2013.02.09 13:00 - Branches, Fins, and Antlers

The Guardian for this meeting was Bruce Mowbray. The photo is by Bruce Mowbray.
--BELL--

Bruce Mowbray: Hello, Zon.
Zon Kwan: hi Bruce
Zon Kwan: how are you
Bruce Mowbray: Well, I guess I'm all right -- having a slow day.
Bruce Mowbray: How are you today, Zon?
Zon Kwan: i am well and slow is always good don't you think
Bruce Mowbray: heh heh.
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, it is good. . .
Zon Kwan: to let things open
Zon Kwan: not pushing
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, that's exactly what I need to do, I guess.
Bruce Mowbray: I've been "pushing" a computer program all day -- and it's not working, so it's good to let it sit awhile.
Zon Kwan: yes
Bruce Mowbray: Maybe things will "open" a bit after I take a break from it.
Bruce Mowbray: a different reality.
Zon Kwan: usually they do
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Zon Kwan: like our conscious mind
Zon Kwan: it can't do much
Zon Kwan: much more is happening subconsciously
Bruce Mowbray: Yes. I've been watching and listening to vids and tapes by Byron Katie . . .
Bruce Mowbray: In fact, I was listening to one with her and Rosie O'Donnel when you arrived.
Zon Kwan: what is her message ?
Bruce Mowbray: An amazing message, actually.
Bruce Mowbray: Zen turned me on to her "work"...
Bruce Mowbray: here's her website: http://www.thework.com

--BELL--

Bruce Mowbray: Heya, steve!
stevenaia Michinaga: Greetings Bruce, Zon
Bruce Mowbray: We were just chatting about "The Work" of Byron Katie, steve.
stevenaia Michinaga: I do not know it
Bruce Mowbray: Zen turned me on to her last week.
stevenaia Michinaga: I will google it
Bruce Mowbray: Here's her website, if you'd wish to take a look: http://www.thework.com
Zon Kwan: hi steve
Bruce Mowbray: Years ago I learned the slogan "We make our own worlds," but this is the first time I've seen someone actually take that slogan seriously - and literally.
Bruce Mowbray: It makes a lot of sense, actually:
stevenaia Michinaga: do we need "anger, fear, depression, addiction, and violence " to participate?
Bruce Mowbray: We "make" a world through our thinking...
Bruce Mowbray: and if we change our thoughts, and our emotional reactions to those thoughts, then our worlds change also.
Bruce Mowbray: Does anyone "need" any of that? That's one of the four questions she asks: "What would your world be like without this thought?"
Bruce Mowbray: It's a way of Mindfulness...
Zon Kwan: hm..can we change thoughts ?
stevenaia Michinaga: sounds like Buddhism
Zon Kwan: or our focus
Bruce Mowbray: We can certainly examine our thoughts...
stevenaia Michinaga: not that I know much about that
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Bruce Mowbray: Me neither, steve.
Zon Kwan: Many of thoughts around us are not even ours
Bruce Mowbray: So true, Zon.
Bruce Mowbray: Maybe those are especially the ones we should examine...
Bruce Mowbray: "Whose thought is this, anyway?!"
stevenaia Michinaga: there is much to be gained by listening to others
stevenaia Michinaga: unlock your own secrets
Bruce Mowbray: ;-) I've been listening to Byron Katie all week. . . . and she's unlocking a lot.
Bruce Mowbray: Hers is truly a "radical" approach, though. . . .
Bruce Mowbray: One of the ideas I especially like (of hers) is the notion of "business..."
stevenaia Michinaga: I'll have to check out her "free" stuff
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, you can find literally dozens of free vids of hers  on YouTube.
Bruce Mowbray: That's where I got mine.. over two dozen of them.
Zon Kwan: what does she mean by business ?
Bruce Mowbray: Well, she says there are three kinds of business:
Bruce Mowbray: Your own, other people's, and god's.
Bruce Mowbray: She advises, don't get into others' business...
Zon Kwan: mind your own business ?
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Bruce Mowbray: and this morning there was a big earthquake in South America... in Columbia.
Bruce Mowbray: and my usual almost-immediate reaction to a catastrophe -- like the tsunami, or Hurricane Sandy, etc...
Bruce Mowbray: is to make it "my business...."
Bruce Mowbray: But it's not, really.
Zon Kwan: its god's
Bruce Mowbray: It is the business of others, or else it's god's.
Zon Kwan: right
Bruce Mowbray: btw, "god" means "whatever is" to Katie.
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Zon Kwan: beyond your control
Bruce Mowbray: I don't do a very good job of summarizing her philosophy. . . If folks are interested in learning about her work, it would be better that they checked it out from her own mouth, as it were -- not to hear it from me.
stevenaia Michinaga: which do you recommend starting with?
Zon Kwan: well what you explained makes sense
Bruce Mowbray: But, I've been listening/watching her all week, and her way of "examining" thoughts is very much on my mind right now.
Bruce Mowbray: ty, Zon.

