We are getting pretty antsy, since we were meant to be upstairs before Christmas, but it is almost February and it doesn't seem any closer. the problem is that the floors we have painted are still not dry and it has been almost two months. If they aren't dry, any furniture we put on them will leave impressions on the floor and - not good impressions.
Speaking of good impressions, this is one of the new radiators attached to a 60 year old pipe. We have a lot of things like this, where there are new layers of change, juxtapositioned against the old - which is what we were aiming for, though it is not to everyone's taste. Many people would want to restore to original or, update completely to wash away the past, but for us, it is the blend of old and new and the eclectic feel that brings that we are hoping to achieve. I am not sure how well we will accomplish it overall, but it will be our home and therefore, comfortable enough.
Today, we will continue doing a little touchup work that we have avoided for weeks now. Without the pressure of the move, we have become a little bit idle and let our work schedule slide. I work best under pressure and when there is no weight, my body doesn't react and starts to atrophy.
Pressure is stress and a lot of people avoid stress as if it is something that is bad for them, when in actuality, it is the stress on us that helps us grow and develop our strength. Avoiding it is at one's own peril and I think that we have created an environment where we can pick and choose our activities, with most avoiding stress without realizing the future cost. If we do not strengthen with the changing environment, we end up being out of sync with the requirements of the time, limiting our options to move, meaning we have reduced opportunities.
Part of this strengthening is through our relationships and they are affected by our behaviors and how we treat other people. One of the consequences of not having emotional control, is that we can end up treating people poorly when we are under pressure, weakening the relationships we have or could have, by doing irreparable damage. As a result, our social circles are often far weaker and narrower than they were earlier, even though we have a lot of access to social networks. Strong relationships that can survive high amounts of pressure take time to build and effort to nurture.
Yet, we are constantly leveraging our relationships as a resource to be consumed, not a point of investment. Rather than putting effort into building, people will suck a relationship dry of value and move onto the next. It is like driving a car until it runs out of petrol and then going to buy a new car with a full tank. The investment to build valuable relationships can be high, but retaining relationships just requires maintenance. But because people don't have the time to maintain, they keep looking for new ones to build, but not having the resources means that the ties are weak.
In my world, friends are more important than family in many ways, because I choose my friends, but not my family. This makes them opt-in relationships and as such, I am a part owner of the relationship and have to take some responsibility for its care. Taking them for granted means losing them and at least in my experience, having a strong network of friendships brings a great deal of energy and well-being to my life and makes life far less dull and far more important.
While I talk often about community, what a community is, is a network of relationships between individuals that overlap at many points of activity and interest. I think that part of the reason that the world is the way it is, is that we have weakened our reliance on relationships by automating and isolating a lot of the activity that a community used to do face to face and as such, we have reduced our understanding of what it means to be a valuable member of a community too. So, we end up with shallow connections.
On Hive it is pretty easy to build and maintain relationships and no matter how busy you think you might be, dropping a line or two from time to time on the posts or replies of the people you value can make a huge difference to the community as a whole, as it can make a huge difference to an individual experience within. It isn't that hard - take the time, invest - you will feel better off for it and be glad that you did.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]