, but most of the academics come from city backgrounds, they have an interest in rural issues, but really they don't know the reality of living in the countryside, instead it is something to be studied. They need to spend at least a year in the countryside to really appreciate what it means to live there and all the everyday challenges that rural people face. Likewise policymakers who think farmers should diversify, should spend a year on a farm and try to see where farmers could fit in a few extra hours and see how that works.
So right. As the old Indian said, 'Don't judge a person until you have walked two weeks in his moccasins.' I think thew same is often true of those who 'train' to be managers when they have no idea of what the actual work they're managing entails.
Post a Comment