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January, 1997 - Trends and Themes for the New Year
- Predictions for 1997
- Thoughts to Live By for 1997
- Autobiography in Five Chapters
- In The Beginning (or, When God and Computers Meet)
Trends and Themes for 1997
General Themes:
Creativity will be high in 1997. Creativity includes a growing use of color, design, music, art, colorful birds and animals, and all things considered beautiful. Many will feel a strong desire to change (or re-create) their surroundings. People will be drawn to things that inspire them and make their environment more beautiful. People may look at their home, neighborhood or office and decide it's time to clean up their environment.
There may be a return to nostalgia and more interest in elegant beauty (e.g., 1940's styles, dressing for dinner, ballet) with less emphasis on chaotic or psychedelic color.
Inspiration will be high also, particularly inspiration that is personally meaningful; emphasis on local efforts; personal and family relationships; dedication to personal goals of improving one's life and environment. In some ways, "magic" will seem to happen in people's everyday lives, providing them with even more inspiration.
Travel to tropical climates for their beauty will be attractive to many people.
Spirituality continues to be a growing topic in every aspect of our lives: personal beliefs, discussion of angels, religion, extra-terrestrial contact and other topics that expand our sense of ourselves as human beings. People will look at their own beliefs and decide whether to keep them or re-create them. This could lead to splits in the traditional religions as people search for what inspires them directly, rather than accepting what they did in the past.
There will be less emphasis on a deity "out there somewhere" controlling our lives and more emphasis on the individual's spiritual needs and beliefs. The strident forces who believe that "our way is the only way" will continue to tell the rest of us that we are courting the devil, while we will see the "one-way-only" folks as children having a tantrum. If we ignore them while they get it out of their system, they will eventually grow up just fine - we know there are an infinite number of ways of going home. Rather than fight about who is right or wrong, we will allow the conflict to dissolve from lack of attention.
Prosperity and expansion are possible in 1997 for those who are clear about their goals and dedicate themselves to improving their lives and the lives of those around them. Commercialism around the holidays will be less successful than in past years as people look for more personal experiences, not just "things" and "toys." Gifts will be more carefully selected and more related to giving an "experience" - for example, giving someone a massage, writing an inspirational poem or creating something beautiful instead of a buying retail gift. Retail sales will probably suffer because of this, forcing a re-evaluation in industries that depend on mass commercialism.
Relationships will be important in many different ways. People will be concerned with their personal relationships, family relationships and friendships. They will look for more involvement in volunteer efforts, grass roots efforts and a sense of belonging in their work. If relationships are not providing personal support and inspiration, people will re-create them by moving, changing jobs or whatever it takes to get what is needed. Romantic love will see a resurgence, while crass sexuality will be less obvious. Emotions of all kinds will be strong in 1997. People will want to "connect" with others wherever they are - at home, at work, in their neighborhood, with their families (biological and chosen).
Teamwork and community efforts will encourage companies to continue moving toward self-managed teams, locally managed divisions and smaller operating units that meet the needs of the people closest to them. Employees will continue to be less tolerant of the rigid hierarchical model and make their wishes known more strongly for greater involvement in all areas of business. Entrepreneurial efforts and small businesses will continue their strong growth, as more people "create" their own way of doing business. Temporary, short-term and part-time employment will continue to expand -as more businesses and individuals realize the benefits of such working systems.
Tolerance for racial differences and gender differences will grow as people work toward a greater sense of community and involvement for all people. More and more people will prefer mediation and dissolution of conflicts over outright war. Some parts of the world will continue the historical religious wars as some factions fight bitterly against the growing wave toward building inclusive community.
An emphasis on truth, credibility and high ideals continues. The excesses of the media and sensationalism will be less and less tolerated by the general public.
Local politics will be more important than national and international politics, which may lead to "antics" by national politicians trying to retain the general public's attention. It will not work, since the overwhelming emphasis for 1997 will be on local concerns.
