Humans love to see the patterns in things. This habit can nurture an aesthetic sensibility and inspire much creativity on the one hand, and it can lead to all manner of misunderstandings and fallacies on the other. Which of us hasn’t at least pondered on the ‘meaning’ of a series of pure coincidences, or passingly ‘seen’ a pattern of events that ‘proves’ a conspiracy theory is not a conspiracy theory.
Given the negative propensities of patterning, and the power these may exert on the human mind, it might be as well to take note that this is currently being practised upon us by much of what is reported by the mass media, and the manner in which important issues are presented to us.
There is, to my mind, a constant drip-feeding in relation to particular topics (to name a few: Middle East, Russia, nuclear weapons, climate change, Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, Brexit); a seemingly endless repeating pattern of half-truths, proclamations of absolute guilt without evidence, scape-goating, focusing continuously on the irrelevant, divisive reporting, unproven circumstances presented as fact, and, in the name of that weasel word ‘balance’, equal weight given to the opinions of people who know what they are talking about, and the notions of those who do not believe in evidence/have their own minority axe to grind/are (verging on the) delusional. And the whole lot mashed up into an ‘entertaining’ package of easily digested sound and picture bites, whose patterning then is constantly rehashed/given oxygen by mass spoutings on social media.
It is all very disturbing, and when I think about it, I feel like a pawn in someone else’s nasty game, and that makes me angry. And so I distract myself with things in my little world, though I must say I did have Mark Rothko’s Dark Brown, Grey and Orange vaguely in mind when I took that second photo of the rape seed field beneath a stormy sky – his drive to express the human condition; to move beyond apparent abstraction – while I was visualizing an abstraction of the actual, but also brooding somewhat on the human condition.
But now for some lightish relief from gloomy ruminations: more earth patterns from around Much Wenlock, including some of the abnormally early, done-and-dusted grain harvest. Another kind of pattern?
Lens Artists This week Ann-Christine asks for patterns.
Tish Farrell 
I really like that one the best. That one. The one up there. Gracias, Tish
Cheers, Thom.
I was feeling quite upbeat today, until I read your post with the ruminations on the a manipulative media….aaaargh! Not on a Sunday, please…I like to get off the world one day per week……
Sorry. I shouldn’t have looked at the newspaper.
Oh dear….
Well said. This little Pawn is standing in his square and is not taking it any more. I’m moving diagonally and as far as I want.
Hi Brian. I like your thinking. Diagonal moves it is then 🙂
Bravo, little Pawn! 🙂
🙂
Tish, I am glad you found some comfort to see real patterns in what mother nature has to offer to the aesthetic mind. I share your concern about the negative impact the mass media exert on us. Have a wonderful Sunday and best wishes! Peter
Thanks for your thoughts, Peter.
Then we use the same kind of comfort, more or less directly from Mother Earth…I stay as long as I can in my own little world. I get angry, devastated, lose hope and – find comfort and distraction here…and that includes the blogging world as well. Thank you for a piece of excellent distraction.
Thank you for your very gracious response.
I find comfort from the blogging community too. Not to mention the lovely photographs that get posted. Sigh…
Yes, sigh…
Great pictures, Tish
Thank you.
I love that second one and the clouds one too. You haven’t depressed me. Living with himself I’ve got used to tuning out the media. Even today after a lovely time at Alnwick Castle and water gardens -in the rain -on goes the news when we get back. Hence here I am on WP. Hugs darlin xx
Hugs back – you lovely mood-raising person, you.
Happy Monday, Tish! 🙂 🙂
Love the wheat Tish, and agree wholeheartedly (as do most reasonable minds) with your “entertainment “ comments
Many thanks for those thoughts, Tina.
Once you ”tune out” as far as so called news is concerned then one’s reality begins to develop a different pattern.
When I was hairdressing in the city Talk Radio became all the rage and everyone was tuning in. There were times it was dreadful and appointments were taking up to twice as long as everyone wanted to listen to the nonsense from callers and DJs
Tempers were getting frayed, moods were sometimes foul.
People were even getting back to their work late!
It became ridiculous.
We eventually twigged why the previously buoyant mood in the salon had begun to go south and chucked out the radio and got a cd/tape player.
I almost never follow news these days and a while back John Z – who lives in Sao Paulo – was telling me news items from South Africa. How’s that for hilarious!
Your photos are lovely, by the way.
You make lots of sensible and serious points, Ark. I do try to ignore much of it, but every time I tune back in, the same pattern re-emerges. We of the ‘free world’ who like to call ourselves the ‘good people’ are up to no good. We always were of course – now it’s for very high stakes and with very many casualties.
Was it ever thus? And yet, the world still turns.
Make love not war … and if that’s not on the cards, make a nice roast, a decent glass of red, nice apple pie and ice cream and watch a funny movie.
😉
Sending you a big hug 🙂
Lovely shots Tish, and I read you post nodding my head in agreement. The Big T and I largely stopped engaging wth “the news”last year and like you I find comfort, and a sense of hope, in the natural world.
Thanks for those thoughtful words, Su. It’s good to be amongst the like-minded, if only virtually.
Thanks Tish. I am also grateful for this virtual community 😀
You’re not wrong Tish. I’m starting to not even listen to the news any more. All we get are the same old worn-out phrases, headlines, no substance, no real facts. Blah, blah, blah…
So, tuning away from that. We have done it again. I have just this very evening created a Rothko – from a wheat field, sea and sky!!
