Another resurrected draft, this one from Nov 11 2005.
To appreciate is to increase in value, opposite of depreciate. You don’t tend to think of it in this sense when it appears in phrase like “appreciating art”. But it still applies. The more people appreciate a painting, the greater its value, both monetary and in human terms.
By learning even a little of a skill, e.g. photography or drumming, you are better able to imagine the work that went into a work, e.g. a picture or a performance. The value of those things has increased for you. Because you appreciate them. Not only that, but the aggregate value of the world goes up, since you have added value to the things you are appreciating, without having to extort that from somewhere else!
So everybody wins! Go and spend 30 minutes this evening googling how to write a song, make a website, plot a movie, lay a path, choose a carpet… anything really, and you will enrich not only your life but, in a small way, life on earth itself!
TAD: I’ve done a great deal of shedding, which is justifiable since some of the junk room junk will make its home there, but partially it is displacement activity because I need to address the bathroom extractor ducting before I can finish erecting the shelves in the loft. Today I take another Cinq-ful of crap to the tip. (Including a previous owner’s bathroom cabinet w/ electric toothbrush and all)