listening

This is master's level now and as much as we would like to think that we can write in certain ways, live in certain ways, and operate on a daily basis in certain ways; and expect the same results as those who did the same sort of things years ago to obtain their goals, we cannot. This is a kind of Dillingham Flaw; a name coined by a social scientist years ago which defines the comparison from one time and place to another as a useless endeavor.
Things can never be the way they were. This idea is imaginable but never possible. The thing is we get older and become less and less needed. We get shoved out and moved aside. This is a normal process that is sometimes difficult for people to understand or accept.
Our time is short here and we need to make it memorable. That means we must make mistakes; we must laugh; we must cry, and we must by all means have the common decency to at least listen to opposing views that challenge and engage our belief systems. This is master's level now and the boys on the block are looking at you.