On an oil lamp

Today a poem from Marcus Argentarius who lived around year 0 in Rome (AP 5.128):

 

"Her breast against my breast, 

Her skin on mine,

Her lips against my lips, 

with nothing in between Antigone and me, we lay.

I say no more.

The rest the lamp was witness of."

Does the postman always rings twice? #job

My favorite extinct job is a #palingpeurer (english #eelbob). Question: What is your favorite(s)?

 

Postman always rings twice! Always? In The Netherlands #postman are this and next week on strike. It's a profession threatened with extinction. Why? All of us hardly send snailmail anymore. No handwritten letters. No postcards from abroad. No packages with food, cloths or ... - there must be more. The delivery of items is reducing quickly.

Are you frozen on your job? Do you hate the way your boss organises your company? Does no one ever listen to your "free" advices to get the work better - much better - organised? Looking around again for another job, boss or Way things Finally get Properly organised?

Remember this. There is not 1 way of organising. There are many. How to organise depends on the organisational configurations, the life cycle of the organisation and the environment it lives in.

Remember this. Jobs come and go. When we look back in history we find out that jobs are like a river. The exact definition on what to do (and don't) is never the same. Never! Water floats and floats. The #postman of today is not the same as the postman 50, 100 or 200 years ago. The #farmer of today is not the same as the farmer 50, 100, 500,1.000 or  10.000 years ago. 

I love to puzzle and wonder on jobs that got extinct. A little list of extinct jobs in The Netherlands:

• #peddler (dutch #marskramer)
• #eelbob (dutch #palingpeurer)
• #lamplighter
• #lighthouse keeper (dutch #vuurtorenwachter)
• #train crossing guard (dutch #overwegwachter)
• #bell-ringer (dutch #klokkenluider)
• #flintknapper (dutch #steenklopper of #vuursteensmid)
• #whaling (dutch #walvisvaarder) 
• #copymonk (dutch #monnik die boeken kopieert)

This is a list of not extinct jobs. It's a list of romantic remnants: #shepherd #clog (dutch klompenmaker) #windmiller #king. Yes a #king.

Odd?

What do you see when you look in the mirror? Only the fresh you of today that needs his teeth brushed? You at the age of 19? An ape? The imperfections? What you could be if ...? Do you ever look at your own eyes? Or only from the side? What do you see when you look at you?

This is what I "see":

You know?

Only 200-300 years old! Did you know that all our present day focus on I, Me and Self is a highly biased perspective? It's a Western Enlightenment view on life of species 'Homo Sapiens'. It's only a couple of 100 years old. 200 - 300 years old! Surprised?

Twenty years ago I planned to write "someday" a book on the history of happiness. Four years ago I realised I don't have to write it anymore. It's already written by Darrin M. MacMahon in his book 'Happiness: A history'. I read it 4 years ago. Back than I needed a mirror. I needed something that dried my tears and cleared my head. Reading Darrin's book worked perfect for me. 

In a way we as species invented (better: have been inventing) "happiness". The definition on what a happy life is changed a few times during history (source):

• Homeric.  Happiness = Luck
• Classical. Happiness = Virtue
• Medieval. Happiness = Heaven
• Enlightenment. Happiness = Pleasure
• Contemporary. Happiness = A Warm Puppy

It's my birthday today and I cry if I want to.