The albedo of an object is the extent to which it reflects.
Yesterday I watched a show on the Discovery (You and Me Baby ain't nothin' but Mammals..) Channel called;
NAKED SCIENCE SNOWBALL EARTH .
“Imagine a world frozen solid. Imagine that vast sheets of ice, hundreds of metres thick, encased the entire planet - a giant snowball floating through space.
This is not some exotic new world deep in space - it may have been our world, the Earth.
In this episode, Naked Science explores what may have been the most extreme period of Earth's climatic history.
Some top-ranking scientists believe that in the past the Earth completely froze over for millions of years... then warmed up rapidly approximately 600 million years ago.
Struggling against skepticism and disbelief for years, these experts have gathered a growing body of evidence supporting the claim, and others in the scientific community are slowly coming around to the incredible idea - not just of the dramatic freeze, but of an equally extraordinary thaw.”
There is a great deal of concern these days about the Earth's albedo. Our planet’s albedo is a measured by how much of the Sun’s energy is bounced.
Fresh snow has the highest reflectivity. If a snow covered area warms and the snow melts, the albedo decreases, more sunlight is absorbed, and the temperature tends to increase. The converse is true: if snow forms, a cooling cycle happens.
The average albedo on Earth is about 30%.
Thirty per cent reflection eh?
I am far too retrospective and if you added it all up I probably spend more than 30% of my time rehashing the past.
Every day a new OLD regret seems to resurface..
if only I had done this or done that.
Like the Earth I need to stop these THAWts!
Guilt..the gift that keeps on giving.
Did I learn from my mistakes?
Guilt..the gift that keeps on giving.
Did I learn from my mistakes?
Hmm..for the most part I would say yes but I still wish that I could apologize or make amends to all..most..OK atleast some of the people that I hurt...
even if they have long since forgotten or forgiven.
Keeping my albedo in check is a struggle for me.
For the most part I am attempting to overcome these nagging interruptions by simply avoiding making the same mistakes today or tomorrow..
and trying to teach my children how to avoid making BIG ones.
Nobody is perfect or even close and most of us..OK some of us...
Nobody is perfect or even close and most of us..OK some of us...
strive to be the best ME that we can be while inflicting the least amount of grief on others.
You know trying to be charming and NOT tedious!
When do you finally put down that load of bricks that you're carrying around?
So how do you keep your Albedo in check..
what is your percentage of reflectivity?
Are you focussed on the horizon
or do you reflect too often?
omg Donn u had me drooling at ur Shirtless pic! HOT HOTTT! :)
ReplyDeleteWut a marvellous image there depicting the many stages of The 'GREAT' Donn. Luv ya man HUGZ!
**When do you finally put down that load of bricks that you're carrying around?
good qn. I hv dumped it long time ago. I no longer carry a load on my mind. Im as a free as a bird soaring the skies!
*HUGZ*
Keshi.
I do both..........
ReplyDeleteOh and this is purely my own thougth but man you look sooooooooooooo good in those shades bro!
Send me a pair will ya?
me too, on the end of the line of adoring female fans. . .
ReplyDeleteerm, what was your questions? oh yeah
no
I mean, yes
erm. . . sometimes
but I'm working on it
blast - me too blown away by that chest! I'll go back and read it again without drooling over the keyboard, shall I?
oh, ok. . .
ReplyDeletethey are trying to get me to focus on a new horizon, cos I'm kinda snowballing in regret right now and it ain't doing me no good
thanks for the timely reminder!
Hmmm, I think.........I think living in the moment is what works for me.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if you find you dwell on something that you consider unfinished business, then you might give thought to dealing with it?
And if they have forgiven, maybe you are being really tough on yourself, and might work on forgiving yourself, it's pretty empowering and a great gift to everyone (especially yourself).
We can tend to ride ourselves the hardest.
Peace and love Donn.
Pam
'Scuse me, what did you say?
ReplyDelete*too busy right clicking and saving images*
Where did you buy that red bowtie?
ReplyDeleteClown World?
Third pic from the left...
