The Way Of Compassionate Wrath

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 06:41:18 GMT

“I know what it is to get angry, and I know the pleasure of being praised. I’m often on the verge of tears or laughter. But beneath all these emotions, what else is there? How can I touch it? If there isn’t anything why would I be so certain that there is?
~ Thích Nhất Hạnh

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Thu, 16 Dec 2021 06:47:36 GMT

“The widespread assumption that ethical behavior takes the fun out of life is false. In actuality, living ethically ensures that relationships in our lives, including encounters with strangers, nurture our spiritual growth.”

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Prometheus at the piano

Fri, 16 Jul 2021 19:03:29 GMT

Prometheus is always described as a tragic heroic figure. He gave fire to humans and was punished forever. I prefer the stories in which Coyote or Crow deliver fire and end up marked by the fire forever but, because they are Trickster Gods, they are not eagle chow for eternity.

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On Meditation

Tue, 23 Mar 2021 16:44:01 GMT

I learned a lot from working on some headspace meditations last night.

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Happiest Thing Ever

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 23:56:17 GMT

I have just seen the happiest thing ever.

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The payoff

Wed, 25 Nov 2020 22:28:34 GMT

Once upon a time there were three guys being tortured to death. The guy in the middle said something hopeful to the other two. The one on the left scoffed at it, but the guy on the right bought into it. The guy in the middle told the guy on the right that soon they would be chilling together in paradise. This is a very human way to get through times of impossible stress.

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Chaos

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 01:48:04 GMT

I like chaos.

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Adagio con brio

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 20:33:15 GMT

There is no inherently good tempo. There is no inherently bad tempo. All tempos are specific for the music they measure and every tempo has a place.

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The Opera News

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 02:06:32 GMT

The new edition of The Opera News, the publication of the Metropolitan Opera, arrived today and Dad was looking through it when I was making breakfast.

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Affinity

Sat, 17 Oct 2020 00:59:50 GMT

I was reading Antifa: The Anti-fascist Handbook by Mark Bray because someone referred to it and it is presently free for Audible:

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What are your Maslow 3?

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 02:52:48 GMT

We remember Abraham Maslow because of his 1943 paper, "A Theory Of Human Motivation" in which he described what is now known as Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs. This is represented in a diagram by an upward pointing triangle. At the bottom are physiological needs and at the top is self actualization. Generally, the bottom needs must be filled before we can work to fill the upper needs.

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National Coming Out Day

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 00:05:55 GMT

Every human has two sides: an inside and an outside. These two sides affect and change each other and communicate with each other to allow us to be a whole person.

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Sun, 11 Oct 2020 03:29:58 GMT

I saw an interesting tweet today about the difference between people who experience an acute mental health issue and "get better" and people who live with chronic mental health issues.

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Not your friend

Thu, 08 Oct 2020 05:29:56 GMT

Tonight in the Vice Presidential Debate, pence brought up trump's Jewish grandchildren as proof that trump cannot be racist. This is entirely expected for two reasons. First, it will sound like a plausible explanation for people who want to believe it. Second, those assholes are racist as fuck.

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What we can learn from Benni Gabor

Tue, 06 Oct 2020 17:51:48 GMT

The other day a friend made a reference to people who sleep with their feet firmly covered to keep them from being grabbed by the monsters under the bed. This may sound like a silly or mockable thing, but when it comes to falling asleep, we all have certain standards that work below the logical level to give us a neuroception of safety so that we can sleep. If you like to have your whole body tucked into the blankets, the closet door closed, or a light or the radio on while you sleep, that's awesome. Sleep is important and the psychological tools that we use to get to sleep are just as important as cpaps and pillows.

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Karma, Compassion, and Resistance

Sat, 03 Oct 2020 01:49:49 GMT

When something bad happens to someone who has done terrible things to other people, some people claim that this is karmic justice.

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Team Ratched Manifesto

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 03:18:07 GMT

Alright, I saw that Netflix is out with Ratched, and I'm pretty excited to see Sarah Paulson playing a fun evil character. I'd never seen One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, so I thought I'd watch that first and have the baseline for this character about whom I've heard such impressive things.

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Paradoxical Pain and what it can mean for people with PTSD

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 01:40:03 GMT

Dissociation was a large part of my PTSD symptom profile. Since learning how to reintegrate with my physical and emotional feelings, I've gained some potentially important perspective on how PTSD symptoms manifest in those who live with it.

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Political activism in my bathrobe

Sun, 30 Aug 2020 16:55:10 GMT

This morning my Americans Of Conscience email arrived. It contains a link to the Americans Of Conscience Checklist which offers a list of simple political actions one can take from the comfort of one's own home. Or in my case, from the comfort of my own bathrobe.

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Take this - it's dangerous to go alone

Sat, 29 Aug 2020 22:47:13 GMT

It has now been about six months since we've all moved into full pandemic living. In the US, the response to the pandemic has greatly added to the stress of the situation, and on going political manipulation and community responses have filled the news with an endless supply of uneasy images and reports. Social media is riddled with memes and opinions that are specifically designed to increase social disintegration, and the normal and healthy venting of suffering people adds to our perception that the whole world has gone to shit.

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Earning Badges

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 21:01:15 GMT

Working on your own mental health is a lot like being in the Girl Scouts. I approach it like I'm working on a series of badges. I may be going for the Reduce Symptoms Badge, the Strengthen Relationships Badge, and the Eat Healthy Badge all at the same time because what I learn in working on one badge may apply to other badges as well.

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August Birthday Extravaganza

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 20:49:12 GMT

Yesterday was Dad's birthday. I totally forgot. I am terrible at remembering birthdays in general and Mom and Dad's birthdays in specific. They're the 23rd and 25th of August, but every year it is a surprise to me. Every August I think it's supposed to be September and it screws me up every year.

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On Science

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 22:03:17 GMT

Recently there was a meme going around that distilled the scientific method into a common phrase, "Fuck around and find out." I love this, not only because it describes the scientific process in terms of both a toddler stacking blocks and a CERN scientist smashing particles, but because it is aggressive and challenging in its very wording.

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Losing my cool in the moment

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 20:07:38 GMT

Yesterday was a tough day. I was irritable, because biology, and every time I tried to get something done it seemed like everything else in the world was struggling against me. At one point everything felt like it landed on my head all at once. I shouted, "I'm sorry I'm being irrational! Give me four minutes and I'll apologize again without shouting!" and I laughed at myself. The laughter was much more of the maniacal evil scientist laugh and not very much at all the contemplative Zen monk laugh.

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The Power Of Disgust

Wed, 19 Aug 2020 18:25:37 GMT

In addiction work people often try to talk about hitting rock bottom as the point at which an addict's life can change. This doesn't work effectively for two reasons: One: things can always get worse. There is no ultimate bad. Two: there is no outside condition that can lead to internal change. Only internal conditions can lead to internal change. It is not hitting a level of physical discomfort that inspires the addict to change, it is achieving a level of internal disgust with their situation that makes change possible.

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