photo taken on 9.8.15

Walking and thinking.  It's time for self-reflection and evaluation of my beliefs and values. 

I have traveled the world extensively during the past 20 years.  Several times I have returned to the same country and have noticed many changes.  Some of the modernizations were not pleasant for me.  For example, I enjoyed the old movie theatres in Madrid.  In 1998 I watched Titanic in Spanish.  There were ushers to direct people to their seats.  These old theatres have been converted to concert halls.  The modern halls  are smaller than they used to be, like the ones in the United States.

One thought provoking observation I had, was most shops in different countries carried the same items, especially household goods that we can find at budget stores.  Everything looked the same and it was hard to find something unique to buy as souvenir. Even the Murano glass earnings and necklaces that are originally made in Venice, Italy are made in China or Turkey. Several years ago I bought many "Murano Glass" necklaces in Venice, but later I found them at a dollar store in Los Angeles.  Somehow it is good to have affordable items at different countries, but the world’s markets are flooded with these items.  We have over production.

In the last few years we heard a lot about keeping our earth safe.  But not many leaders and people are taking this issue seriously.  More than 30 years ago when I was suggesting  recycling to my friends and relatives, many of them would not show much interest to do so. Today, finally, the coronavirus is shaking us and making us to rethink our old ways. It is a worldwide wake up call. 

We do not need to go shopping and wasting our limited and precious time in the malls.  One bright side of this virus is that people are devoting more time to deep thinking, reading, and playing and spending time with their children.  We miss and now have much more appreciation for real socialization instead of texting and phone calls. It’s true what they say, you don’t appreciate and value what you have until you lose it.  I hope this crisis will end soon, but the lessons learned during the crisis will last a life time. Wake up and do something.