I am a sociologist and writer from Ireland. I have worked as a social researcher for 30 years and have had a lifelong passion for writing.
My main research interests relate to health care and sense of place.
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24 thoughts on “Gentleness”
Against the dark night ..A silhouette stands alone…lighting up the sky…
A beautiful sight for sure…
Beautiful Jean. It reminds me of modern nuclear submarine hunting.Ha! In that light, the horse is perfect negative space – it is the absence of “not-horse” that defines the horse. This is a very powerful concept used in many cutting edge science and tech applications. For instance when a human ingests heavy metal accidentally it can be poisonous because the human body has no means of excreting heavy metals like cadmium or arsenic, etc. So, doctors use what are called chelating agents to remove the poison. These are agents that can be excreted when ingested but that also have an affinity for the heavy metals because they have a space in their structures that matches the shape of the poison – negative space.So they surround the poison and then are removed with their metal load from the body. It is that negative space that makes chelating agents so effective.
Also there are crystal structures that have negative space that can be filled to produce a completely different material with very different chemical properties. Some are actually superconductors at high temperatures ( superconducting properties generally only appear below -200 C but these ceramics have such properties somewhere between -70 and -140 C – meaning they can be cooled using liquid nitrogen – a common and easy product to get).
To get back to my original statement, new nuclear submarines are so quiet that they cannot be detected with normal sound registering equipment. However,they have a flaw. That flaw is that there is a normal background noise from the small critters that live in seawater and where there is a submarine there is no background noise. So the way to hunt these high tech modern submarines is to look for the sound hole in the water shaped like a submarine and therein lies your super quiet sub. ha!
Negative space = an amazing concept from pictures of horses to submarines to treatment for metal poisoning. Great Pictures and post Jean. Thank you.
P.S. Many biological processes work because there are spaces at the cellular level that match to the attaching molecule or cell. another negative space application. 😀
Hi Paul, I was introduced to the concept of ‘negative space’ in terms of art a few years ago so really appreciate that you’ve expanded on this for me. A fascinating topic.
It is brilliant Jean. In fact i would say that I have faith in God because of negative space = that is to say so many natural systems and such work only with the presence of an apparently “missing factor”. It is this hole in reality that screams God. Great post – so few work with negative space because it requires special light or thought.
SOCIAL BRIDGE ~ Jean Tubridy connecting with you from Ireland 
Against the dark night ..A silhouette stands alone…lighting up the sky…
A beautiful sight for sure…
Another lovely haiku, Joni. Thanks!
Horses are so eloquent with their own unique beauty and personality! 🙂
Totally agree, Tom. Must admit to being a little obsessed with them.
Beautiful Jean. It reminds me of modern nuclear submarine hunting.Ha! In that light, the horse is perfect negative space – it is the absence of “not-horse” that defines the horse. This is a very powerful concept used in many cutting edge science and tech applications. For instance when a human ingests heavy metal accidentally it can be poisonous because the human body has no means of excreting heavy metals like cadmium or arsenic, etc. So, doctors use what are called chelating agents to remove the poison. These are agents that can be excreted when ingested but that also have an affinity for the heavy metals because they have a space in their structures that matches the shape of the poison – negative space.So they surround the poison and then are removed with their metal load from the body. It is that negative space that makes chelating agents so effective.
Also there are crystal structures that have negative space that can be filled to produce a completely different material with very different chemical properties. Some are actually superconductors at high temperatures ( superconducting properties generally only appear below -200 C but these ceramics have such properties somewhere between -70 and -140 C – meaning they can be cooled using liquid nitrogen – a common and easy product to get).
To get back to my original statement, new nuclear submarines are so quiet that they cannot be detected with normal sound registering equipment. However,they have a flaw. That flaw is that there is a normal background noise from the small critters that live in seawater and where there is a submarine there is no background noise. So the way to hunt these high tech modern submarines is to look for the sound hole in the water shaped like a submarine and therein lies your super quiet sub. ha!
Negative space = an amazing concept from pictures of horses to submarines to treatment for metal poisoning. Great Pictures and post Jean. Thank you.
P.S. Many biological processes work because there are spaces at the cellular level that match to the attaching molecule or cell. another negative space application. 😀
Hi Paul, I was introduced to the concept of ‘negative space’ in terms of art a few years ago so really appreciate that you’ve expanded on this for me. A fascinating topic.
It is brilliant Jean. In fact i would say that I have faith in God because of negative space = that is to say so many natural systems and such work only with the presence of an apparently “missing factor”. It is this hole in reality that screams God. Great post – so few work with negative space because it requires special light or thought.
That’s an interesting perspective on reasons for having faith, Paul I may be converted yet!!
Beautiful Haiku
Thanks Willow. Glad you like it. x
Yes, it is. I can feel the gentleness all the way here, across the ocean. Thanks. xo
You’re more than welcome, Pam. So glad it reached you!
Love this Jean!!!
Ah thanks. Hope you’re keeping well.
Very well Jean thanks. It’s summer. I’m in heaven most of the summer, lol.
That’s great. Summertime can throw a different light on a lot of things in many senses.
I love the silhouetted whiskery chin
Hi Sandy, it appealed greatly to me too!
Beautiful silhouette, a heart softening picture.
Love the idea of a heart-softening picture, Inese.
As an aside Jean I just did a guest post over at Mark Bialczak’s and I would be honored if you had the time to drop by. Thank You. https://markbialczak.com/2016/06/19/janices-bicyle/comment-page-1/#comment-80839
Thanks Paul, will be over to have a read.
Beautiful words and image Jean.
Many thanks, Agnes.