Spring flowers in May
The river in the picture is the River Tame. This photo was taken last May, but I drove past there yesterday and the flowers are just starting to bloom again. They seem to grow all along the Tame, I’ve seen them at Walsall and Dudley.
Psychology | perceptions of self
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The only perception that early man had of himself, was what he saw when he looked at other people. Looking at their reflection in a pool of water was probably quite intriguing. We can see our reflections using mirrors at any time.
Normal April showers?
I took this photo a year ago. I look at the sky a lot now in an attempt to predict the weather. The sky looked a paler blue last year, today it’s been a deep blue with white clouds and April showers. We had a very wet summer last year, are we back to normal now?
Psychology | Friendships
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
How many friends do you have? Do you you have lots of friends whose company you enjoy? Or do you have a few friends who are very loyal to you. We often don’t even think about what friendship is or how important it is.
Psychology | Emotional motivation
The human mind can seem to behave strangely at times. We always have a reason for doing things, but that reason isn’t always logical or even sensible. We are often motivated by our emotions. Frequently, out of fear or desire.
Ding dong it’s Saturday
I get more local readers at weekends because my blog posts are featured on ‘the yamyam’. There appears to be more and more local bloggers now and they are writing good posts. Anyway, in case any local reader is wondering, today’s picture is of King’s Hill Park, just outside Darlaston.
Psychology | Communication
We tend to have a conflict in our lives between our primitive desires and our desire to improve ourselves. This affects how we communicate with each other. Our lives have become more complicated and so has communication. We are individuals, but we take decisions collectively and need the support of others.
More snow hits the UK
It’s nearly Easter and we have more snow! It was the first day of Spring on Wednesday and just as you thought it was safe, the snow came again. The weather here is as unpredictable as the politics, but doesn’t it make life interesting? Getting around today is a little difficult, the bus station was closed.
Psychology | Logic and proof
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
People often disagree about things. We disagree about politics, religion and money most often. We will also disagree about status; we look up to and respect different people. We might disagree about art or music; we all have different tastes. We can even disagree about which foods we like.
Psychology | Out of Desperation
People will often behave out of character, because they are desperate. Desperation can drive us to commit crime; even murder. Desperation is feeling we can no longer tolerate our situation. We not only want to change how we feel; we need to change how we are feeling. We need to stop the pain. It might be physical pain, but often it’s psychological pain.
Psychology | The meaning of life
Have you ever wondered what our purpose is in living? Life does appear to be our purpose, to live and survive. Our purpose isn’t just to survive as individuals, but as a species. When we feel we’re in danger we feel the need to fight or run away. Our desire to face danger and survive can mean that rather than fight as individuals, we will fight as a collective. This can lead to riots and even wars.
Saturday ideas and thoughts
I don’t usually do sky pictures, they’re boring, but this one is unusual and I’m a bit desperate today. If you look carefully you can see the moon breaking through the clouds. We had another week of financial bad news. Both banks that are partly owned by the tax payer posted losses. Not real losses that would send them into administration like so many High Street businesses; these are just millions and billions lost ‘on paper’.
The psychology of luck
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Imagine going into a casino and playing a slot machine and winning every time. Then trying other games like roulette and winning again. If you started with just a pound (or a dollar) and doubled your money twenty times, you would be a millionaire. Imagine how you would feel…
The Saturday collection of this week’s highlights
Today’s picture is of the bridge across the canal that goes to Moorcroft Wood. Many canals run in a straight line, but this one meanders around a little. You can walk along the canal from the waterfront outside Walsall Art gallery, through Pleck to Darlaston and past George Rose park to Moxley and eventually end up here. It’s fascinating to see how the canals run through the Black Country.
Psychology | Valentines Day
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
It’s St Valentines Day on Thursday. Saint Valentine’s Day has been celebrated officially since the 6th century and unofficially it goes back to Roman times. The giving of traditional gifts like flowers probably goes back over 2,000 years. People also send love letters and cards to symbolise their love. In modern times chocolates and other gifts have also become popular.
Psychology | manipulation
We all have some weakness and that can make us susceptible to manipulation. There are psychopaths and people with psychopathic tendencies who will readily exploit any weakness they see. They have little or no empathy for people who they perceive as being weaker and more vulnerable than themselves.
Blue Monday
It is the third Monday in January and so called ‘Blue Monday’; the most depressing day of the year. The bills are coming in, we are using a small fortune in gas and electricity to keep warm and the weather is awful. Can it get worse? Probably not… Many of us are suffering from the usual winter bugs too.
Actions speak louder than words
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
This post was first published on http://Mike10613.Wordpress.com
Do you ever hear some politician criticising the unemployed and calling them skivers? Then see them swilling champagne at the racecourse, wearing top hat and tails. We should take into account people’s actions, as well as their words?
What is avant-garde?
Avant-garde, means the vanguard or advanced guard. It generally refers to people who ‘go first’ and lead the way in art and culture. The term has been applied to art and artists such as the impressionists. It has been mostly applied to art and artists of the Victorian era, but the expression is still used today.
How to think outside of the box
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Sometimes we need a new idea, a different way of looking at things. Philosophers have talked about this, thought about it and speculated for thousands of years. How do they think laterally; differently from normal? (more…)
Why do we dream?
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
As children we play games. We might have played doctors and nurses or maybe imagined we were a train driver. Favourite games involve violence sometimes, like cowboys and Indians. Children rehearse for the future through their games. We also rehearse for the future in our dreams. Sometimes we will go over a particular scenario over and over again; these are recurring dreams. We also try to face our fears, in our nightmares. (more…)
No they are not TalkTalk.
I had an email the other day, with the above TalkTalk logo at the top and asking me to log in and update my credit/debit card password. It was an obvious scam, but because I use TalkTalk, it got my attention. When you look at the webpage, you are actually downloading it and the picture; but that picture isn’t on my server. I’ve linked to the same server as the scammers did. It’s that easy to do a scam email. I have also had the usual scam emails trying to get my bank details this week.
How to develop in the 21st century
I have been a little reclusive just lately. I thought about this and decided I needed to go out and do things. I needed to get some exercise, but also exercise my brain. I went to an art gallery yesterday and looked at modern art and some more classical art. I planned to do some shopping after that, but there was crowds and so I ended up taking photographs. This one is of Forge Mill Lake.
More amazing ideas to think about
We all need to make money as individuals and collectively. We need to create wealth as a nation too. I saw the same old garbage trotted out this week when someone suggested Britain needs to manufacture more because that’s ‘real wealth’. So when pop stars sell millions of pounds worth of albums, that’s not ‘real wealth’? (more…)