The emphasis on creativity will fuel the already explosive growth of the Internet, as it continues to marry the beauty of graphics with greatly improved communications ability. As more and more people join the Information Highway, breakdowns and bottlenecks will be more common. Creativity will help create breakthroughs and refinements in the technology, for the inclusion of more people. Costs of the constant upgrades and refinements will spur a revolt by the average person who expects a higher quality product. This revolt will force more careful testing of software and hardware before its release. Many people will refuse to buy shoddy products!
The health care industry will see a continued growth in new viruses and diseases. There will be more breakthroughs and growing interest in alternative methods of healing. Traditional medical practitioners and alternative healers will work more closely together, so that people will gain the benefits of more choices for health care.
Weather will continue to provide us with emotional drama in the form of storms (high wind, heavy rain, floods, heavy snow) . Mother Nature will be very creative about the weather in 1997.
This forecast represents our views only. No guarantees are
implied - use it as you would anyone's opinions. Remember, we each create our own future!
<If something here offends you, please go away quietly with our blessings. >
May your year be filled with creativity, inspiration, prosperity and, of course, laughter.
Dr. Michael Anthony's Thoughts to Live By for 1997
I am only one, but I am one!
I cannot do everything, but
I can do something,
and what I can do, I ought to do.
What I ought to do . . . I shall do!
- Edward Everett Hale
Let us not fret about life;
everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.
- R. L. Evans
I know not what the future holds,
but I am sure who holds the future.
- Michael Anthony
Ideas are funny things,
they don't work unless you do.
- Ann Nonymous
There are only about half a dozen things that make 80% of the difference in your life.
- Jim Rohn
The few who do are the envy of those who watch.
- Michael Anthony
One cannot alter a condition with the same mind set that created it in the first place.
- Albert Einstein
Them what is . . . is.
Them that ain't, never will be!
- "Big" Dave Synder
Be willing to do what ever it takes to succeed.
- Wayne Dyer
The trouble with doing nothing is that you never know when you're finished.
- Author unknown
Just showing up is 80% of life . . .
- Author unknown
An Autobiography in Five Chapters
Chapter 1
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hold in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost ... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
But it takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter 2
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in, again.
I can't believe I am in this same place.
It isn't my fault.
But it still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter 3
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I fall in .. it's a habit .. but now my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter 4
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter 5
I walk down a different street.
(according to one of our readers, the author is Portia)
In The Beginning (or, When God and Computers Meet)
[author unknown]
In the beginning there was the computer. And God said %Let
there be light!
-> #Enter user id.
%God
-> #Enter password.
%Omniscient
-> #Password incorrect. Try again.
%Omnipotent
-> #Password incorrect. Try again.
%Technocrat
-> #And God logged on at 12:01:00 AM, Sunday, January 1.
%Let there be light!
-> #Unrecognizable command. Try again.
%Create light
-> #Done
%Run heaven and earth
-> #And God created Day and Night. And God saw there were 0 errors.
-> #And God logged off at 12:02:00 AM, Sunday, January 1.
-> #Approx. funds remaining: $92.50.
-> #And God logged on at 12:01:00 AM, Monday, January 2.
%Let there be firmament in the midst of water and light
-> #Unrecognizable command. Try again.
%Create firmament
-> #Done.
%Run firmament
-> #And God divided the heavens. And God saw there were 0 errors.
-> #And God logged off at 12:02:00 AM, Monday, January 2.
-> #Approx. funds remaining: $84.60.
-> #And God logged on at 12:01:00 AM, Tuesday, January 3.
%Let the waters under heaven be gathered together unto one
place and let the dry land appear and
-> #Too many characters in specification string. Try again.
%Create dry_land
-> #Done.
%Run dry_land
-> #And God divided the waters. And God saw there were 0 errors.
-> #And God logged off at 12:02:00 AM, Tuesday, January 3.
-> #Approx. funds remaining: $65.00.
-> #And God logged on at 12:01:00 AM, Wednesday, January 4.
