Exaggerating, Imagining, Anticipating

There are more things, Lucilius, likely to frighten us than there are to crush us;  we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.  What I advise you to do is, not to be unhappy before the crisis comes.  Accordingly, some things torment us more than they ought;  some torment us before they ought;  and some torment us when they ought not to torment us at all.  We are in the habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or anticipating, sorrow.  We shall consider later whether these evils derive their power from their own strength, or from our own weakness.
—     Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Known as:  Seneca the Younger
From:  “On Groundless Fear” (Letter 13 of the “Moral Letters to Lucilius“)
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On This Day In:
2021	Creation Without Reservation
	From The Tiniest Embers
2020	Listening To The Trees
	Your Mind’s Made Up?
2019	In Silence
	Not Much Light Here
2018	A Gift
2017	Unless You Genuinely Are Small
2016	B1
2015	Five Things
2014	Have Faith
2013	Found In A Mine
2012	Two-Sided Coin
2011	Passionately Scorned Rules

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We Need Both

We wish to pursue the truth no matter where it leads.  But to find the truth, we need imagination and skepticism both.
—    Carl Sagan
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On This Day In:
2021	Broaden The Circle
	The Phone Keeps Ringing
2020	Stay Gentle
2019	Immoral #45
2018	From My Soapbox
2017	The Single Most Effective Thing For Health
2016	A Trumpet Solo
2015	Potential Is A Heavy Burden
2014	Fear Not, Weep Not
2013	Half Way There
2012	Sacrificed Any Lately?
2011	The Value Of One’s Character
2010	Intervals
	On Being Human
	Non-predictive Emergence
	Events
	Bodily Functions
	Standing Thoughts
	Sent Home Is Better Than Fixed

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Let Yourself Soar In 2022

The man with no imagination has no wings.
―    Muhammad Ali
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On This Day In:
2021	Let Yourself Soar In 2022
	Where You’re Concerned
2020	The Most Dynamic Link
	Looking Forward To 2021
2019	A Proud Assertion
2018	Ask #45 About Anything
2017	Playing Makes Sense
2016	And Fathers, Sons
2015	My Suspect Confidence
2014	Disguised Blessings
2013	Be
2012	The Only Way to Win
2011	Honest Writing

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If You’re A Lucky 11 Year Old

From our first moments of consciousness up through childhood, the things we think we might be able to do with our lives broaden and broaden.  And then, at some point around adolescence, they start to narrow.  Our imaginations shrink, our obligations grow, we charge ahead on certain roads and avoid the ones less traveled.  Eleven is wonderful.  You’re aware of the world and its limitations, but if you’re lucky your imagination hasn’t been crimped yet.  Really, maybe, you can do anything.
—    Nicholas Thompson
From his editorial:  “An Awesome Question“
Appearing in:  Wired Magazine, dtd:  Apr 2020
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On This Day In:
2020	Democratic Aspiration
2019	Soul Before Will
2018	Small Things
2017	Clear And Warm To Me
2016	Ripple
2015	Amazing Or Full Of Wonder?
2014	Are You Confused?
2013	But The Odds Are Against It
2012	Far Better Off With Books
2011	Timid And Fainthearted

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Beyond Thar Be Dragons

Puff The Magic Dragon
Favorite Line(s):
A dragon lives forever,
But not so little boys
Painted wings and giant’s rings
Make way for other toys
One gray night it happened,
Jackie Paper came no more
And Puff, that mighty dragon,
He ceased his fearless roar
His head was bent in sorrow,
Green scales fell like rain
Puff no longer went to play
Along the cherry lane
Without his lifelong friend,
Puff could not be brave
So Puff, that mighty dragon,
Sadly slipped into his cave
Oh, Puff the magic dragon
Lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
In a land called Honah Lee
Puff the magic dragon
Lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
In a land called Honah Lee
Comment(s):
Reading the lyrics as an adult, this is obviously a (somewhat sad) song about the loss of a child’s innocent imagination.  I, however, remember the song as a celebration of imagination and not of loss.  It is funny how the mind plays tricks on us.  The song was released when I was eight years old, but my memory places it back much further in my childhood.  I guess, in my memories, I held onto my “innocent imagination” longer than I thought.  —  KMAB
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On This Day In:
2020	Skyin’
2019	I Hope He Has A Lot Of Room Down There
2018	What Time Is It?
2017	Gifts
2016	30 Seconds
2015	Success
2014	Create The Fact
2013	Overpowering Curiosity
2012	On Planning The Invasion Of Iraq…
2011	This And That
	I’m Bettin’ On The Bible

