Is it healthy for a prolonged period of time to look at and fixate on the past? As much as we may have wonderful memories, and as fully we may have enjoyed them, each day they do move further and further away. Reminisce, yes indeed, but never forget that right in front of you lies a clean sheet of paper which will hold a story yet to be written.

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine where every five years she attends her high school reunions. She explained to me that the first time it was wonderful to catch up with old friends and reminisce about the good times, and acknowledge a tear or two. She then went on to say that after a while these reunions started to become painful. It was always a question of who would show up or who wouldn’t….she concluded that she was fully aware that she couldn’t truly go back, yet looked upon the good old days as a foundation for what was to come. We all get older each day….the trick is to improve and find a little peace and contentment.

Favorite songs, favorite movies, enjoyable vacations, your first car….all of these things are not there to show us that the good times are all behind us, but perhaps the best may be yet to come. Our faces may change in the mirror over time, but do we truly want to stay at 16 forever? Do we want our lives to stay in a holding pattern? Or is it really acceptable for cobwebs to sprout up around us? The only way for these things to not happen is for time and change to occur. For sure, when we look back we may agree that one decade may have been better than another, but overall was yesterday just there to show us tomorrow?

I recently thought about the places I have lived in the past. Overall, I enjoyed every one of them, for different reasons. Still, there must be a reason why I no longer live there. If our lives add up to an incredible book, then there must be chapters…each chapter being a different stage and part of our lives. I do enjoy looking back and visiting the past from time to time….but it never slips my mind what wonders the future may hold.

Life is full of comings and goings….it will probably always be that way until the day we die. We can only imagine what story this planet will tell, when its life is over.

Seize the sunrise,

Jennifer Avalon

© 2008 Jennifer Avalon

Innovation is the progression of what we are and the world we live in. For eons the process of innovation has been embraced and fought tooth and nail. While the Wright Brothers looked to the sky, some suggested if man was meant to fly he would have wings. One thing’s for sure, now more than ever mankind is embracing innovation.

It’s all around us….the internet, telecommunications, medicine, transportation…you name it, innovation is being practiced daily. For some, our best days lie ahead, while others think that our golden era is behind us. Innovation always brings about change…and change is something, in one way or another, we all struggle with from time to time. It is quite possible that within the next twenty years the innovation that will come forth will surpass much of what we have done in the past one hundred years. We are all going to have to take a long hard look at what world we want to see materialize.

There is quite an argument for who is best for the practice of innovation. This being an election year, who is best to take the mantle of innovation…Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, or Liberals? This year in America we get to make the choice. While Conservatives see an ethical steady-as-she-goes policy towards business and innovation, Liberal ideals always are there to think outside the box and come up with alternative answers for current dilemmas. Some of the innovative issues on the table? Let’s touch on a few….cloning, robotics, stem-cell research, space travel, and one that’s always in play….religion. Who best should handle the baton of our future? Can mankind control his thirst for knowledge and power, or should he put the pedal to the metal and just go for it? How about alternative forms of energy? Where are they? And why aren’t they here already? Innovation is going to have to answer these questions. By this point, we should have more choices as to how we heat our homes.

More and more countries are embracing innovation. China and India are playing catch up, but they are catching up fast. As the world becomes smaller, innovation becomes larger. I still know people who refuse to have a television set in their homes…they believe it destroyed the family unit. Like all facets of innovation, inventions can be used in both a positive, or negative, way. The way children learn these days is drastically different than even their parent’s generation. Computers have become a vital part of many occupations. What was once written by hand, in a split second is now processed and delivered by a PC, or MAC.

Innovation….love it, or scorn it…it’s here. How far can it go? Who pushes the envelope? Or do we eventually fall off a cliff? We’re all going to have to grapple with these questions. Is it possible to drive ourselves into the future, not too fast, not too slow? I guess we’ll all find out….by all means reach for the Heavens, but don’t forget to keep your feet on the ground.

Choose wisely,

Jennifer Avalon

© 2008 Jennifer Avalon