%Create lights in the firmament to divide the day from the
night
-> #Unspecified type. Try again.
%Create sun_moon_stars
-> #Done
%Run sun_moon_stars
-> #And God created the heavens. And God saw there were 0 errors.
-> #And God logged off at 12:02:00 AM, Wednesday, January 4.
-> #Approx. funds remaining: $54.00.
-> #And God logged on at 12:01:00 AM, Thursday, January 5.
%Create fish
-> #Done
%Create fowl
-> #Done
%Run fish, fowl
-> #And God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that
creepeth wherewith the waters swarmed after its kind and every winged fowl after its kind.
And God saw there were 0 errors.
-> #And God logged off at 12:02:00 AM, Thursday, January 5.
-> #Approx. funds remaining: $45.00.
-> #And God logged on at 12:01:00 AM, Friday, January 6.
%Create cattle
-> #Done
%Create creepy_things
-> #Done
%Now let us make man in our image
-> #Unspecified type. Try again.
%Create man
-> #Done
%Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and
subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over
every living thing that creepeth upon the earth
-> #Too many command operands. Try again.
%Run multiplication
-> #Execution terminated. 6 errors.
%Insert breath
-> #Done
%Run multiplication
-> #Execution terminated. 5 errors.
%Move man to Garden of Eden
-> #File Garden of Eden does not exist.
%Create Garden.eden
-> #Done
%Move man to Garden.eden
-> #Done
%Run multiplication
-> #Execution terminated. 4 errors.
%Copy woman from man
-> #Done
%Run multiplication
-> #Execution terminated. 3 errors.
%Insert woman into man
-> #Illegal parameters. Try again.
%Insert man into woman
-> #Done
%Run multiplication
-> #Execution terminated. 2 errors.
%Create desire
-> #Done
%Run multiplication
-> #And God saw man and woman being fruitful and multiplying in Garden.eden
-> #Warning: No time limit on this run. 1 errors.
%Create freewill
-> #Done
%Run freewill
-> #And God saw man and woman being fruitful and multiplying in Garden.eden
-> #Warning: No time limit on this run. 1 errors.
%Undo desire
-> #Desire cannot be undone once freewill is created.
%Destroy freewill
-> #Freewill is an inaccessible file and cannot be destroyed.
-> #Enter replacement, cancel, or ask for help.
%Help
-> #Desire cannot be undone once freewill is created.
-> #Freewill is an inaccessible file and cannot be destroyed.
-> #Enter replacement, cancel, or ask for help.
%Create tree_of_knowledge
-> #And God saw man and woman being fruitful and multiplying in Garden.eden
-> #Warning: No time limit on this run. 1 errors.
%Create good, evil
-> #Done
%Activate evil
-> #And God saw he had created shame.
-> #Warning system error in sector E95. Man and woman not in Garden.eden.
-> #1 errors.
%Scan Garden.eden for man, woman
-> #Search failed.
%Delete shame
-> #Shame cannot be deleted once evil has been activated.
%Destroy freewill
-> #Freewill is an inaccessible file and cannot be destroyed.
-> #Enter replacement, cancel, or ask for help.
%Stop
-> #Unrecognizable command. Try again
%Break
%Break
%Break
-> #ATTENTION ALL USERS *** ATTENTION ALL USERS: COMPUTER GOING DOWN FOR
REGULAR DAY OF MAINTENANCE AND REST IN FIVE MINUTES. PLEASE LOG OFF.***
%Create new world
-> #You have exceeded your allocated file space. You must destroy old files
before new ones can be created.
%Destroy earth
-> #Destroy earth: Please confirm.
%Destroy earth confirmed
-> #COMPUTER DOWN *** COMPUTER DOWN. SERVICES WILL RESUME SUNDAY, JANUARY 8
AT 6:00 AM. YOU MUST SIGN OFF NOW.***
-> #And God logged off at 11:59:59 PM, Friday, January 6.
-> #Approx. funds remaining: $0.00
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