The Art Of Growing Up

Uninterrupted Growing Up is a big deal for our minds as we grow,
but it is also very difficult to everyone around us.

For one the world is poor,
everyone is tired and stressed out.

And when one person is moved by Museums,
another may get really bored by going there every week.

Being a parent is tough,
Maria Dmitrievna Mendeleeva comes to mind.

I love how she used to say that children should appreciate: the gift of words on paper,
she knew, she learned from books on her own, so she knew about inheriting knowledge from great beings.

Dimitri got in to the school,
the same year she passed away from tuberculosis.

Let me just add that Dimitri had bad grades in the Classics, Latin and German,
but he did well in mathematics, physics and the sciences.

Abstract thinking,
figures.

But no one, no matter how little,
can ask for what Maria did.

Even when we are little,
we have to stand up for growing up, largely on our own, we have to make big plans.

It is when we are little that we can really easily narrow down our interests,
I was curious about the stars, I remember writing a short thing about the Kosmos.

And I had a book that, ^might have been dated a bit^ because it said that Mars had seasonal changes of color,
that the color shifted towards brown during Autumn, because of falling leaves.

I didn't buy it, but before I was going to return to that subject,
I needed to read about all the other things.

I found it very interesting that Grafting Apple trees was common practice,
I immediately developed an interest in Combinatorial Geneomics.

Venter packing codes into chromosome sequences,
and that darn article entitled DNA seen through the eyes of a coder could not be more fascinating.

When I returned to Mars,
I got snagged on Mokele-mbembe and of course X-Files.

But even though this is a fairy tale, that was born of per-historic dinosaur bones, much like myths of dragons,
there are still great adventures to be had in that area of the world.

Bringing together solar, communication, single board computers,
cameras, virtual classrooms, solar mp3 players...

Can make for a really interesting classroom,
especially when smart Raspberry PI Zero based
Video Software that can operate a Night Vision Camera is very inexpensive.

And can make beautiful videos that can help us watch Africa,
in a new light.

It is difficult to talk about something as deeply personal as the Continuity of Growing Up,
for one it seems like it is not something that is granted to all.

But like Maria teachers us,
it is something we must each fight for.

We have to make our way towards books that inspire us,
even if all we can do is to spend a life time to build the first book lending network in our part of Congo, or Amazon, or Outback, or Siberia.

When knowledge is taken away from us,
we have to take it back.

I also had an interest in Archaeology,
my parents took me to see Castles and Museums.

In context of archaeology, I was ravenous, and rabid,
I had no reservations when it came to fake education, so as long as I was learning for real.

Memorizing dates, overwork, unpaid-internships
and digs in dangerous places on the brink of military coups, was my middle name.

If I was allowed to roam free, they would have pulled me into Oxford,
to give me an education so that I could learn to follow at least some of the rules.

Oxford Archaeology by the way, is one of the largest and oldest archaeology practices in Europe,
it is a stone throw away from where I used to live, and had I been allowed to grow up, I would have become a brilliant thorn in their side.

I grew up by Ślęża,
so I would have dug for the Tribes that worshiped Mother Bear, that Worshiped The Sun

I would have gathered all my Artio statues on Midsummer Night for all to see,
as an old man I would have inspired hundreds to Archaeology, to books, to the gift of words on paper, as Maria would say.

Today is June 25th,
what better day to celebrate Midsummer Day, than a Friday.

And this is my celebration,
to mention Artio, and the Queen of the Fae and show the world that Myths are amazing teachers.

After all, what can teach the Kingly Virtues, better,
than the Arthurian legend.

Similarly, The discovery of a passage in a science book,
that mentions there being trees on Mars, is a call to great adventure like few other.

This is not just an interplanetary adventure,
it is an interstellar adventure.

One, that has a real beginning with Percival Lowell,
and his observatory.

And beautiful Speculative and Impecable Poetry and Hard Science of cosmos,
and our place in it.

Inspired by Frank Drake, driven by the wonderful Jill Tarter
and lovable and funny Seth Shostak the SETI Institute.

Jill Tarter inspired the character of Ellie played by Jodie Foster in Carl Sagan's Cosmos,
Ms. Tarter reminds us that if we are alone then it is an awful waste of space.

There are neither Trees nor canals on Mars,
but these ideas were only meant to be questions, that would be matched by answers provided by proper science.

What was a stepping stone for Percival Lowell,
became a launch pad for people like Carl Sagan.

Sagan was very fond on Martian Adventures,
he says he would spread his arms at night and wish to be transported to Mars like John Carter.

Fantasy and odyssey, and even X-Files and Mokele-mbembe continue inspiring countless generations,
not just to more fiction but also to science.

ANd to daring Greatly, in new fields like Combinatorial Genomics,
where we are just getting started with ideas like synthetic life and the creation of new species

Continuity, can take us to the infinite future,
or can help us understand our ancient past.

It matters not if it starts with dreams of canals or fighting aliens on Mars,
or capturing a photo of Mokele-mbembe, all dreams are equally good.

But it does matter that the continuity of our dreams of adventure is unbroken,
so that each step lies on top of the previous step, and that we grow.

Do not let anybody push you away from your dreams,
not your brothers or sister, not mom not dad, not preachers, nor teachers; your dreams, are yours.

If there is a force that is pushing you already, and seems impenetrable,
then you are in luck, because the Universes has chosen for you, to become a Great Warrior and Leader, and a force of change.

Fantastic stories are not just for entertainment,
if you are young then let John Carter teach you strategy.

The continuity of your growing up can only be broken if you don't realize how precious it is,
the path of great adventures, intergalactic fantasies, and inspirational curiosities that lies before you, is your to travel.

It is your responsibility to build your mind step by uninterrupted step,
to make each day better than the previous, and to make yourself strong enough to stand up to the meanest and biggest creatures of the best of the fantasy books.

When people come to tell you that you can't dream of Mars, or Stars, or Past or Future, Science, Technology, and or Philosophy,
just tell them, that what they say is pretty good...

But it is not good enough for you, because your aim is Greatness,
growing all the way up.

And to become a Great Being you have much to learn,
and that you will learn it your own way, at your own pace, and in a sequence that fits you best.

Don't let anybody trick you into thinking that you are not good enough,
because the world needs you.

The world must advance,
it cannot stand still.

The World,
Must Grow.