2008.11.14 01:00 - Retreats and what comes after

Wol Euler was guardian for this session. Comments and formatting will be done this evening.

  

Fael Illyar: Hi Wol :)

Wol Euler: good morning fael

Wol Euler: I meant to say yesterday that I like your new hair, never seen a blonde Fael before :)

Fael Illyar smiles 'Thank you.'

Wol Euler: but crashed when I tried to IM you and so didnt repeat teh attempt

Fael Illyar: not exactly blonde, though, this one :)

Wol Euler: well, it's a matter of degree...

Fael Illyar: ah, if you take blonde to be that sort of thing, then this is exteme blonde, indeed :)

Fael Illyar: so, how are you today?

Wol Euler: meh.

Fael Illyar: ... doesn't sound good.

Wol Euler: grey, dull, woke up tired.

Fael Illyar: I set an alarm for myself since I've been sleeping way to long lately ... only to wake up before it :)

Wol Euler: heheheh. that often happens to me too.

Fael Illyar: so, not quite tired anymore :)

Wol Euler: I think it's good that way, I prefer not to wake abruptly.

Fael Illyar: Well, I also took a shower, that tends to wake me up :)

Wol Euler: luxury!

Fael Illyar smiles 'Life is choices.'

Wol Euler: I have been meaning for months to replace the leaky shower-hose connector, so that I can have high-water-pressure showers again :(

Wol Euler: just can't get it organized.

Fael Illyar: it obviously doesn't bother you as much as you think it does.

Wol Euler: :)

Fael Illyar grins.

Wol Euler: so, does anyone (looks around) have anything they wish to say about their PaB practices?

Fael Illyar looks at the empty seats around her ... pondering.

Fael Illyar: Hi Gaya :)

Wol Euler: ah, gaya is here. good morning!

Gaya Ethaniel: _/!\_

Gaya Ethaniel: how are you both?

Fael Illyar: I'm good :)

Wol Euler: struggling along. and yourself? how's your flu?

Fael Illyar: woke up in time for a change :)

Gaya Ethaniel: a bit better again thank you. though can't go out yet

Fael Illyar: Hi Becka :)

Becka Finesmith: HI Fael

Wol Euler: hello becka, nice to see you again

Faenik: could be

Gaya Ethaniel: Hi Becka

Fael Illyar: That's nice to hear, Gaya :)

Becka Finesmith: Hi Wol - Nice to be here :)

Wol Euler: glad to hear it, gaya.

Gaya Ethaniel: oh what does Open Uni do in SL Becka?

Becka Finesmith: Hello Dacsi

Wol Euler: hello dacsi

dacsi Rexen: hello all

Gaya Ethaniel: Hi dasci

Wol Euler: have you been here before?

dacsi Rexen: no im not

dacsi Rexen: what this place

Fael Illyar: Hello dacsi :)

Wol Euler: we belong to a group that meets to practice and discuss a particular meditation system

dacsi Rexen: Hello Fael

Wol Euler: I'll give you a notecard, just a moment

dacsi Rexen: ok

Wol Euler: that tells you the basics of who and what we are :)

Faenik: could be

Wol Euler: the rest, in greater depth, is on our website, where we keep a log of our meetings

Wol Euler: http://playasbeing.wik.is/

dacsi Rexen: ok thanks , i see

Wol Euler: we do publish the meeting logs, can we have your permission to include your name and comments?

dacsi Rexen: yes :)

Wol Euler: ty

Wol Euler: well, let's continue. Becka, could you tell us about the Open University in SL?

Wol Euler: (gaya's question)

dacsi Rexen: im new here , me need more time

Becka Finesmith: Sure - Do you know about the OU in RL?

Gaya Ethaniel nods

Wol Euler: the british OU? yes

Becka Finesmith: yes.

Becka Finesmith: OK - IN Sl, we have a campus. It's new and small but it is now expanding.

Becka Finesmith: The OU undergraduate community is entirely distance based

Wol Euler: (that's fine, dacsi, everyone was new once :-)

Becka Finesmith: So is suported electronically in the main (We do have RL lectures etc though)

Gaya Ethaniel: ah... it's new

Becka Finesmith: BUt most of the contact is online so it seems a natural extension to come to SL

Wol Euler: that sounds like a wonderful match! virtual presence in real-time rather than inthe time it took the Royal Mail.