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Meet Unexpected Success

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with the success unexpected in common hours.
—    Henry David Thoreau
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On This Day In:
2021	Most Likely Beast
	Memories To Last A Lifetime
2020	Meet Unexpected Success
	Sweet Love
2019	Curing With Salt
2018	A Politician With Skills
	And / Or A Genuine Smile
2017	A Lone, Brave Voice…
2016	Job Security
2015	For I Have Always Lived Violently
2014	We Stand !! (I Stand With George)
	Additional Requirements
2013	In The Present Day
2012	Feeling It
2011	Stretching Science

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Walkin’ In The Rain With The One I Love

Alabama Rain
Favorite Line(s):
Drive in movies,
Friday nights
Drinkin’ beer and laughin’
Somehow things were always right
I just don’t know what happened
But now and then I find myself
Thinkin’ of the days
When we were walkin’ in
The Alabama Rain
Comment(s):
Long before I ever saw “Forrest Gump“, I used to listen to this song and day dream about walking down a tree-lined / branch-covered path on a hot, humid afternoon holding my wife’s / girl friend’s hand;  a sudden down-pour would drench us to the bone, but even after it stopped, the heat / humidity would still leave the walk home comfortable.  Wet, but comfortable.  I’ve never visited Alabama, but that’s how I’ve always thought of it.  Maybe, someday I’ll get a chance to find out…   LoL!  I suppose if anybody from Alabama reads this they’ll tell me I’m crazy and it’s not like my imagination at all.
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On This Day In:
2021	An Impossible Situation
	I Fear It Is (For Us If Not The Planet)
2020	#45 Never Shuts Up
	Walkin’ In The Rain With The One I Love
2019	Silly Pooh Bear
	Dominoes Or Jenga?
2018	Very Few
2017	Or The Candidate Who…
2016	The Happiest People
2015	Jumping Into The Dark
2014	I Would Be Sillier
2013	It Keeps Happening Anyway
2012	Take Time
2011	A Mother’s Lesson
2010	3rd Pair – Shoe Review (DOA and Final)

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Imagine That!

Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.
––    Terry Pratchett
From:  ‘Foreword’ to “The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy”  (1998)
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On This Day In:
2019	Imagine If…
2018	How Many Now?
	Day 29: Tied (By The Time You Read This)
2017	Earn The Gift
2016	Still Loud
2015	Surprise! No Evidence
2014	Real Ideals
2013	A Happiness Weapon
2012	An Eagle Has Departed
	Ummm
	And In My Prayers
2011	Welcome Doubt
2010	Talk, Talk, Talk…
	Every Day At Least
	Democratic Suicide
	Pleasurable Reading
	Loose Joy
	Do, Er, Write – Whatever
	This Glorious Company
	Relax With A Good Book
	Neither Vice Nor Weakness
	That’s Rich!
	Man Will Prevail!!!
	Frankly Speaking to Arizona
	Brother By Another Mother

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Imagine Existence

We are what we imagine.  Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves.  Our best destiny is to imagine, at least, completely, who and what, and that we are.  The greatest tragedy that can befall us is to go unimagined.
—    Navarre Scott Momaday
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On This Day In:
2019	Voices Of The Past
2018	Sunrises, Rainbows And Newborn Babies
2017	Untold Agony
2016	Just Borrowed
2015	Warning
2014	Always More Productive
2013	Is Not
2012	Loosely Translated
2011	Your Opinions Are Not My Facts

