The responsibility for our lives is in our laps, right?
i was having a similar conversation with a co-worker the other day. he asked if i had seen the dancing dude on you tube. this is the guy who dances all over the world with all sorts of people. there is nothing spectacular about the man other than hes been plucked from obscurity by fans of his initial you tube video and now he has sponsors who pay him to travel all over the world and dance. so the coworker was telling me that this was the sort of direction that he thought everyone should take. not dancing specifically but going out and having all of these wonderful experiences. he was feeling burned out on his proximity to human misery i suspect.
he looked at the dancing guy as proof that anyone could do, well, anything. my take on it was that it was a fluke that most people struggled to get thru the week, keep a roof over their heads and food in their childrens bellies and that its the exception, she or he, who gets plucked from the crowd and who suddenly gets to live la vida loca. the rest of us get to watch and dream. the function of dancin man and brittany spears and the lovely ladies of the OC and all other random acts of bestowed destiny is to provide hope. i know, i know, i was in a cynical mood that day.
have you read malcolm gladwells new book, the outliers? i was thumbing thru it in the bookstore last week. from the parts read i gather that he attributes much of the potential to live as we would dream to where we are born, when we are born, and a lot of hard work. if i look back at those who were plucked in the past, well take those early lesbian singers for example, there are prolly a lot of women now and then who sing better or who were better muscians but they were at the right place in history to become herstory if that makes any sense.
so i dont know, the jury is out for me on this. self help, massive infusions of hope and help and work, single mindedness or just plain right place right time. im not sure that it matters. i think its the journey toward that crates happiness. my coworker is still annoyed with me for my response to his dancin man theory of human possibility. my take was that not everyone can or will be plucked from the crowd and that even if we were wed find that happiness was just as elusive then as it was before and that its perhaps more about being present and enjoying where you are right now and being open to where the journey might take you.
I think you nailed it with this one. The dancers require an audience. If everyone were to say, have the same dream, there would be no audience. Dance fool is an anamoly, a freak show, albeit, a moderately entertaining one. From what you wrote I don't think you were cynical that day. Sounds like your co-worker was having one of those "remind me why I'm doing this again" moments. I'll never get in the way of anyones existential dance moment but I probably won't be in their audience either.
The responsibility for our lives is in our laps, right?
so i dont know, the jury is out for me on this. self help, massive infusions of hope and help and work, single mindedness or just plain right place right time. im not sure that it matters. i think its the journey toward that crates happiness. my coworker is still annoyed with me for my response to his dancin man theory of human possibility. my take was that not everyone can or will be plucked from the crowd and that even if we were wed find that happiness was just as elusive then as it was before and that its perhaps more about being present and enjoying where you are right now and being open to where the journey might take you.
I never went for the whole self-help things either. I just found it interesting over the past year or two how all these books spanning all this time seem to keep saying the same thing.
Of course, the Bible references are argumentative, at best. That Book has been analyzed, interpreted, and paraphrased more than any other. Even as a kid, I felt the book was a general guideline and not to be taken literally. Many, however, disagree.
Your last sentence seems to bring it all home. First, be open to the journey. Easier said than done for many people. I believe this is the key to successful ventures, adventures, relationships, etc. The second is enjoying where you are. If you are content in your life, and happy in the now, you have already achieved success.
The responsibility for our lives is in our laps, right?
i was having a similar conversation with a co-worker the other day. he asked if i had seen the dancing dude on you tube. this is the guy who dances all over the world with all sorts of people. there is nothing spectacular about the man other than hes been plucked from obscurity by fans of his initial you tube video and now he has sponsors who pay him to travel all over the world and dance. so the coworker was telling me that this was the sort of direction that he thought everyone should take. not dancing specifically but going out and having all of these wonderful experiences. he was feeling burned out on his proximity to human misery i suspect.
he looked at the dancing guy as proof that anyone could do, well, anything. my take on it was that it was a fluke that most people struggled to get thru the week, keep a roof over their heads and food in their childrens bellies and that its the exception, she or he, who gets plucked from the crowd and who suddenly gets to live la vida loca. the rest of us get to watch and dream. the function of dancin man and brittany spears and the lovely ladies of the OC and all other random acts of bestowed destiny is to provide hope. i know, i know, i was in a cynical mood that day.
have you read malcolm gladwells new book, the outliers? i was thumbing thru it in the bookstore last week. from the parts read i gather that he attributes much of the potential to live as we would dream to where we are born, when we are born, and a lot of hard work. if i look back at those who were plucked in the past, well take those early lesbian singers for example, there are prolly a lot of women now and then who sing better or who were better muscians but they were at the right place in history to become herstory if that makes any sense.
so i dont know, the jury is out for me on this. self help, massive infusions of hope and help and work, single mindedness or just plain right place right time. im not sure that it matters. i think its the journey toward that crates happiness. my coworker is still annoyed with me for my response to his dancin man theory of human possibility. my take was that not everyone can or will be plucked from the crowd and that even if we were wed find that happiness was just as elusive then as it was before and that its perhaps more about being present and enjoying where you are right now and being open to where the journey might take you.