--BELL--

Bruce Mowbray: Hmmm. I think I'd recommend starting with some of the interviews. . . (found on YouTube) . . . . in which a really good interviewer asks her to explain her ideas and methods.
Bruce Mowbray: Here's a link to 125 of her vids: http://www.youtube.com/user/theworkofbk
Bruce Mowbray: Anyway, I guess her message could be summed up by saying, we make our own worlds through our thoughts; to change our worlds, change our thinking....
Bruce Mowbray: and her method (4 questions and the "turnarounds") are one way of examining our thinking and changing it.
Zon Kwan: waves
Bruce Mowbray: See you later, Zon.
Bruce Mowbray: This particular vid appears to be a decent introduction to "The Work." : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EP88LrO8k0

--BELL--

Bruce Mowbray: Hello, Rosatta.
Bruce Mowbray: Have we met before, Rosatta?
Bruce Mowbray: or... I should have said, have you been to the PaB fountain before?
Bruce Mowbray: I can give you a notecard that explains what happens here ----.
Bruce Mowbray: There you are!
Bruce Mowbray: Please do have a cushion, if you like.
Rosatta Resident: This is my first time. I am exploring the SIMs that come up with a Tibet search
Bruce Mowbray: Great!
stevenaia Michinaga: oops, I had scrolled up and thought no one was talking the past 20 minutes as I was listening to the video
stevenaia Michinaga: the text wasn't scrolling :)
Bruce Mowbray: I only need to ask your permission to post whatever you might say in the chat box into our on-line wiki, Rosatta.
Bruce Mowbray: Linden Labs policy requires that I ask your permission....
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmm. Sounds like a glitch of some sort, steve.
Bruce Mowbray: Hello, Eliza!
stevenaia Michinaga: Hi Eliza
Bruce Mowbray: What a beautiful dress you have!
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, you have been shopping
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Bruce, Stevie, thanks so much
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Rosatta, nice to meet you
Rosatta Resident: Oh, I love your dress, Eliza
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Eliza Madrigal: I think the Springyness of it must make people smile when it is cold outside
Rosatta Resident: I love the colors and the way it floats
Eliza Madrigal smiles - me too... maybe why I've kept it on for a week ^.^
Bruce Mowbray: I will insert here that Rosatta and I have been IM-ing and she has given her permission to post her words.
stevenaia Michinaga: winter came to visit last night, snow everywhere
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
stevenaia Michinaga: hi Rosatta, welcome
Bruce Mowbray: Oh yes! LOTS and lots and lots of snow for the northeasterners!
Rosatta Resident: I transported here from another SIM where I got a triceritops avatar. The field behind us looks like the perfect place for a triceritops to play :)
Bruce Mowbray: Indeed it is, Rosetta!
Bruce Mowbray: and also good for the rest of us to play in, too!
Rosatta Resident: Hi, Stevenaia :)
Eliza Madrigal: a wide field for potential play
Bruce Mowbray: Yes!
stevenaia Michinaga: you have triceritops pets?
Rosatta Resident: I like the thoughts on the information note card.
Rosatta Resident: A triceritops avatar - so I can be one :)
Bruce Mowbray: Rosatta, over there on my left is a schedule board of our meeting times and the avatar who is responsible for being at them.
Eliza Madrigal: :))
Rosatta Resident: I also have an octopus one
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Eliza Madrigal: Oh, great!!
Bruce Mowbray: Great!
Eliza Madrigal: I once knew a jellyfish...
Bruce Mowbray: I have a tree one.
Rosatta Resident: I took the octopus pole dancing at The Venue just to see if it would work.
Rosatta Resident: I had people saying they needed to stop drinking lol
Eliza Madrigal: oh, me too now - a marvelous tree. I attended a meditation and we all came as trees to meditate as one forest
Rosatta Resident: And one said she thought she was hallucinating
Eliza Madrigal laughs
Eliza Madrigal: did you take pictures?
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Rosatta Resident: I tried a tree once and I couldn't get it to work
Eliza Madrigal: Bruce's tree is well... so Bruce :))
Rosatta Resident: Pictures of my pole-dancing octopus? I didn't even think of it - I should have lol
stevenaia Michinaga: very nice Bruce, also like spring
Eliza Madrigal: haha... not sure I'd ever see this pose
Rosatta Resident: can you move as a tree?
Rosatta Resident: Pull up your roots and walk around or anything?
Bruce Mowbray: Seems to be stuck in Nixon's "I'm not a crook" pose.
Eliza Madrigal: heheheh
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
Rosatta Resident: lol
Rosatta Resident: Waaaay COOL!!!!

