Dr Dim's New New Year's Message

A long time ago in galaxy far, far away a budding Director penned a saga with the subtitle A New Hope. Whilst we may be unsure what hope means to most folks to Dr Dim it's almost tantamount to a reboot; starting over. That is, we jettison all the accrued rubbish in our lives and try to reinvent ourselves free of past shackles.

Of course, lots of people try to make New Year's Resolutions but - much like it says on the tin - they just go round and round and round not really getting too far at all. We need, as a race of conscious entities upon this precariously perched planet, a little faith (for want of a better word) in our spirit, or ability, for salvation.

All a little too religious (in an organised way at least) for Dr Dim but the idea of a rebirth certainly rings a bell. We do not need to drag our collective bad karma with us into this New Hope.

Whilst we can't simply flip a switch to undo the harm we've been causing all around the world there are no universal laws stating that we should be retaining bad ways of being in perpetuity.

Humans can learn! We can learn to co-create a life for us all that ensures harm lingers in the history books, for instance, that the present is comfortable - for everybody - and, finally, that the future gives us all A New Hope.

Dr Dim's 'Alternative' Christmas Message

CANCELLED.

There is no Alternative Christmas Message this year due to UNforeseen circumstances. Dr Dim would like to apologise for all too human failings at this time. He wishes everybody a peaceful festive period and better insight into current predicaments in the New Year. Cheers.

Dr Dims 'Alternative' Christmas Message

It is a little early to be renouncing the year as having already passed perhaps but as the frantic Christmas clamour commences, evidently, round about then let's try to put time into a little perspective? A fascinating subject in itself time really is quite illusory. It is measured as if a quantity yet often we experience something quite different. That just about sums up human interpretations of the world around us. We often seem to say one thing yet see, feel and do another entirely different thing! Why is that - I hear that exceedingly attentive Dr Dim Student inquire at the back there? Well, you see it's all to do with that gap between our whole and the mysterious 'other' that we often call "reality". Whilst I do not necessarily agree that we inhabit an artificial creation of someone else's making it is really rather apparent that we often like to feel, au contraire, that we are the one's doing the creating ourselves. Its a very egocentric viewpoint that always puts us at the centre of our our own 'universe'. It worked (after a fashion) for some time now but much like Bagpuss that particular conception is seemingly now falling apart at the seams. That is, we are not Supreme Beings - as we are beginning to experience - and instead are simply visiting reality as if passing through a seaside holiday destination. Our time here, as a species, came and is more than likely going to one day pass. We have to ideally grab that particular bull by its horns and, frankly, deal with it. We can build bunkers, prep for every conceivable eventuality and construct advanced arguments that serve to propagate our own sense of worth and claim to immortality but, alas, it seems quite obvious that we will leave as we came. So, how do we deal with the very Achilles Heal of our existential dilemma? How, as a cogent whole populace can we begin to accept our own fate? Perhaps that is again where beliefs step up to the mark and crucially what Christmas SHOULD be all about. For some on this perilous planet Christmas is a time of remembrance, hope and joy. We would do well to try to adopt such a frame of mind as Hard Times encroach upon our well fortified senses of self belief. Frailty does not have to be a negative experience if we can learn to be more accepting. Whilst resilience is often at this time in our development touted as a primary quality to be upholding we could learn to be more forgiving to ourselves. Letting go is not easy when we invest so much time (and effort, etc) in our existence yet if we could release our delicate hold upon reality life could actually be so much more comfortable, rewarding and enjoyable. Merry Christmas.

Dr Dim's 'Alternative' Christmas Message

 

Much like the Sorcerer's Apprentice I cannot help but feel that we've allowed our egos to take over directions within this realm that may ultimately prove to be our downfall. However, the 'doom and gloom' scenarios prevalent from numerous vantage points of cultural associations do nothing to help our predicament. So, how can we instigate actions (as opposed to simply talking about the problems) that seek to address the impending downfall? Of course, there are many solutions on the table that might help avert the Disaster Scenario. However, the table is in danger of becoming overcrowded with key ideas falling off its edges in to an abyss beyond!

It seems like everybody wants a slice of a dwindling pie. That is, numerous agendas are vying for attention each believing they are our salvation. So, we must ask ourselves how do we choose among so many alternatives to try to prevent the existential crises? Is it even possible to make such a choice or should we instead be throwing all available resources at preventative measure before the faeces really does hit the proverbial spinning contraption?

Well, when all is said and done we have to realise that human beings are fallible. We will, more than likely, never be one hundred percent efficient at life. For example, we can pretend to be interested in sustaining this world for generations to come yet still wage war and entertain conflict despite these best intentions.

We're really not robots to be shoehorned into little boxes of others' decrees either. We do possess 'free will' (to a lesser or greater extent). But our self-belief should not grow out of all proportion. For, this is when the brushes and buckets of The Sorcerer's Apprentice run amok along with our egos.

There may not be an old wizened wizard to come to our rescue in the Real World. Instead we should realise that we may well be the masters of our own destines and begin to act accordingly. Precisely what that actually means is yet to be decided. Decisions made today will affect all our futures. So let's ensure we make good, well informed choices that truly represent all Earthly inhabitants and not simply those most empowered or who shout the loudest. This is key: representative decision making. We have the tools now to stop the runaway magic of our past overindulgence. Let's use them sensibly for once...peace.

Dr Dim's 'Alternative' Christmas Message

Christmas is usually a time for forgiving. It is a time for spreading joy and merriment especially prominent in traditional Christian cultures. Of course, the central tenet that Christ was born at this time of year mainly falls by the wayside these days almost as if people do not have time to have a faith perhaps? Certainly, we are all rushing around like that proverbial headless chicken (or should that be turkey). At the moment we may feel as if we're all stuffed too. Times are definitely 'challenging'. But, haven't they always been? Humans have faced many challenges as we developed upon this globe. These do not need to be spelled out here. Suffice it to say that humanity has - to date - endured. We are quite a resilient species, after all. Perhaps that's why we are top of the food chain? So, whilst media portray numerous doomsday scenarios with which to peddle their particular wares please do remember that it's not over till the body mass to fat ratio of the disadvantaged (female?) citizen vocalises appropriate melodies. Hmm...

So, resilience is more than just finding the latest technology to solve whatever problem besets us at a particular point in time. Resilience, we may contend, is really about common values rising to the fore in hard times so that solidarity ensues and we work together in the face of adversity. There are detractors from this modus operandi - there always will be - those who perhaps feel that should humanity ultimately find commonality then their schism of especially hierarchical social control will become redundant. They would lose their 'power' and those common values would help work towards ensuring a more peaceful coexistence for all upon our increasingly fragile planet. This in turn would obviate the need for the miltary-industrial-pharmaceutical complex that currently dominates global economics. We would need another reason - such as happiness - to help orient our belief systems towards less 'productive' reasons for life and instead focus upon a more inward looking senses of worth.

Who knows that the next year will bring. That story has not yet been written. We can guess. We can cross palms with silver and read tea leaves. We'll most likely never entirely be sure about the future. However, the past is another story entirely. We are imbued with an intelligence as a species that allows us to learn by our mistakes. Its time to heed the warnings of the past here in the present and help each other aim for that future that we'd all like to share. We're getting old - humanity - but we need to ask if we are getting any wiser along with that?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

DD.