Man do I take a chance when it is dictionary day.  I never know what I am going to have to look into.
Like today.  The word my finger fell on was “Azilian.”  The dictionary definition of the word is “the transitional period between the palacolithic and neolithicages in Europe.”
I had never heard of the word so I thought I would look up the net to see what it said.  That was when the cat was among the pigeons.  But I was looking up the wrong word.  It was missing a letter.
I did find a site that talked about the Azilian culture.  It said “This Southern European Epi-Palaeolithic (Late Palaeolithic) culture succeeded the Magdalenian in Spain and southern France, flanked to the east by the Epigravettian.  The Azilian was a much simplified form of the Magdalenian with nowhere near the richness of Magdalenian culture (especially its art). The latter's success seems to have been built on an abundance of food, allowing time for leisure…The Azilian existed in a region…in which resources seem to have been tougher to access. The more time which had to be spent on hunting and gathering, the less there was to spend on creating art.
Discovered by French archaeologist E Piette in 1887-1889, the culture was named after the Mas-d'Azil cave in the department of Ariège in southern France. It was found primarily on the territory of France and the then-'Federal Republic of Germany' (West Germany).” https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/CulturesAzilian.htm
I find all that stuff interesting though I am a bit sceptical of the conclusions reached.
Still I did find out about an obscure people group that seem to me to have been in a hard place.  It is no wonder to me they were absorbed into other cultures.  I reckon if I had the chance I would want to leave where they were too.
It may only be just after 6am but it is light outside and I feel the garden calling. 

I was delaying writing anything as I knew something would be coming from James Clear this morning.  I wanted to see if there was anything said in the email that rang a bell with me.
Turned out there was.  It was something quoted that a novelist Toni Morrison said.  It was the last part of the quote which I hold to. "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. The same is true of any endeavour: if the solution you seek doesn't exist, create it."
So often I hear something like this said, “I was looking for this and did not find it where I looked, so I went elsewhere.”
It is my belief that that is ok for many, but I contend it is not ok for all.  Sometimes I think the sense of needing to stay should dominate.  When that is the case, if what I want does not exist it is up to me to make it happen.  There is definitely work in that and building takes time.  Yet the movie quote to me stands the test of time.  “Build it and they will come.”
Sometimes to me the lack of something is an invitation to do it.  I find this sort of thing happens for me all the time.  If I do not face challenges, I tend to stand still.  I sometimes ask myself why I do all I do, yet I know that if I was not doing something I would be doing nothing.
For me the growing as a person is in the doing.  Certainly, the alternative is easier.  It is way easier to be in the stands watching and declaring how it should be done, then to be on the playing field making it happen.
For me there is a greater sense of achievement and ownership in changing a landscape that needs changing, than in only enjoying the fruit of another’s labour. Both are good but both needed to start somewhere.

I woke up this morning with a song going around in my head.  It is by a group I really like called Avalon.  The song is called “Testify to Love.”  It is not like I heard the song yesterday.  I did hear it the day before though, and it does seem to summarize in some way what I am feeling.
It seems to me I am living in strange times.  I have never seen love and hate so polarized.  Many professing to love, are practiced in hate.  The silent majority is becoming silent no more.  Mankind is making their own choice and becoming unwilling to blindly accept only what they are told.
I feel like a very small cog in a very big drama.  Yet more than ever being small does not phase me.  I just need to look around to see that hate and self interest is on the increase.  Never before have I felt so clearly that those who are contrary to the hate and hopelessness on display, clearly stand out.
Yet I feel big time this is not the time to pursue like for like.  For me it is not just a matter of right and wrong but life and death.  It seems to me one way leads to killing, stealing and destroying while the other produces life within.  I only need to look at social media to know that for every idea I think is right there are contrary ideas abroad that say it is wrong. 
Some ideas are considered, and some are parroted.  Either way it seems to me it is what is produced that counts.  I have felt for a while that words are one thing, and actions are another.  It is not words alone that influence me but words and actions - or the fruit of the words.
Yet even seemingly good outcomes can have selfish motivations.  I am fond of saying I am not responsible for another’s actions, but I am responsible for my own.  Love is more powerful than the strongest army, and more influential than the most moving poet. Setbacks are often par for the course, but appearances can be deceiving.  Final outcomes tell the story.  Love is always right and always produces life.  I will go with that.