2008.10.14 01:00 - Making a Space

That night, at 1 am SL, I (Pema) found Adelene already in the pavilion, when I arrived.

Adelene Dawner: Shouldn't you be asleep? ^.^
Pema Pera: morning, Adelene!
Adelene Dawner: ^.^
Pema Pera: of course I "should* -- and so *should* you!
Adelene Dawner: Ha! I'm on vacation, I can sleep as late as I want tomorrow. ^.^
Pema Pera: lucky you!!
Adelene Dawner: ^.^
Pema Pera: I've started a new experiment, as of two days ago: I'm trying to stay in bed for at least seven hours
Adelene Dawner laughs.
Pema Pera: that used to be more or less what came naturally to me
Pema Pera: but the last half year five or six hours has been more like the norm
Pema Pera: just because I have taken on more than ever more in my life
Pema Pera: and I can certainly do it, but I wonder whether sleeping more will change the quaility of what I do, how I feel, the kind of creativity that happens
Pema Pera: I don't know -- it's yet another experiment
Adelene Dawner: ^.^
Pema Pera: so that means I'll have to get back to bed at 4:30, for another two hours, since I only managed five so far :-)
Adelene Dawner: I know sleep does affect brainstate for me, but it's not the only thing that does - if I'm overstimulated I almost might as well not sleep - it does no good.
Pema Pera: That's a central question -- last night I also felt completely like getting up, at 3 am
Pema Pera: and it was very tempting to do so, given all my backlog of (largely self imposed) work
Pema Pera: but when I forced myself to do this experiment, for staying in bed for seven hours, I wound up stayin awake for an hour and a quarter, in a way that became a natural kind of meditation
Pema Pera: which wouldn't have happened without me "forcing" myself.
Adelene Dawner: hold on--- else screen, typing.
Adelene Dawner: ok back
Pema Pera: Interestingly, I do see this 7-hours-in-bed experiment as a form of wu-wei, a form of not-doing. That may sound strange: wu-wei should be "not-forcing" . . . .
Adelene Dawner: 'making a space', Pem?
Pema Pera: but the rub here is that I think I have been forcing myself to work longer hours and more intensely than what is really naturally, especially in the long run
Pema Pera: so now I am forcing myself to stop forcing so much
Pema Pera: in order to get closer to wu-wei
Pema Pera: again, this is just an experiment; like everything in my life is -- we'll see.
Adelene Dawner: :)

Adelene Dawner: I need to make a list of concepts I want to poke at more - that 'making a space' one would be on the list. ^.^
Pema Pera: sounds intriguing, how do you mean that?
Adelene Dawner: it's not cohesive enough to put into words well... it's kind of a meta-pattern of the 'compassion' pattern, in a way...
Pema Pera: could be very similar to what I'm trying to describe
Pema Pera: is it like `stop letting space be crowded (in)' ?
Adelene Dawner: it's mostly what it sounds like - making a space, making time for new things to arise.
Pema Pera: yes
Adelene Dawner: Or for other people to do what they need to do - that's the compassion pattern, there.
Pema Pera: oh yes, that is very important!
Pema Pera: and often hard, especially for active people who like to change the world . . . and others :-)
Adelene Dawner: compassion is making space for other people... but you can make space without needing the other people as an incentive. ^.^
Adelene Dawner: 'make room' is a more common wording... but I like 'space'.
Pema Pera: let me try: it may be that we are both saying that in order to prevent pressure to make things too unnatural, we may have to apply some counter pressure for a while to keep a natural kind of openness?
Adelene Dawner: this resonates with an earlier discussion about emotions... if you're doing it right, there's no need to push at all... but if it gets to the point of needing to push, certainly do so... nobody's perfect. ^.^
Adelene Dawner: if you're doing it right all along, I mean.
Pema Pera: yes, and meditation is another example
Pema Pera: it's funny that it helps to sit cross legged facing a wall for a long time.
Pema Pera: But it does seem to help to regain a sense of what is really natural
Adelene Dawner: I wouldn't know.
Adelene Dawner: I have started playing with longer meditations though - but I seem to tend to fall asleep. ^.^
Pema Pera: perhaps a good starting point is first to sleep a bit more :-)
Adelene Dawner: hehe
Adelene Dawner: Actually I'm not sure if 'sleep' is really accurate... I don't usually snap out of being asleep on my own after a minute or two.
Pema Pera: how much time do you sleep, or stay in bed, on average, roughly?
Adelene Dawner: um...
Adelene Dawner: *chuckles* about as much as you've been.
Adelene Dawner: I* do catch up on my weekends though.

Pema Pera: It would be interesting, as an experiment, to see how you would feel if you would force yourself to stay in bed for seven, or perhaps even eight hours, for -- say -- ten days or so, as an experiment, to see whether there is a noticeable difference in form of consciousness, creativity, openness to yourself and others, etc . . . . if you can find the time :-)
Adelene Dawner: Not right now, I can't - and as mentioned, other things are a bigger factor.
Pema Pera: I understand about the "I can't"
Adelene Dawner: Now what *would* be interesting would be to adopt a more autistic lifestyle for a while - not push the sensory stuff, not speak, things like that - and see what that does.
Adelene Dawner: But I'm even less able to do that, at the moment.
Pema Pera: but that other things are a bigger factor, even though that is a plausible conclusion, it is only after you test it experimentally that you can be sure -)
Adelene Dawner: I pretty much have...
Pema Pera: what would a more autistic lifestyle imply?
Pema Pera: not pushing the sensory stuff?
Adelene Dawner: yes... arange my life, for a while, in such a way that I can actually avoid the stressors that I deal with on a daily basis that other people don't find stressful.
Pema Pera: I may be able to guess, but can you give a brief description or hint?
Adelene Dawner: Oh, there's a list... and I learn more about that list all the time. Things like the smell or taste of mint, the feel of microfiber cloth, the taste of some spicy foods, certain musical instruments... sensory stimulii like that, common stuff, but I react to it much the same way that most people react to the sound of nails on a blackboard.
Pema Pera: I guess you could try to avoid some of those, but not others, right?
Adelene Dawner: Most of them I avoid reasonably well even now. Some, though...
Adelene Dawner: It'd basically mean avoiding being around people at all in a RL sense. Which I wouldn't mind.
Pema Pera: :)
Pema Pera: are there similar cases in SL, of things really bugging you?
Adelene Dawner: Yes, but they're all pretty easily avoidable, fixable, or my own stupid fault when they happen.
Pema Pera hears the half-hour bell, and is getting ready to get his last two hours of being-in-bed for the night
Pema Pera: interesting, Adelene!
Adelene Dawner: :)
Pema Pera: Thanks for the conversation
Pema Pera: doing more in order to do less is an interesting topic
Pema Pera: and a very practical one
Adelene Dawner: mmhmm ^.^
Pema Pera: well, see you soon again!
Pema Pera: be well
Adelene Dawner: If Three and I talk about it - which we might, he's interested in meta-paterns - I'll be sure to send you a log. 'Night ^>^
Pema Pera: thanks!