Comments for RnR: Random Nomadic Ramblings http://rayanne166.singlewriter.com Another great Single Writer(s) blog... Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:50:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on Spreading the plague (of happiness) by Rayanne F. http://rayanne166.singlewriter.com/2010/10/11/spreading-the-plague-of-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-6 Rayanne F. Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:50:20 +0000 http://rayanne166.singlewriter.com/?p=8#comment-6 I’ve told a few people with questions about the practical application of these ideas that I wanted to address some examples of how to begin, but felt that merely planting the seed to see that such an effort would be beneficial was running a bit long to launch into an almost entirely new point; however, I came up some rather concise points that I'd like to mention for others with the same theory-versus-practice concerns. My original post was intended to be as much of a pep talk to myself as anyone and I think it worked! I’ve noticed that I’ve been enjoying myself more the last couple days, laughing more. More specifically, I’ve been (re)learning how to laugh at myself: blunders, unfortunate situations I seem to find myself in, my nerdy (and sometimes off-the-cuff) comments to friends, all kinds of things, really..and I’ve been allowing myself to celebrate small victories more. Thank you for reading my piece.. :) I was very pleased to see that the webmaster featured my post on the homepage! Another small victory I actually let myself enjoy more than I normally would have. I’ve told a few people with questions about the practical application of these ideas that I wanted to address some examples of how to begin, but felt that merely planting the seed to see that such an effort would be beneficial was running a bit long to launch into an almost entirely new point; however, I came up some rather concise points that I’d like to mention for others with the same theory-versus-practice concerns.

My original post was intended to be as much of a pep talk to myself as anyone and I think it worked! I’ve noticed that I’ve been enjoying myself more the last couple days, laughing more. More specifically, I’ve been (re)learning how to laugh at myself: blunders, unfortunate situations I seem to find myself in, my nerdy (and sometimes off-the-cuff) comments to friends, all kinds of things, really..and I’ve been allowing myself to celebrate small victories more. Thank you for reading my piece.. :) I was very pleased to see that the webmaster featured my post on the homepage! Another small victory I actually let myself enjoy more than I normally would have.

]]> Comment on Spreading the plague (of happiness) by SingleWriter(s) | Blog | Spreading the plague (of happiness) http://rayanne166.singlewriter.com/2010/10/11/spreading-the-plague-of-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-5 SingleWriter(s) | Blog | Spreading the plague (of happiness) Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:08:09 +0000 http://rayanne166.singlewriter.com/?p=8#comment-5 [...] Yeah, I see that kind of lamentation in myself and others all the time and I’m sure it has something to do with the Buddhist idea of suffering (mourning the impermanence of moments, events, lifetimes, relationships, everything really); however, I’m also pretty convinced we can do something about this less-than-enthusiastic after-the-fact feeling..this anti-afterglow. And we MUST do something about it… Read more [...] [...] Yeah, I see that kind of lamentation in myself and others all the time and I’m sure it has something to do with the Buddhist idea of suffering (mourning the impermanence of moments, events, lifetimes, relationships, everything really); however, I’m also pretty convinced we can do something about this less-than-enthusiastic after-the-fact feeling..this anti-afterglow. And we MUST do something about it… Read more [...]

]]> Comment on Spreading the plague (of happiness) by Adams Beads http://rayanne166.singlewriter.com/2010/10/11/spreading-the-plague-of-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-4 Adams Beads Tue, 12 Oct 2010 05:26:06 +0000 http://rayanne166.singlewriter.com/?p=8#comment-4 Beautifully said! It is so true, yet almost impossible to keep in mind…much less act upon in a meaningful way. If only there was a pill one could take each day . . . ;-) Beautifully said! It is so true, yet almost impossible to keep in mind…much less act upon in a meaningful way. If only there was a pill one could take each day . . . ;-)