Becka Finesmith: The campus is new. The OU has been around for about 40 years

Fael Illyar: Sounds like an interesting university :)

Gaya Ethaniel: yes last time I took a course with Open Uni, we didn't have SL presence

Becka Finesmith: Exactly. It works well and is (relatively) well used

Fael Illyar: people who have real uses for SL are increasing :)

Faenik: why not?

Wol Euler: indeed

Becka Finesmith: I run a Science Discussion group there and a Build group

Becka Finesmith: Gaya, You have studied with us then?

Gaya Ethaniel: sounds like a positive addition to the excellent university ^^

Gaya Ethaniel nods

Becka Finesmith: Cool - May I ask what you studied?

Gaya Ethaniel: I did a unit on MA Art History

Becka Finesmith: Cool. We have a couple of Art Historians who use the campus

Gaya Ethaniel smiles. I will visit one of these days

Becka Finesmith: So it's growing and there are lots of really interesting things on the Horizon :)

Becka Finesmith: That would be great - THere is an events wiki. It's a bit underpopulated at the moment because all the new courses have just started

Wol Euler: mmhmm

Faenik: indeed?

Gaya Ethaniel nods

Becka Finesmith: http://www.schome.ac.uk/wiki/SchomeBase_events

Gaya Ethaniel: ah ty ^^

Becka Finesmith: You're welcome

Wol Euler: when I lived in England, the OU was used extensively by students abroad, the Beeb used to broadcast course programs at 3 in the morning for people to record and view at their convenience.

Becka Finesmith: lol - They still do that but most of the progs are given to you on a DVD these days

Gaya Ethaniel loves the BBC/Open Uni programmes

Becka Finesmith: They have very strong ties with the BBC

Becka Finesmith: I am at a RL lecture on Monday which is recorded by the BBC and broadcast

Becka Finesmith: I'll let you have the webcast link when it's available

Gaya Ethaniel smiles. ty

Fael Illyar: Hi Neela :)

Wol Euler: hello neela

Gaya Ethaniel: Hi Neela

Becka Finesmith: HI Neela

Fael Illyar: oh, wow, pegasus

Neela Blaisdale: Hello everyone

Gaya Ethaniel smiles

Wol Euler: oooh, waggly ears too!

Wol Euler grins

Neela Blaisdale: Don't want to sit on anyone

Wol Euler: rezz one of Adelene's quad-sit pillows where you are, neela

Neela Blaisdale: Hellp Becka,Dacsi don't think we've met

Wol Euler: or that works too :)

Gaya Ethaniel smiles

Neela Blaisdale: What have you been talking about?

Wol Euler: Becka was telling us about the Open University presence in SL.

Gaya Ethaniel: about a British (distant-learning) university in SL

Gaya Ethaniel: (they offer courses also in Europe)

Fael Illyar: Neela, there is this pile of pillows beside one column. click on it for a pillow :)

Becka Finesmith: Neela - No I don;t think we have met.It's only about my 4th time here

Fael Illyar: you can get one suitable for four legged AVs that way

Gaya Ethaniel: with random selection of colours ^^

Neela Blaisdale: Clicked on it, now where is the pillow?

Faenik: ah :)

Wol Euler: in your inventory?

Fael Illyar: it should give you a blue window for choosing the type

Wol Euler: face the way you want to be looking and rez it

Neela Blaisdale: doesn't seem to be there

Wol Euler: hmmm

Neela Blaisdale: I'll try again

Fael Illyar: and then rez it under you when you choose

Gaya Ethaniel: strange... I did get the menu but

Wol Euler: oh, you're right, I didn't get one either...

Wol Euler: gah. brokenness.

Fael Illyar: oh, it's broken

Neela Blaisdale: oh well the floor is fine for us horses

Wol Euler: :)

Fael Illyar: looks like the problem with some scripts suddenly not working anymore in many objects is affecting that too

Wol Euler examines her pockets for a carrot ...

Gaya Ethaniel: I have something bigger... but it's a kitty basket for Adele ^^

Neela Blaisdale: :)

Gaya Ethaniel: so you have decided to stick to animal AVs now Neela?

Wol Euler quietly sneaks out to refill her life-support system (coffee cup)

Neela Blaisdale: No I back and forth, fun to play around

Gaya Ethaniel giggles at the life-support system

Becka Finesmith: I just did that heehee

Gaya Ethaniel smiles ah ok

Becka Finesmith: So, tell me to mind my own business, but what brought you to PaB?