Meg! i used to love her. did she really become a nun? i lost a lot of those old songs when i had that car accident a few years ago. most of my old cds were in the car and were destroyed and unfortunately a lot of those oldies but goodies are rare and no longer available. i loved ode to a gym teacher and her version of that sue fink song leaping lesbians with cris williamson i think? now im gonna be up for an hour searching you tube!
The Secret, The Power of Positive Thinking, Think and Grow Rich, The Game of Life and How to Play it, The Bible, etc., etc., etc. ____________________________________________________
i am not really one to put much into "self-help" books...strictly my own opinion here when i say that i feel the problem with self help books is that the people who read them and use them will be using their brains in trying to sort out what they are conflicted about....and if they are already conflicted or feeling outta sorts or confused, a book read alone might not be very effective...perhaps, in conjuction with a therapist of some sort, one would be more successful. altho, there are many people that do swear by self help books...i guess its just whatever gets you thru.... __________________________________________
Listen to your inner voice, your gut instinct, feel it, know it, receive it.
for me, i am a firm believer in "trust your gut." i have always found my gut to be so accurate...this came home to me again this past march/april when my gut was telling what my head was absolutely refusing to believe...because i had no "PROOF" my brain said..nor any "reason" to assume what my gut was sensing had any basis in fact....and finally over the summer, i got some proof that my gut was right all along and just last month, all the rest of the info with more details...no denying written words straight from the people involved....therefore, i always say: trust your gut. ___________________________________________
As a Christian, I was brought up to pray. The problem is that no one ever taught me HOW to pray. I just never got it. I can remember as a kid in church or CCD and being told to kneel and pray. I never knew what I was supposed to say. So, I just kind of knelt there with my eyes closed hoping that something would come to mind. Paganism always just made more sense to me.
being brought up catholic...i know exactly what you mean...kneel pray by reciting memorized words. i never "got" it either...as an adult, in non-catholic christianity, i learned if you wanted to pray, all you needed to do was speak to god as if you were talking to a friend....and when the words escaped you...all you needed to do was "sit" in his presence...made way more sense to me.
The Secret, The Power of Positive Thinking, Think and Grow Rich, The Game of Life and How to Play it, The Bible, etc., etc., etc.
The list of these books is almost endless. While on vacation recently, I re-read the book The Game of Life and How to Play by Florence Shinn. I was surprised to find that this book was written back in 1925. She quotes the Bible and many other books dating back hundreds of years, all pointing to the same thing. It's also interesting to note, that The Bible passages are often metaphors suggesting that you already possess what you're looking for. Listen to your inner voice, your gut instinct, feel it, know it, receive it.
All of these books spanning centuries can't all be wrong. I also wonder why I keep stumbling over these texts. For instance, this morning, I watched a youtube video from an acquaintance about living a stress-free life. The related videos were the subject of this thread, so I watched one. Lo and behold, it was about quantum mechanics and the laws of attraction.
Spiritually, isn't magick just another form of manifestation? You cast your Circle, call the Quarters, Invoke the Spirits, ask, offer, and release. There is really no magic to magick.
As a Christian, I was brought up to pray. The problem is that no one ever taught me HOW to pray. I just never got it. I can remember as a kid in church or CCD and being told to kneel and pray. I never knew what I was supposed to say. So, I just kind of knelt there with my eyes closed hoping that something would come to mind. Paganism always just made more sense to me.
Over the past year, I have started working on visualization and listening with my inner ear. One of my goals in 2009 is to build on this some more. The responsibility for our lives is in our laps, right?
The Secret, The Power of Positive Thinking, Think and Grow Rich, The Game of Life and How to Play it, The Bible, etc., etc., etc.
The list of these books is almost endless. While on vacation recently, I re-read the book The Game of Life and How to Play by Florence Shinn. I was surprised to find that this book was written back in 1925. She quotes the Bible and many other books dating back hundreds of years, all pointing to the same thing. It's also interesting to note, that The Bible passages are often metaphors suggesting that you already possess what you're looking for. Listen to your inner voice, your gut instinct, feel it, know it, receive it.
All of these books spanning centuries can't all be wrong. I also wonder why I keep stumbling over these texts. For instance, this morning, I watched a youtube video from an acquaintance about living a stress-free life. The related videos were the subject of this thread, so I watched one. Lo and behold, it was about quantum mechanics and the laws of attraction.
Spiritually, isn't magick just another form of manifestation? You cast your Circle, call the Quarters, Invoke the Spirits, ask, offer, and release. There is really no magic to magick.
As a Christian, I was brought up to pray. The problem is that no one ever taught me HOW to pray. I just never got it. I can remember as a kid in church or CCD and being told to kneel and pray. I never knew what I was supposed to say. So, I just kind of knelt there with my eyes closed hoping that something would come to mind. Paganism always just made more sense to me.
Over the past year, I have started working on visualization and listening with my inner ear. One of my goals in 2009 is to build on this some more. The responsibility for our lives is in our laps, right?
From ... sheesh ... over 25 years ago: 