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The life perspective
12 years ago
This is an excerpt from a message I wrote to a friend. We've been having various dialogues about our place in life and how well off (or not) we have been. After watching a Simpson's writers reunion video on youtube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtJ28qOEG1g ) I had been reminded of something I saw in a book many years ago and seem to forget from time to time; a secret to life, some might say. I figured I'd leave the message here since it can be very helpful to know this when perusing your own path in life.
....also, something that struck me in this was a remark that (paraphrased) "working on the show felt like pulling a big ore to propel a boat forward." This emphasizing a feeling of a lot of effort being put into something tremendous. I see a message in this about how we go about our lives.
We put a lot of effort into grooming ourselves to live the best life, thinking that there's always more we need to do. That somehow we've failed to meet some unknowable expectation of what we want or what others want and this is truly the case. One does not go through life, today, without having to pull their own weight in some way. We still must feed ourselves and take care of our own wants and needs, but pulling the ore that propels the boat is often the subtle distracting element/phase that keeps you from seeing what's in the boat with you and where the boat is. Just as the writer of The Simpsons (I think Conan) thought that working for the show was simply working and not playing. He also emphasized that he was pulling the ore while laughing and crying from laughter.
There are always people with you on your boat but it's how you perceive them that changes the work of life into play. You and me (and likely others) get hounded and annoyed by the stressful and annoying things brought about by people in the furry fandom (and other aspects of life) and we simply brush those people off as having been stupid or mean spirited. While some simply are mean, plenty of those other people who do things that irritate us (like make mention of a rumor or stop talking) simply aren't aware of the impact of their actions. Their thoughts are on other things or think more casually of the subject of that particular action. They cannot be held to fault for not knowing and in many ways, having less of a thought is more pure than having a thought. Such is one of the purposes of meditation (as you already know).
By them not knowing and us thinking they know, we are perpetuating a cycle of harmful inner-thoughts that reflects to and of our ego; thus, changing our perception of the people in our boat from friends into conspiring entities. This is part of what it means to create our own reality and it is happening like this to nearly everyone (including myself). But if we take some time to meditate on some of these things that take our emotions and twist them around, trying to not only understand them from a different perspective, but come to peace with them (through understanding) then we can let go of whatever guilt, sorrow, paranoia, or any other form our internal anguish has taken hold of our lives and acquire the purity of innocence that allows us to see that the crew of the ship is not a bunch of dirty, knife wielding, thugs on an oil tanker waiting for you to drop your guard, but just a bunch of random people trying to enjoy their vacation on a cruise liner, interspersed with friendly and helpful shipmates.
Try meditating deeply on some of your feelings and see where it leads you. This is the first step and core principal of facing your inner shadow. When done to completion it can really change your perspective and improve your quality of life.
....also, something that struck me in this was a remark that (paraphrased) "working on the show felt like pulling a big ore to propel a boat forward." This emphasizing a feeling of a lot of effort being put into something tremendous. I see a message in this about how we go about our lives.
We put a lot of effort into grooming ourselves to live the best life, thinking that there's always more we need to do. That somehow we've failed to meet some unknowable expectation of what we want or what others want and this is truly the case. One does not go through life, today, without having to pull their own weight in some way. We still must feed ourselves and take care of our own wants and needs, but pulling the ore that propels the boat is often the subtle distracting element/phase that keeps you from seeing what's in the boat with you and where the boat is. Just as the writer of The Simpsons (I think Conan) thought that working for the show was simply working and not playing. He also emphasized that he was pulling the ore while laughing and crying from laughter.
There are always people with you on your boat but it's how you perceive them that changes the work of life into play. You and me (and likely others) get hounded and annoyed by the stressful and annoying things brought about by people in the furry fandom (and other aspects of life) and we simply brush those people off as having been stupid or mean spirited. While some simply are mean, plenty of those other people who do things that irritate us (like make mention of a rumor or stop talking) simply aren't aware of the impact of their actions. Their thoughts are on other things or think more casually of the subject of that particular action. They cannot be held to fault for not knowing and in many ways, having less of a thought is more pure than having a thought. Such is one of the purposes of meditation (as you already know).
By them not knowing and us thinking they know, we are perpetuating a cycle of harmful inner-thoughts that reflects to and of our ego; thus, changing our perception of the people in our boat from friends into conspiring entities. This is part of what it means to create our own reality and it is happening like this to nearly everyone (including myself). But if we take some time to meditate on some of these things that take our emotions and twist them around, trying to not only understand them from a different perspective, but come to peace with them (through understanding) then we can let go of whatever guilt, sorrow, paranoia, or any other form our internal anguish has taken hold of our lives and acquire the purity of innocence that allows us to see that the crew of the ship is not a bunch of dirty, knife wielding, thugs on an oil tanker waiting for you to drop your guard, but just a bunch of random people trying to enjoy their vacation on a cruise liner, interspersed with friendly and helpful shipmates.
Try meditating deeply on some of your feelings and see where it leads you. This is the first step and core principal of facing your inner shadow. When done to completion it can really change your perspective and improve your quality of life.
Rorroh
~rorroh
Well-said. :3
