Musings

Musings

DirtySciFiBuddha12 Comments

Distraction from pain. Giving into a craving. Doing what nets me the most happiness and fulfillment.

I find it useful to perceive where they appear to be the same, even when they are completely at odds.

12 thoughts on “Musings”

    • This is almost a Monty Python skit for an answer – you know where the guy goes in for an argument and gets abuse before being sent down the hall – There are no answers here. My take, after years, is that the site owner/artist takes pleasure in rumination, not answers. So the answer is – Sorry, no Answers here. This is Rumination. Answers are two doors down on the right.

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    • Tough question! I guess an easy starting point is to say that if it isn’t completely subjective, it’s probably largely so. If we accept either of those premises, then it’s up to me to define a completely or largely subjective definition for me and me alone. So for me, happiness is a deep enough positivity that my instinctive reaction to things that would typically bother me are either casually dismissive (they don’t affect me at all or stay in my attention for more than an instant), or I see the best of something I would typically be negative about (ie I would see solutions, challenges, and opportunities around something troubling, rather than hopelessness, zero-sum scenarios, and choices between bad and worse). Another defining characteristic (for me) is that I would naturally be drawn toward positive thinking and outcomes, where I am resonating with the ambience and goal of upliftment, rather than how much I have to pay or someone else has to pay in order to get where I want to be. Perhaps there may be some unpleasant intermediary steps, but if I’m happy and positive, I’m just going to shrug and be like welp, let’s get it out of the way and stay focused on our goal. If I’m negative, obstacles are going to dig into my attention and breed discontent and complex rationalizations of why this isn’t fair, I’m being targeted by idiots who deserve to be punished, others are stupid and don’t have “common sense” (whatever that is, in a billions-strong range of unique perspectives and individualized experiences), etc. etc. The direction my thoughts gravitate toward are a pretty evident indicator, in my opinion.

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    • For me, it’s definitely a feeling or conviction first, because I’ve been happy in “miserable” circumstances and miserable in “happy” ones. But I can relate to the cats–I used to have dogs and a cat and cherished lying around with them, playing with them, or giving them treats. Although that was part of the lesson–sometimes, if I was in a miserable “vibe,” none of that helped.

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      • For me, I view the subconscious as an irrational child that just wants to be heard. So if I feel negativity, I let myself feel it and think whatever intrusive thoughts might come in. I don’t have to agree with it, tolerate it (begrudging acknowledgment), or outwardly express it in any fashion, but once I allow myself to feel it without consciously trying to rationalize it away or consciously trying to justify it with rationale, it lets go and we go our separate ways. That’s what works for me, anyways.

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