And I love your other fieldy patterns 🙂
Well, Jude, this is a very happy and much more productive wavelength that we seem to be tuning into. Simon Schama did the most brilliant prog on Rothko as part of his Power of Art series. There’s a grainy version on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/92417721
I’m beginning to wonder what next!
Love the long hair and John Lennon glasses! I am going to watch this later as I need to get some housework done! Dust bunnies are having a party!
They’re over our place too. Little rascals!
I agree with your thoughts about the world news. We are so often fed a diet of fear, misinformation and allegation. It works to keep up submissive. What amazes me more and more about life is that the majority far outnumbers the ruling minority but we are forever bowing to the opinions and demands of that minority.
I love the contrast of your profound thoughts with your lovely photos. The second one of the open wheat field really made me let out a sigh of relief. I find the greatest solace in nature.
I agree with all your points, Suzanne, and I’m so pleased you enjoyed the photos.
One particularly disturbing, and hopefully minority trend in the UK, US and Europe is an apparent growing interest of some younger people in ultra right wing (including neo-Nazi leaning) dogma. It makes you wonder in what ways they have been so failed to find these particular views attractive. Or if, as ever, a general disaffection (or simply needing a cause that they think empowers them) is being preyed on by a small number of manipulators with own agendas.
That’s true. It’s very scary. I just keep meditating on light and praying for peace. 🙂
This is what I call “a mess.” An international mess.
Absolutely it is!
I neglected to mention how much I love the pictures, especially the storm over the field. It’s really hard to catch a storm sky that well.
Thank you for that, Marilyn 🙂
A heavy and introspective post this week Tish. All the fear mongering and news dished up as entertainment. Killings, war, car accidents then throw in Mother Nature’s earthquakes, floods, fires, droughts the list is endless. But sadly I don’t think, individually, we can do much about it. So my motto is “try not to let the outside effect the inside” and I look at your beautiful photos of the world around you and rejoice in the beauty of nature.
I applaud your positive stance and viewpoint, Pauline. And of course that’s what so many of us bloggers do – celebrate the beauty of the world, and the good and creative things that ordinary people are doing. Whether or not there is something we as individuals can do about our governments’ malpractices apart from exercising our votes, is something I wrestle with.
The positivity is something I love about blogging. Excercising our votes every 3 years is really our only option , but then is the other side going to be any better…
I love your reflections, Tish; when balanced with direct observation of nature, much of the ‘noise’ seems silly. It is such a difficult balance to not get sucked into negativity and divisiveness, but to have integrity and challenge what you feel is wrong. As complex as those patterns in corn.
That is very kind and heartening observation, Ali. Thank you very much 🙂
I prefer your beautiful patterns here to those that are designed to twist and manipulate. I too love your reflections. Keep them coming.
Many thanks Lisa for your encouragement and kind thoughts.
Stunning patterns, Tish, created by both man and nature. I still keep an eye on the media, though it often makes my eye weep, and my heart despair. I found this quote on Wiki, attributed to Oscar Wilde, taken from The Soul of Man, 1891, “In old days men had the rack. Now they have the Press. That is an improvement certainly. But still it is very bad, and wrong, and demoralizing. Somebody — was it Burke? — called journalism the fourth estate. That was true at the time no doubt. But at the present moment it is the only estate. It has eaten up the other three. The Lords Temporal say nothing, the Lords Spiritual have nothing to say, and the House of Commons has nothing to say and says it. We are dominated by Journalism.” The problem, as I see it, today, is not so much that the 4th Estate has eaten the other 3 but that the 4th is fodder for rich businessmen.
You have summed the situation up so well, Ann. not to depress you further but my
eye just caught WP blog Off Guardian and an article that sums up the kind of mind bending that is being tried – in particular Jeremy Corbyn being called a racist and anti-semitic because he objects to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians – even the meaning of words is being twisted:
Hmmmm……. not pretty. The other day I was listening to ??? (can no longer remember)and was struck by the speaker’s suggestion that leaders/people have lost the ‘third way’. We are being polarized by subtle forces; we must be either for or against. 😦 😦
The insanity of the ever-increasing spiral .. we can only hope they disappear up their own you-know-what’s’ sooner rather than later.
That would be good, but for now they are suiting someone’s purpose!
Gorgeous photos and yes, a sad state.
Hi Tish, love the narrative and Rothko reference, and photos of course. Greetings from Austrian Alps and nice to share the time zone with you again, more or less! Bill
The Austrian Alps! I’ve been losing track, so good have a notion of where you are. And to share a time zone!
The press/internet ‘news’ is horrendous and we are indeed pawns in an international game.
Hm. It’s hard not to be despondent about it all.
Very pretty patterns and soothing to the eye
Thank you.
Beautiful patterns and fabulous words to off set your scary but spot on analysis.
Many thanks, Becky. It’s good to know that one’s not imagining things. On the other hand, it would be good if was all one’s imagination.
I agree wish it was our imagination 🤔
A very sound post saying it as it is. I too switched off from the news, no tv, no newsfeed on my Google either. Because it’s all negative and dramatic the way ‘news’ is presented. I love your photos Tish, and your thinking.
Thank you, Agnes, for all those cheering remarks. Much appreciated 🙂
Amazing pictures
Thank you.
😃