My Daily Bread (Or Rose Petals, if You Prefer)
January 1, 2007
11:57 a.m., MT

Music: 'Changes', by Yes

What follows is probably one of my most rambling, barely-coherent rambles, which might itself be explained in part if you're brave enough to try to wade through it all. No hard feelings, of course, if you aren't interested in trying ...

Sunni

Comments: 8 people have contributed to the conversation

On Monday, January 1st, at approximately 5:11 p.m. Mountain time, kd said:

Methinks you are correct to think Richardson & Jarrell overstated.
Have a happy Sunnimoon.

On Monday, January 1st, at approximately 6:59 p.m. Mountain time, jeffrey smith said:

Be Buddhist, for a moment. (So to speak--and why I speak that way should be clear in a moment.)
The You that exists right now did not exist yesterday, did not exist this morning, did not exist an hour ago, or even a moment ago. The You that exists right now will not exist an hour from now, will not exist tomorrow morning, will not exist the day after that, will not exist even a moment from now: because all the experiences between then and now (whether then is in the past or the future) have caused or will cause some changes in the interim. The You that is now You exists only now--in the "now". If you are happy at this moment, you are happy; and the reverse; but the unhappiness/happiness you feel at various moments in your life does not invalidate the happiness/unhappiness you feel at other moments. They are all simply how the You that existed at those particular moments felt--regardless how the You that exists at this current moment feels.

So engineer as best you can that experiences in the future will allow future Yous to feel happy and not unhappy, to be free and not unfree.

On Monday, January 1st, at approximately 7:11 p.m. Mountain time, Sunni said:

Again I'm astonished that someone grokked! And I'm sorry I forgot to include you in my list, Jeffrey.

Hi kd, and thanks for your contributions to what I consider an improvement in my thought.

On Tuesday, January 2nd, at approximately 6:15 p.m. Mountain time, NeoWayland said:

Not sure what I did to help, but you are welcome (puzzled look).

If your happiness didn't cause another pain or misery, then I really don't see why it should be criticized.

You are you, you are responsible for your life and your choices. Don't worry about the peanut gallery, those are the cheap seats anyway.

Lois McMaster Bujold said it pretty well in _A_Civil_Campaign_

"Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself. The friction tends to arise when the two are not the same."

"Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it may. And outlive the bastards."

On Tuesday, January 2nd, at approximately 8:09 p.m. Mountain time, William's Dad said:

Holy crap don't listen to me Sunni

On Wednesday, January 3rd, at approximately 8:46 a.m. Mountain time, Taran Jordan said:

Hi, Sunni. Like Neo, I have no idea what I might have done to help your thought process, but I'm very grateful for the inclusion.

You're touching on some beautiful AND powerful ideas here. And they're all as true as you make them.

A few years back, I had a revelation...that I was, at that time, the person (and better) I'd struggled to dream of being years earlier. I realized then that whatever I choose to imagine now, if I'm faithful to it, is indeed what I'll become in the future. Dang, it was mind-blowing. Still is.

Neo, that's an awesome quote about honor. Thank you. And Jeffrey, that's some serious quantum-physics Buddhist thought there. Fascinating.

On Wednesday, January 3rd, at approximately 9:33 a.m. Mountain time, Sunni said:

I see that I forgot Dr. Lenny in my list. Sigh ...

W.D., you're funny!

Neo and Taran, I know this might be an odd thing for someone who blathers on and on in navel-contemplating to say, but your contributions are too personal to post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts here!

On Thursday, January 4th, at approximately 5:39 p.m. Mountain time, Shaun said:

"paying attention to one's feelings and pursuing what brings one positive results".

I'm glad you said it - it's been on my mind for a while - rather than push up hill all the time, fighting against those who aren't interested or ready to listen, find a way (by writing or blogging, networking, and sharing conversation & ideas) to express your feelings and ideas amongst likeminded people and perhaps see something more grow out of it. I hope this makes sense, because your posting certainly made sense to me.

Happy New year

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