ReplyDeleteYou've got a definite Partridge Family thing going on there.
I find I was very reflective on holiday last week/s.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I couldn't stop thinking about embarrassing things I'd done years ago and worrying that someone might tell or spread rumours.
Thank God I'm not a celebrity.
Kaz: Tell us about the embarrassing things you did years ago.
ReplyDeleteWe're listening.
Donn: Does that bow tie squirt water?
KESHIROO
ReplyDeleteHA! Well I certainly need to take a page from your book. I beat myself up for the stupidest things.
The photo (circa '77) that you liked is prolly me at my 'worst'..
when I was really stretching the boundaries of serial monogamy.
I know that I was young but UGH!
cue Cher..
"If I could turn back ti-hime!"
WHITESNAKE
That is funny because I never look cool! Just ask my kids. To their way of thinking, at my age I should be concentrating on NOT LOOKING LIKE A DORK!
I STILL LIKE THE VIEW
You're sweet to make a fuss, HA, but to be honest I have come to terms with having my 'best before date' expiring sometime back in the early 80s.
Well then if you are rehashing crap then we should trade some antidotes..I have tried Drink, Religion, Denial, and frankly the only thing that seems to work is to analyze WHY I did those things so that I discontinue my shame spiral.
SIENNA
Actually I have confronted many of my 'victims' and not one of them seemed to have blown it out of proportion like I did..so that should tell me something.
It's not like I am a totally self absorbed worry wort but my older kids are at that precarious stage in Life where all of a sudden consequences start accumulating..some subtley and others BANG!
I know that you have to let them make their own mistakes but I can't bear to see them get sideswiped by decisions that hopefully my example will dissuade them from repeating.
MJ
Oh boy..if you do some photoshopping please be gentle!
Clown World HAHAHA! If you noticed I am wearing a Bow Tie in 3 of those pictures HA what a Maroon!
That Big Red One is unf*ckingbelievable eh?
Gawd what was I thinking? I hope that I thought that it was funny at the time...and yes my ever so glum expression is perplexing since my green corduroy vest ensemble is so groovy! HA!
"discontinue my shame spiral". . .
ReplyDeleteI need to get me some of that lingo
sounds convincing
seriously, hey - you had a best before date - not all of us did!
thanks and hugs
KAZ
ReplyDeleteI wonder what brought that on..do you know? I could never be a celeb or run for politics and have my personal life published...especially since most of what the Tabs publish is pure bullsh*t! There may be an element of truth in some of it but if my Life was splashed all over the checkout line at the Supermarket I would become a destroyer of paparrazi, a messenger of destruction.
Actually just writing about this and having MJ make fun of my costumes has made me realise that it really doesn't add up to a hill of beans. Does it?
MJ
NO it didn't squirt water HAHAHA!
Gawd that's awful isn't it?
I STILL LIKE THE VIEW
Oh that's why I read Psychology Today because I can stay abreast of the lingo..my inner organizer needs to label all of these things and place them on lists in colour coded categorized files.
Yes I had a best before date...I always imagined that it was the time in your life before you started operating on a moral deficit from which it is nearly impossible to recover...
which for me was long ago in a galaxy far away.
A pair of these would complete your outfit.
ReplyDeleteAwesome picture collage.
ReplyDeleteFor years, I was in an awful circling pattern of repeating past mistakes in various ways then kicking myself for it.
Now, I have started focusing on the here, now and future and how I can do things differently and make things less shocking and traumatic by making teeeeny little changes here and there.
he, your photo collage is precious. i'm just stopping by to say that when i finally act and apologize, make the call, write the letter, say the prayer, or whatever, the amount of space that opens up inside me is so much larger than the balled up guilt or regret i was carrying around.
ReplyDeletefor what it's worth....
i hope you are well.
:)
I spend far too much time on the past - I'm trying not to - it's hard though isn't it, when you feel you've made a mess of things back then that impact on here and now and maybe tomorrow?
ReplyDeleteNice chest - yum!
MJ
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA OUCH!
Perfect.