Becka Finesmith: in the first place?

Fael Illyar: a friend suggested I go and see if I'd like it :)

Fael Illyar: she's unfortunately not participating anymore.

Gaya Ethaniel: I bumped into it by accident and got stuck ^^

Becka Finesmith: lol - Both cool reasons

Wol Euler: back

Neela Blaisdale: I wandered over from zazen at the Zen Retreat

Gaya Ethaniel: wb

Becka Finesmith: Life seems to through these things at us when we need them the most

Fael Illyar: Wol's here since I invited her :)

Becka Finesmith: thow

Wol Euler: Fael brought my alt actually :)

Gaya Ethaniel nods

Becka Finesmith: Cool

Wol Euler: it didn't "take" for him, but I got on well with it.

Wol Euler: so I came instead :)

Fael Illyar: well, I just picked the one that happened to be online :P

Becka Finesmith: Do you have a history of meditation?

Wol Euler: sorta.

Becka Finesmith nods

Gaya Ethaniel nods. about 6 years

Wol Euler: my therapist suggested some breathing and visualization exercises as a way of dealing with anxiety at work

Becka Finesmith: interesting

Fael Illyar: I don't have much of a history of meditation, just had a few sessions at school at times.

Wol Euler: I thought "loada new age crap", but was surprised to find that it worked.

Gaya Ethaniel: I started when I got interested in Buddhism more seriously

Faenik: could be

Gaya Ethaniel: though I wouldn't call myself 'buddhist' or 'religious' as such

Becka Finesmith: I think it's good to come to things with an open mind or even skecptical

Gaya Ethaniel giggles at "new age crap"

Neela Blaisdale: I've been meditating for about 3 years, stumbled across it in a class

Fael Illyar smiles.

Wol Euler nods. Most of us do "believe", Becka, in one form or another, but there is no consensus. PaB has no particular religious leanings

Becka Finesmith: Thank Wol.

Neela Blaisdale: In fact just came back from several days at a yoga center where I only did a little yoga but a lot of meditating

Fael Illyar: group of equals, so to speak.

Becka Finesmith nods

Wol Euler: oh yes, the berkshires. do tell, please!

Gaya Ethaniel: ah tell us more please Neela?

dacsi Rexen: bye all i going to work :)

Gaya Ethaniel: good day dasci

Neela Blaisdale: Well jusy very peaceful, hadn't signed up for a specific class

Wol Euler: bye dacsi, enjoy the day

Becka Finesmith: BYe Dacsi

Neela Blaisdale: Bye Dasci

Gaya Ethaniel: was it like a retreat?

Neela Blaisdale: yes but I structured it myself

Neela Blaisdale: Mostly silent

Gaya Ethaniel nods

Gaya Ethaniel: how does it feel like to be back?

Neela Blaisdale: spent yesterday morning before I left doing several hours of walking meditation, had never done that for as long, and it was great

Neela Blaisdale: Hard to be back very.

Gaya Ethaniel nods. kind of understand that...

Neela Blaisdale: The problem for me is trying to integrate that kind of looking into daily life

Wol Euler nods

Neela Blaisdale: PaB can help with that I think

Becka Finesmith: I have exactly that problem

Gaya Ethaniel nods

Becka Finesmith: which is why the 9 seconds is perfect

Neela Blaisdale: yes

Fael Illyar: that's always the difficulty. It requires adjusting your beliefs to be less strong.

Fael Illyar: and of course, sorting them out so they'll not conflict much and then knowing how to resolve conflicts.

Gaya Ethaniel: It requires adjusting your beliefs to be less strong. => don't follow...

Fael Illyar: meaning, any single one isn't strong enough to overturn most others

Fael Illyar: probably oversimplified way to express it though

Faenik: why not?

Gaya Ethaniel: mm... how I cope after retreats... is to treat many tasks (some even mundane ones in particular) as a form meditations

Neela Blaisdale: yes but the tasks are easier than interactions. For me those are the ones I have most trouble with

Gaya Ethaniel nods...

Wol Euler: mm?

Fael Illyar: ah, yes, strong beliefs about how people should behave or how things should go?

Neela Blaisdale: yes and especially reactions when things don't smoothly

Wol Euler nods

Fael Illyar: yes, that's the part that makes too strong beliefs be a bit inconvenient.

