2008.09.20 01:00 - Aha! moment

Gaya stepped in for Fael for this session. Please add comments if willing.

Faenik: looks like we will be alone again Gaya
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Faenik: ah well... not the busiest session this
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Faenik: how are your PaB exercises going?
Gaya Ethaniel: I just keep at it as before... nothing new to report yet I'm afraid
Faenik: alright
Gaya Ethaniel: You don’t do the exercises right?
Faenik: nah, I leave that to you
Gaya Ethaniel: Do you mind if I gather the last night log for Solo?
Faenik: go ahead
Gaya Ethaniel smiles. ty
Wol Euler is Online
Faenik: ah Wol's online
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Faenik: ah well, seems everyone is busy this morning
Gaya Ethaniel smiles

---

quen Oh: hello Gaya! hi Faenik
Gaya Ethaniel: _/!\_
quen Oh: yes, it seems
Faenik winks at quen
quen Oh: you were alone here since 1.00?
Gaya Ethaniel: Yes Fael can't host so I'm the replacement. How are you quen?
quen Oh: I am fine, was working in my pavillion
quen Oh: and totally forgot time
quen Oh: how are you?
Gaya Ethaniel smiles. That happens
Gaya Ethaniel: Well thank you
Gaya Ethaniel: Faenik asked how my PaB exercises are going... I'm afraid nothing new to report. How about you?
quen Oh: thats why the Play as Being is quite a challenge, I can totally forget time when I am making things.. and also can have it more spontaneous when reading, doing more automatic things.. but something on a regular schedule is terribly difficult for me
Gaya Ethaniel nods. I understand. The clock helps for me...
quen Oh: how is Faenik' s Play as Being??
quen Oh: I can forget a clock if you would put it on my forehead, hanging in my view..
Faenik: no need quen. I'm enlightened already hehehe
Gaya Ethaniel: I meant the mindful clock that gongs every 15 mins on my puter
quen Oh: when busy I forget even to look in the corner on the screen I am working at..
quen Oh: ah nice idea that might do the trick
Gaya Ethaniel gets the link for quen
quen Oh: but not sure if that won't drive me mad. should be a nice sound than
Gaya Ethaniel: http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/mindfulclock.html
Gaya Ethaniel: I can select sounds... was irritating to begin with
Gaya Ethaniel: The interruptions
Faenik is a hairy black ball with eyes and ears.
quen Oh: thank you, looks interesting
quen Oh: yes, I can imagine
Gaya Ethaniel: Pleasure
Gaya Ethaniel: I'm sure it also makes my neighbours a little annoyed :P
quen Oh: I can finish a whole pot of tea without noticing while working, or get strange ideas which make me want to google or look up something.. but normally I get only disturbed by the phone..
quen Oh: that can make me jump, but also sometimes I am staring at it and it goes...
quen Oh: ouch your neighbours??
Gaya Ethaniel: It's quiet around here and the gongs can be heard <smile>
Faenik is a hairy black ball with eyes and ears.
quen Oh: ah ouch.. and you cannot find a more nicer sound for you? must disturb you too
Gaya Ethaniel nods. I understand. I do enjoy immersing myself into activities also at times.

---

Gaya Ethaniel: _/!\_
quen Oh: hello Shalima :-)
Shalima Benelli: hey
Gaya Ethaniel: Welcome Shalima to a Play as Being session which is open to everyone. Have you been here before?
Faenik giggles. that tickles.
quen Oh grins
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
 Gaya Ethaniel: It's good to see many people passing by the pavillion
quen Oh: well indeed
quen Oh: its nice to meet new people in SL, and to find out what they do in SL.. its amazing sometimes
Gaya Ethaniel: [1:30] quen Oh: I can finish a whole pot of tea without noticing while working, or get strange ideas which make me want to google or look up something.. but normally I get only disturbed by the phone..
Gaya Ethaniel: How do you feel about this?
Gaya Ethaniel nods
quen Oh: good, I enjoy those things, and also my work
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Gaya Ethaniel: I'm glad to hear it
quen Oh: completed with some good music, I have a good day ;-)
Gaya Ethaniel: Actually, I can't run music in the background while I do things anymore
quen Oh: though 2 days a week I teach, thats totally different, but nice and inspiring even too
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
quen Oh: ah thats interesting, you could before but no more?
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Gaya Ethaniel: Multi-tasking has become almost nigh impossible for me unless I put immense efforts towards that
quen Oh: why is that you think?
Gaya Ethaniel: It's now shifting focus rather than doing things at the same time
Gaya Ethaniel: Being more mindful perhaps
Faenik loves wells!
Gaya Ethaniel: I've been learning to shift focus quickly between tasks in place for multi-tasking, which seems to work in certain tasks
quen Oh: some things are such a ritual or automatic job that I am almost no more noticing what I am doing, and able to think about other things, listen to the news etc
Gaya Ethaniel: What are those 'automatic' jobs?
quen Oh: ah you think that your mindfulness exercises have caused it?
Gaya Ethaniel: Meditation started it all few years ago
quen Oh: doing dishes, cleaning up, ironing, some standard computer tasks...
quen Oh: driving a car
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
quen Oh: cooking even sometimes
Gaya Ethaniel practices mindfulness during household tasks
quen Oh: ;-) good thinking
Gaya Ethaniel: Not doing multi-tasking helps me feel calm
Gaya Ethaniel: Say that I have an IM coming in now while talking to you here
quen Oh: find it often very boring, so try to entertain myself mostly, but also can have interesting ideas when doing that, showering btw is a good one too
Gaya Ethaniel: Before PaB, I wasn't be able to do both... either chat here or IM
Gaya Ethaniel: Now I can do both by shifting focus but somewhat slow...
quen Oh: ah ok
quen Oh: have never had much problems multitasking...
Gaya Ethaniel: Yet unlike before PaB, I don't feel 'jittery' doing both as I'm in present for each when I chat here then send IM
Gaya Ethaniel: Before meditations, I had no problem multi-tasking. My nickname of queen of multi-tasking
Faenik: well among other nick names hey Gaya? 'tap' for example
quen Oh: more the opposite, sometimes it feels like I have dual core processors which are involved in more separate processes at once.. that can be funny, but sometimes also tiresome
Gaya Ethaniel: Yes it is tiring for me
quen Oh: curious that you lost that capacity..
Gaya Ethaniel: I can do it again of course if forced but it's tiring and unsettling
Gaya Ethaniel smiles at Faenik
quen Oh: sometimes I like it, seems all kind of little processes are going on, for instance to find back a solution for a minor problem in a design or retrieving something I forgot.. that happens in the background and mostly after sometime it is solved and will give a result
quen Oh: perhaps its nicer not to have that.. wouldn't really know
Gaya Ethaniel smiles. Yes immersing is great fun
Gaya Ethaniel: Some are good at it while I'm not it seems
 quen Oh: when I really need or want to concentrate to do something really well or enjoy a thing fully I can quiet it down since some time, but thats rather new
Gaya Ethaniel smiles