]]> Comment on Seeking The Village by Rayanne F. http://rayanne166.singlewriter.com/2010/09/30/seeking-the-village/comment-page-1/#comment-3 Rayanne F. Sat, 02 Oct 2010 01:32:03 +0000 http://rayanne166.singlewriter.com/?p=3#comment-3 Thank you for your comment! And for contributing to the discussion with the piece you wrote! I like your idea with regard to gleaning the best (as in most functional) parts of modern American society - those that further the goals/values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - and sort of redesign daily life to be more directly beneficial to the kinds of things Robert Kennedy was promoting. I can certainly agree that those are things most of us want, but I think we really need to focus on specifics like that. That is to say, if you ask some people who are happy with the status quo, they will tell you we've had life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in mind the whole time. See, when you get more abstract there is so much room for interpretation, y'know? Thank you for your comment! And for contributing to the discussion with the piece you wrote! I like your idea with regard to gleaning the best (as in most functional) parts of modern American society – those that further the goals/values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – and sort of redesign daily life to be more directly beneficial to the kinds of things Robert Kennedy was promoting. I can certainly agree that those are things most of us want, but I think we really need to focus on specifics like that. That is to say, if you ask some people who are happy with the status quo, they will tell you we’ve had life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in mind the whole time. See, when you get more abstract there is so much room for interpretation, y’know?

]]> Comment on Seeking The Village by Hans http://rayanne166.singlewriter.com/2010/09/30/seeking-the-village/comment-page-1/#comment-2 Hans Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:34:28 +0000 http://rayanne166.singlewriter.com/?p=3#comment-2 You've raised some excellent questions, Rayanne. You mention a soul remembrance, and the values attached to that memory. Personally I think this is one of the keys to how we've gotten to where we are today. Historically, human beings have, time and again, become entrenched in the values that they construct around their reality, and cannot separate their lives from these "constructed" values. Values that differ greatly from their core values that they share with all mankind. Values of life (they impose the death sentence and wars on other humans), liberty (life in prison, life in the ghetto or the projects, life in suburbia, life in involuntary poverty, all a kind of imprisonment), and the pursuit of happiness (now equated with money, credit, and possessions) In my essay <a href="http://singlewriters.com/2010/09/08/reality-checks-accepted-here/" rel="nofollow">"Reality Checks Accepted Here"</a>, I mentioned the values that we disregard in our present, everyday lives as expressed by Robert F. Kennedy - “the health of our chil­dren, the qual­ity of their edu­ca­tion or the joy of their play… the beauty of our poetry…the strength of our mar­riages, the intel­li­gence of our pub­lic debate or the integrity of our pub­lic officials…our wit…our courage…our wisdom…our learning…our compassion…our devo­tion to our country.” Why don't we just return to a simpler way, our core values? Because we believe that we will die a sort of death when we give up our constructed values - speed, convenience, dazzle and style. We have constructed rituals, biases, ways of thinking, that we simply cannot imagine letting go of. Even though all the signs seem to be saying it's time to let go and embrace a life free of the institutions, organizations, and life styles we've created. We believe that there is no better way than to go straight forward towards "progress". It's time to just choose a different path and embark, no? You’ve raised some excellent questions, Rayanne. You mention a soul remembrance, and the values attached to that memory. Personally I think this is one of the keys to how we’ve gotten to where we are today.

Historically, human beings have, time and again, become entrenched in the values that they construct around their reality, and cannot separate their lives from these “constructed” values. Values that differ greatly from their core values that they share with all mankind.

Values of life (they impose the death sentence and wars on other humans), liberty (life in prison, life in the ghetto or the projects, life in suburbia, life in involuntary poverty, all a kind of imprisonment), and the pursuit of happiness (now equated with money, credit, and possessions)

In my essay “Reality Checks Accepted Here”, I mentioned the values that we disregard in our present, everyday lives as expressed by Robert F. Kennedy – “the health of our chil­dren, the qual­ity of their edu­ca­tion or the joy of their play… the beauty of our poetry…the strength of our mar­riages, the intel­li­gence of our pub­lic debate or the integrity of our pub­lic officials…our wit…our courage…our wisdom…our learning…our compassion…our devo­tion to our country.”

Why don’t we just return to a simpler way, our core values? Because we believe that we will die a sort of death when we give up our constructed values – speed, convenience, dazzle and style. We have constructed rituals, biases, ways of thinking, that we simply cannot imagine letting go of.

Even though all the signs seem to be saying it’s time to let go and embrace a life free of the institutions, organizations, and life styles we’ve created. We believe that there is no better way than to go straight forward towards “progress”.

It’s time to just choose a different path and embark, no?

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