Neela Blaisdale: yes I was talking with someone today about how much easier it sounds when you can live a monastic life

Gaya Ethaniel: takes some efforts to listen/focus on others when interacting while being aware of my thoughts yet not let them affecting the interaction adversely

Wol Euler: yes, neela, it does appeal ... :)

Neela Blaisdale: or react too strongly to them internally

Gaya Ethaniel nods

Fael Illyar: but for the most part, the things that make you think things aren't going the way they should, are simple things.

Fael Illyar: I like to compare it to deciding a birch tree is bad and when you're in a pine forest and see a single birch there, you decide to cut down the whole forest.

Gaya Ethaniel: I was talking to a friend about this yesterday and I call these thoughts 'my judge' and I try to watch/listen to the judge yet not being the judge itself, if that makes sense. It's tough though with some old beliefs I've built up over the years

Wol Euler: mmhmm, watching the watchmen.

Gaya Ethaniel nods

Neela Blaisdale: when you say simple things Fael can you give an example

Faenik: why not?

Fael Illyar: Well, the things are different for each person.

Fael Illyar tries to recall something that used to be like that for her...

Fael Illyar: ah, there was this behauviour in other people I couldn't tolerate. When it looks to me as if they're being intentionally annoying.

Neela Blaisdale: well at the moment I think I'm focused on spousal issues and they're never simple:)

Wol Euler nods

Gaya Ethaniel nods...

Fael Illyar: so, whenever I saw that, I kind of decided I don't like anything about the situation (as in, cutting down the whole forest)

Gaya Ethaniel: more at stake in each interaction/exchange so to speak with very close people

Fael Illyar: instead of seeing that the annoying behauviour is just a small part of the whole.

Neela Blaisdale: yes hard to be unattached with family or close friends

Becka Finesmith: You feellike you are describing me :)

Gaya Ethaniel: sounds like acceptance issue Fael?

Fael Illyar: it could be called that, yes :)

Becka Finesmith: I'm getting much better and analysing the situations though and mostly realising the reaction should be pointed inwards

Gaya Ethaniel nods

Wol Euler: mmhmm

Neela Blaisdale: yes because whatever the issue the reaction should be inward , excepting safety issues of course

Fael Illyar: I guess I did pick a rather universal trigger :)

Becka Finesmith: lol

Gaya Ethaniel: I'm slowly learning to discern which is and isn't useful/valuable thought when I react to situations/people

Neela Blaisdale: Takes so much patience!

Gaya Ethaniel sighs... singing helps ^^

Neela Blaisdale: which is not my strong point

Wol Euler: and we are in such a hurry ...

Wol Euler: e-mail fax phone cellphone texting twitter blogs SL ...

Faenik: could be

Neela Blaisdale: yes life is very fast

Gaya Ethaniel winces at Wol's list

Gaya Ethaniel: understand why you don't want to create Facebook account Wol ^^

Wol Euler: it doesn't have to be though. I have trained my colleagues and customers that I read e-mail only twice a day.

Neela Blaisdale: Me either

Wol Euler: the world does not end in flames.

Gaya Ethaniel: wow... that's amazing

Neela Blaisdale: :)

Wol Euler: it was a struggle, but I _highly_ recommend doing it!

Fael Illyar: come to think of it, I don't always read my email very often either.

Fael Illyar: but I do it when I feel like it. No fixed schedule

Becka Finesmith: I'm trying to do that - I haven' succeeded yet

Wol Euler: just as good, let the Moment move you.

Gaya Ethaniel: sounds like a good idea. even with emails, people expect more or less instant at the very least within the day response

Neela Blaisdale yawns

Becka Finesmith: The issue for me is so much of my life revolves around the PC and if I'm working on it, I have those things open. I have to learn not ot

Neela Blaisdale: Good to see you all, useful too

Wol Euler nods.

Gaya Ethaniel: take care Neela. see you soon again

Wol Euler: bye neela, welcome back. get some sleep :)

Becka Finesmith: Bye Neela

Neela Blaisdale: Getting sleepy again since its 5am for me

Becka Finesmith: OK - Time for me to get on with some things too (It's 10am here)

Neela Blaisdale: Bye everyone

Gaya Ethaniel: nice to meet you Becka. have a good day

Fael Illyar: see you later Neela :)

Wol Euler: bye becka, take care.

Wol Euler: well, shall we declare the session over?

Becka Finesmith: Bye Neela. Nice to meet you too Gaya and see everyone soon.

Fael Illyar: See you later Becka :)

Gaya Ethaniel nods