Goodbye summer, hello blog.

Yep.
Outside is quickly becoming inhospitable, and the computer is looking better.
I learned a new concept today. Narcotization, and while this is an umbrella term for many concepts, the context I'm using it in is the psychological context. In psychological terms, narcotization refers to a condition where due to stimuli you feel you have no chance of avoiding a particular fate, for example, if you are faced with a problem that appears too large or complex to deal with. I was introduced to the term in Chuck Palahniuk's book "Non-fiction". He cited a study on gum disease. Patients were shown pictures of gums in various stages, and the effect this had on oral hygiene throughout the various groups was then correlated accordingly. He discovered that while both groups shown the early stages of gum disease improved their hygiene, the group shown the worst case scenario resigned themselves to the inevitable and gave up altogether. It seemed insurmountable, and futile to make any effort.
It's a concept that's been floating in the back of my mind all day.
I work as a Chef, and there are facets of my operation that fill me with defeat when I consider them. Today I stepped back a bit and looked at the components of these problems, rather than at the insurmountable problem itself. It was easier to fathom. This seems like common sense, and in many ways it is, but the concept has been picking at me.
How much of the world is narcotized into inaction? When we look at racism, culture clashes, poverty, climate change, what solutions can one possibly see? Is it not reasonable that the daily onslaught of doom and gloom from the media has narcotized us into inaction? We get the news on the half hour from the radio stations, all day on some tv stations and every time we sit at the computer. We're bombarded with an overload of how big the problems of the world are more than any other culture or generation in history. We need to realize that this narcotizes us into a state of dull resignation to the 'inevitable'. Maybe this is what lies at the root of the apparent apathy epidemic in the west.
On a personal level, and at the risk of sounding like an infomercial, I'm going to take a good look at the things I consider barriers to my development as a human being, and a father and a husband and I'm going to make a point of looking at the little picture from now on. Maybe I'll find a little more power there.
And for lack of a better graphic, on the theme of dental hygiene;