CATSCRATCH DIVA
Bravo! An article in my PT states that we need to make small moves that lead to gratifying results and log positive things that happen to us every day.
"We need to envision the future that we desire and describe how it will evolve out of our present circumstances."
KJ
Thank You for the visit and the revelation. I appreciate it.
Lately I have taken numerous small steps in a few areas that have paid off in huge dividends...action...I am creating a precise map of where I want to go and how I will get there.
I need to get myself there on my own but I want to bring a bunch of people with me because there is no point in getting there if I can't share it.
ZIGGI
I am developing my passions..which requires discipline..but my goal is "to feel so absorbed in what I am doing that I lose myself"...
instead of rehashing old glories or worrying about past disasters I am trying to focus on the only thing that I can change..my attitude about ME.
If we can find a way to understand how to be a better ME along the way, then that is as good as it gets.
We all need to be needed and feel needed NOW.
and Ditto ;)
WOW! I agree with the readerships above, THE PIC! (6th from the left), yet the evolution is fine as well, haha!
ReplyDeleteI try to practice Carpe Diem, or as the Romans said, Memento Mori. Pick the day, try to be aware, focus on the present. And never forget that we might be on the peak today, but things may change tomorrow.
The past is past. What's done it's done and the lesson is learnt. Don't know if I'm doing well, but at least I try hard! ;)
PS.- Cool blue glasses too in your new profile pic, btw. :)
My reflectivity is probably on 5%. I don't reflect much or have many regrets. I have the opposite problem: I worry about what will be and what the future holds. If things will go the way I hope they will, if someone will get hurt, if I can do what I need to do...yada, yada, yada. I hate it.
ReplyDeleteDonn, by now, I have learned, via the "Have it SMACK me upside the head REPEATEDLY" method, that we as individuals make mistakes, sometimes while in the process of attempting to avoid making a mistake, and that we make mistakes as a matter of EXISTENCE. Sometimes our only saving grace is that we MEAN well, even if our intentions have no effect whatsoever on the sad outcome of our actions. Thus, having witnessed this over and over again no matter WHAT I do to try and avoid it, I have come to the unescapable truth that shit happens, period, roger-wilco-over-and-out. I wish there was a full=proof method of avoiding catch 22, 34, AND 69 but so far not even Einstien has figured it out (being MALE, of course). I envy women for NEVER having made mistakes worthy of retrospection like WE do, but hey, what are we to do?
ReplyDeleteI'll see you at our next angst-ridden blog. The brotherhood is all about sharing, doncha know?
I suppose if I say I'm more horizontal than reflective, I'll have my grammar corrected?
ReplyDeleteNo, really, what's done can't be undone.I've chosen to have Edith Piaf's "No Regrets" when they light my pyre.
Oh, and Donn, for gawd's sake DON'T wear those avatar shades with that red tie! Please?
I tried to read but I got stuck on the shirtless guy. What else can I say? Sigh*
ReplyDeletenope. gave that up along with the religion of my youth...the one that trained me how to second guess my every move and thought and pick myself into guilty pieces so well. now I raise sunflowers. sunflowers are definitely better than guilt.
ReplyDeleteso is beer. have some now.
When I find myself reflecting too often I go do something that I hope makes life better. But Donn, seriously, I can't imagine you have a hard time keeping your Albedo in check. Really... :)
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about the past a lot lately, and wondering how things might have turned out differently if I'd taken different actions... Not really regretting, much, but certainly wondering. I think we all do, probably more than we care to admit.
ReplyDeleteMy partial release from living in the past came at the hands of a very strange shrink I was seeing once. His comment: "You live in loss." Not regret, loss. The shame and regret was masking deeper attitudes (or feelings)about the earlier chapters in my life. Once I worked through those, I was more focused on what I could change, not what I couldn't "fix" without a time machine.
ReplyDeleteAs far as going forward is concerned, I have learned that it is at least often true that, "no good deed goes unpunished". There is a kind of balance. I accept this as better than the alternative.
Its hard to concentrate with all these swooning females.