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Imagine If…

Reason can answer questions, but imagination has to ask them.
—     Ralph Gerard
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On This Day In:
2018	How Many Now?
	Day 29: Tied (By The Time You Read This)
2017	Earn The Gift
2016	Still Loud
2015	Surprise! No Evidence
2014	Real Ideals
2013	A Happiness Weapon
2012	An Eagle Has Departed
	Ummm
	And In My Prayers
2011	Welcome Doubt
2010	Talk, Talk, Talk…
	Every Day At Least
	Democratic Suicide
	Pleasurable Reading
	Loose Joy
	Do, Er, Write – Whatever
	This Glorious Company
	Relax With A Good Book
	Neither Vice Nor Weakness
	That’s Rich!
	Man Will Prevail!!!
	Frankly Speaking to Arizona
	Brother By Another Mother

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And Flights Of Fancy

Science does not know its debt to imagination.
—     Ralph Waldo Emerson
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On This Day In:
2021	Why We Have So Few Personal Favorites
	I Would Have Liked You Anyway
2020	Why We Must Vote #45 Out
	If You Believe
2019	Sometimes I Still Have Trouble Sleeping
	Public Ridicule For Office Holder
2018	And Flights Of Fancy
	Dodgers Lose 2nd Consecutive World Series!!
2017	By Their Acts Thy Shall Know Them
2016	Remembering
2015	One
2014	Sure Experiments And Demonstrated Arguments
2013	Irrational Complacency
2012	Why Criticize?
	Giants Sweep 2012 World Series With Game 4 Win (4 To 3)!!!
2011	Saying Just Enough
2010	Giants Win Game 2 Shutout of Rangers – 9 to 0!!!

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Relative Imagination

Imagination is more important than knowledge.  For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.
—   Albert Einstein
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On This Day In:
2021	MAGA Choice: Reality Or Lies
	You Seem To Be
2020	A Good Reason To Blog
	Finally Enjoying The View
2019	Living Free
2018	Relative Imagination
2017	Thank You, Senator McCain (So Far Anyway)
2016	What About Friends?
2015	It Tastes Good To Me
2014	Others’ Footsteps
	The Not-So-Modern Samurai
2013	Doin’
2012	A Lover
2011	What Have We Found Here
	Words

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Worry (x2)

Worry is a waste of imagination.
—   Walt Disney
Most of my life’s worst experiences never actually happened.
—   Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2021	Access Is Good
	The Sun Is Shining
	No Recall
2020	Give Me A Minute To Think About That…
	November 3rd Is Coming!
	An Eye For An Eye
2019	Is #45 Warning Alabama Again?
	Day 11: 49ers Win
2018	Worry (x2)
2017	Still Working
	Gold In The Morning Sun
2016	Power Inside
2015	Sometimes I Feel Small
2014	It Slipped Away
2013	Corollary
2012	Working Retired
2011	The Web Is Not Authoritative! (Really?)

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Tic-Toc

Having imagination it takes you an hour to write a paragraph that if you were unimaginative would take you only a minute.
—    Franklin Pierce Adams
[Maybe procrastination has a little bit to do with it, too.    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2017	Explaining Working Class Support For Donald
2016	Not In My Experience
2015	Effort
2014	Honest Wants
2013	Faith, n.
2012	Surprise Me
2011	Confused With Truth

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Imagining Humor

Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not;  a sense of humor to console him for what he is.
—    Francis Bacon
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On This Day In:
2021	Back To Paying Dues
	Keep Rollin’
2020	Diets And Lifestyle Changes
	Pay Attention
	Just Not Sure, And That’s Okay
2019	The Right Questions
	Day 3: Still Difficult
2018	A Thought For Those Continuing To Support President Trump
	Day 36: Pushing On
2017	Imagining Humor
2016	So Go On And Deal With It
2015	From A Letter To A Friend
2014	Your Part (Here)
2013	Complements
2012	Sound And Light
2011	Two Politicians Visit A Farm…
2010	Labor Day And Honorable Men

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