---

quen Oh: so you became more calm since PaB experimenting?
Gaya Ethaniel: Yes PaB exercises have complemented my daily ones. Also I learn a lot from interacting with people here
Faenik: could be
quen Oh: you really feel you are learning things here?
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Gaya Ethaniel: Ultimately, I'm discovering myself that teaches
quen Oh: it is interesting indeed, only have not thougt about it as 'learning' ..
quen Oh: ah ok
quen Oh: its for me more exploring and see what others experience and come up with
Gaya Ethaniel: A friend told me that we are the best student and the best teacher. I believe this refers to the 'inner wisdom' my RL teacher mentioned to me
Gaya Ethaniel: We are after the same rainbow’s end <smile>
quen Oh: you have a teacher in rl?
Gaya Ethaniel: Yes I follow a particular Buddhist teacher
quen Oh: ah ok, interesting
Gaya Ethaniel: I'm exploring... perhaps looking for this inner wisdom that I already have
Gaya Ethaniel: and that all of us have
quen Oh: I see..
Gaya Ethaniel: Being perhaps
quen Oh: just trying to find out a little about the workings and limitations of our mind and the way we look at things
Gaya Ethaniel listens
quen Oh: well thats it ;-)
quen Oh: trying to..
Gaya Ethaniel: That's a big step forward imo
Gaya Ethaniel: A friend told me something about 'trying...'
quen Oh: in fact its something I have been doing for some years, that struck me only recently..
Gaya Ethaniel: Can't remember... but I don't try unless it's something like RL work
quen Oh: ah I am curious what?
Gaya Ethaniel: yes?
quen Oh: your friend who told you about trying?
Gaya Ethaniel: I'm not good at 'trying'... tend to end up hating the things I try really
Gaya Ethaniel: Even though I like them to begin with... lose interests doing them pretty quick
Gaya Ethaniel: RL essentials are different, I have to do them to live
Gaya Ethaniel: But other stuff like hobbies... I don't 'try'
quen Oh: I see...
Gaya Ethaniel: That's me though
quen Oh: what do you do instead of trying?
Gaya Ethaniel: I have this old friend that comes to see me often
Faenik: another one?!
Gaya Ethaniel: He's called "I'm not good enough"
quen Oh: ah lol
Gaya Ethaniel: When I try things... he comes around a lot
Gaya Ethaniel: So...
Gaya Ethaniel: I don't 'try' too much
quen Oh: well there sure are different ways of trying.. I think
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Gaya Ethaniel: (Don't mean 'trying out' or 'taking a risk' here)
quen Oh: you can do it lightly, just see what happens and how things work... or you can desparately want something and to do it perfect asap
Gaya Ethaniel: More keep pushing myself and comparing myself to a 'desirable' standard...
Gaya Ethaniel nods. Wearing it lightly... that I'm still working on
quen Oh: comparing yourself can be frustrating or irreal
Gaya Ethaniel: And somehow beingn able to shift focus between things helps in this respect
Gaya Ethaniel nods. Yes
quen Oh: better to not compare to a desirable (but possibly irrealistic) standard but perhaps to what you could when you just started, its amazing sometimes how quick we pick up things
Gaya Ethaniel smiles. yes
quen Oh: especially the more fuzzy complicated things
Gaya Ethaniel nods... fuzzy stuff yes they escape me these days and I let them go
quen Oh: well I find that you sometimes unexpectedly understand these things to after a while, or are able to do something rather complicated suddenly
Gaya Ethaniel: That's the best way I've found
Gaya Ethaniel: Like sleep on things.. you know
quen Oh: yes, that could work too
Gaya Ethaniel: Over a period... it clicks somehow
Faenik: なるほど^^
quen Oh: yes, if you are involved with some things there always comes at some point an aha! moment
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Gaya Ethaniel: Time is up for me. Lovely to see you again quen. Have a good day
Gaya Ethaniel: _/!\_
Oh: where things fall in place. almost as if it had to be like that, or has always been
quen Oh: yes goodbye Gaya
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Gaya Ethaniel: Hope that's what would happen with PaB for you quen
quen Oh: that would be nice, but happens outside PaB too you know
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Gaya Ethaniel: It all complement each other I'm sure
Gaya Ethaniel: So until next time
quen Oh: we'll see
quen Oh: have a good day Gaya, bye
Faenik waves at quen
quen Oh: see you later
quen Oh winks at Faenik