ReplyDeleteAny bit of nekkid male flesh and they are all there licking the screen and knitting you cardigans
Beast: Perhaps if YOU had a gigantic red clown bow tie, we'd lick YOUR screen too.
ReplyDeleteyou meant libido didn't you?
ReplyDeleteand oh, you look really cute, all ages through.
oh well...i do em both. but thats jst me...with my most pessimistic views that this world wont survive. but alas, science will save the day...we just need more brains and less Bush.
ReplyDeleteLENI
ReplyDeleteWhen in Rome...
I am terrified of the idea that we might peak today because to my way of thinking that would mean thermo-nuclear annihilation of all known species on the planet...except for Keith Richards of course.
The idea that things may change tomorrow and getting past the past, is very appealing.
Point taken.
RANDOM CHICK
Yikes you'll drive yourself crazy. Why don't I throw a few timeless phrases your way;
If you fail to plan you plan to fail and my personal favorite if you're not 5 minutes early you're 10 minutes late!
So basically my solution is to show up early for whatever the hell is going to happen...
awesome plan eh?
THE MICHAEL
I had no idea that Men had gotten organised..have my dues been automatically deducted? If so, I would like to file a grievance RFN!
DINAHMOW
Kewl! Edith Pee-Offs 'Light My Pyre' is one of my favorites...
and I fully subscribe to the practice of being more horizontal than reflective.
No worries.
CES
It's wonderful to have you visiting and that 'guy' that you like could have gone a lot further in Life if he had made a few different decisions that weren't based on what other people expected or wanted him to do...
but he still managed to have a lot of fun!
FIRST NATIONS
Ah yes I spent well over a decade waiting for the coming of the second guessing.
I love seeing a field of Sunflowers facing the sun, are they the happiest flowers on earth or what? I can't drink Beer anymore it gives me a yeast infection but I have managed to find alternatives and I will have one now.
KINDNESS
ReplyDeleteAs always you are much too Kind..
I do have a struggle intercepting guilt ridden memories and it can be quite a tedious interruption when it occurs while I am busy making plans to do something stupid.
You prolly meant my other 'bido' which is totally out of control!
STACE
I admire your honesty and I believe that most people actually waste a lot of time 'shoulding' all over themselves.
You're at a pivotal moment in your life so I think that it is quite natural to be curious about how you got there.
I wouldn't worry because you have moxy and you can never have enough moxy and yes I like saying moxy.
BREAKERSLION
YES! Focus instead of fix! I had a shrink who said that I just had too many people to love?
(musical interlude)
I love the timeless truth about No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. That totally sums it up..
however in the long run you will be able to look yourself in the mirror if you do good and be able to recite the Stuart Smalley chant;
"I'm good enough,
I'm smart enough,
and doggonit,
people like me."
BEAST
Whatever works man, whatever works!
Now I am just sittin' back and waiting for the 'good stuff' *wink wink to start pourin' in...
Yessiree just checkin' my e-mail every half hour or so...
any minute now I can't wait to see what they'll show me..
yup any minute now...
(*whistles)
MJ
I have been a very naughty boy wearing that gigantic red clown bow tie naughty naughty naughty, and btw I have a 17" screen.
MISTIPURPLE
My Libido stays in my speedo..
HA just kidding I wouldn't wear a speedo. The last time that I wore one was in San Diego in '77 and the Dudes were already into those long baggy shorts. A beach bunny that was intrigued by my choice of swimwear actually asked me where I was from to which I replied,
"My h'englash eez not so goot but haz aneebodeez h'ever tollded yew dat yew 'av mƩsanges colossales parfaites!
*she giggled
GHOSTAY
Science may not save the day but it will clean up the mess. You never know..someday some killer mutant virus may cull the herd and miraculously leave only the charming survivors.
Could happen?
well...you never know. maybe if the virus is good enough to spot our karma. :D
ReplyDeleteGHOSTAY
ReplyDeleteI am counting on it brother!
50%? I am a pertty reflective person, but not in a regretful way. I don't really do regrest. And other times I'm just in the moment.
ReplyDelete