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The real world~


I'm not sure exactly what the "real world" is anymore.

This morning I emailed a friend to say I was going to get out of the "real world" for a few hours and wander around some cranberry bogs with my camera. I amended my message to say that maybe I was, in fact, actually heading into the real world.

What's real? What matters? Is what matters real?

Philosophy aside, who knows, and maybe who cares? I'm not sure I do. But I've steeped in politics until I'm purple. I'm so tired of it all. It's a game I'm being forced to watch and play.

And as for the current financial meltdown . . . it pays to have so little to lose. I'm not happy about the whole thing, but my life will continue pretty much unscathed, maybe a bit pinchier in the penny department.

Gates held the top spot-- richest man in the world-- for 15 years, according to Forbes magazine. And now he doesn't.

I wonder if he feels any pain from losing his perch to Warren Buffet. Is Buffet gloating? I have not a clue. To me, rich is rich. What difference is there between the first or 31st spot? It's still more money than I could spend in a lifetime. A billion lifetimes.

There is a book I used to read my students when I taught math: How Much is a Million? by David M. Schwartz. My kids loved the book and so did I. Such a huge concept as a million needs a children's picture book to make it assessable to adults.

"If a million children climbed on each other's shoulders, they would reach higher into the sky than airplanes can fly; if a billion of them made a human tower, it would reach past the moon."

Can you imagine?

Then there's this I stumbled upon somewhere and saved to share with my classes.

A million seconds is 12 days.

A billion seconds is 31 years.

A trillion seconds is 31,688 years.

Our country has not existed for a trillion seconds. 
Western civilization has not been around a trillion seconds. 
One trillion seconds ago – 31,688 years – Neanderthals stalked the plains of Europe.


So . . . the real world? I think the real world differs depending on who we are. The real world for me exists of things I can touch and see and hold in my hand-- or more importantly, hold in my heart.

I have a billion of nothing. But I feel rich. I am rich.

Bill and Warren might not understand, but I hope, for their sakes, they do.
~~~~~
The man who has won millions at the cost of his conscience is a failure.~BC Forbes
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Comments

Carter said…
You're real--very.

I'll bet nobody but New Englanders knows what those red things are.
October 10, 2008 at 10:51 PM
RiverPoet said…
I'm glad you got out into the real world for awhile today. I've been pretty steeped in the real world today, too, to the point that I yelled at the dogs for .... well, for being dogs this morning. I'm tired, a little stressed out, and a whole lot ready for my hubby to come home.

As for politics, I've had it up to here, you know? I'm so ready for the election to be over, and I hope Obama wins. We need someone with a level head to take it from here. What a mess he'll inherit.

Peace - D
October 11, 2008 at 1:17 PM
Wanda said…
Oh Ruth, without being a "Prophetess".... how DO you read ones mind.

I was so thinking along these terms last night as I pondered this national situation.

I too have tire of it all, and will be glad when it is over.

As the Apostle Peter said... Silver and Gold have I none, but what I have is so much more.

"things I can touch and see and hold in my hand".

I just love how you say things Ruth..you touch my soul.

LOL:Wanda
October 11, 2008 at 7:20 PM
Leslie: said…
Now that you have the time to ponder, you're coming up with some great philosophical questions. Lots to think about here.
October 12, 2008 at 6:19 PM
Pauline said…
Now I have a new one for my granddaughter's phone ritual - I love you as much as all the cranberries in New England!
October 12, 2008 at 8:38 PM
Michelle said…
I second that thought. I go through phases in which CNN is on 24/7. At the point when I would like to dip my head in a cranberry bog and never come up, I realize I need to turn the news OFF! What you don't know can't hurt you . . .right?!?
October 14, 2008 at 1:50 PM
Ruth L.~ said…
Let me just put it this way . . . the world I live in is real enough to me . . . real in the way I want it to be. I can be a bit of an ostrich, but I do peek out now and then.
October 14, 2008 at 9:01 PM
Barbara said…
That was one of my son's favorite books. He was the kid who liked to talk about infinity when he was 4 years old.

Love the cranberry shots!
October 15, 2008 at 3:43 PM
Ruth L.~ said…
Barbara, I had a child like that. Infinity is a powerful concept that I can't quite wrap my mind around. How much more so for a kid.
October 15, 2008 at 7:49 PM
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