--BELL--

Rosatta Resident: Now you need to go pole dancing at the Venue rofl
Bruce Mowbray: heh heh!
Eliza Madrigal imagines the nature invasion
Eliza Madrigal: octopi and trees and who knows.... once I was a platypus but hm, it needed some design work
stevenaia Michinaga: I must be off, making soup for sick household, see you soon
Rosatta Resident: Hope everyone gets better soon
Eliza Madrigal: Oh, sorry to hear Stevie
Bruce Mowbray hasn't been a tree for months -- and it doesn't move as well as it used to.
Bruce Mowbray: Oh dear.
Bruce Mowbray: Oh mY!
Bruce Mowbray: THAT's a tree for sure, Eliza!
Eliza Madrigal: this is a free avatar, too....
Rosatta Resident: Eliza, If you ever decide you are tired of that dress, I'll take it lol
Rosatta Resident: Ooooo! Lovely tree!

Eliza Madrigal: (oops slip is showing)
Rosatta Resident: lol
Eliza Madrigal: :)) if you like to find the dress, search for "EDIKA" in marketplace
Eliza Madrigal: (the dress)
Eliza Madrigal: for the tree, search for "free mesh tree avatar"
Rosatta Resident: Oh, thank you :)
Eliza Madrigal: the thing is, I can't elegantly change back as Bruce has
Eliza Madrigal: lol
Eliza Madrigal: but I like to dance this way...
Rosatta Resident: That is so cool
Eliza Madrigal laughing
Rosatta Resident: Almost Lord of the Rings - ish
Eliza Madrigal: therapeutic , must say
Eliza Madrigal: yes!
Bruce Mowbray: Hello, big beautiful waving tree!
Eliza Madrigal shelters over Bruce who shelters over so many others
Bruce Mowbray: ahhhh!
Eliza Madrigal: Rosatta I am seeing your tag... you are a mermaid too?
Rosatta Resident: Yes :)
Eliza Madrigal: nice :)
Rosatta Resident: I have several places where I can mermaid dance landmarked
Rosatta Resident: I need a better tail, though
Rosatta Resident: I don't have any lindens yet, so I'm still working with freebies, but I will than then I will get a good tail
Eliza Madrigal: :)) good tail is a must... right Blub?
Rosatta Resident: That little blue fish is beautiful
Bruce Mowbray: Thank you!
Rosatta Resident: My daughter just walked by asked about your horns, May I ask?
Bruce Mowbray: I see that you've been in-world for one month and one day!
Bruce Mowbray: Welcome to Second Life!
Bruce Mowbray: Of course you may ask!
Bruce Mowbray: This are antlers, actually.
Bruce Mowbray: sort of like horns, though.
Rosatta Resident: Ty. It has been life-changing. Something I would never would have imagined
Bruce Mowbray: I use them to communicate with other parts of nature - - - like trees!
Eliza Madrigal: like a fish to water then ^^
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, SL can indeed be life-changing.
Rosatta Resident: Oooo! Excellent antlers :)
Bruce Mowbray: TY!
Rosatta Resident: Well, my daughter has a party starting in less than an hour and she is telling me I need to leave before her friends get here
Eliza Madrigal: :) lovely to meet you Rosatta
Eliza Madrigal waves branches to daughter
Rosatta Resident: I has been good being here. There aren't many places in SL where there are people to talk to and most of those are conversations I'm not comfortable with
Rosatta Resident: Daughter says 'Hi" :)
Eliza Madrigal: ah, nods.... we're here every 6 hours...most sessions people check in anyway :)
Mellie McMinnar: hello
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Mellie :)
Bruce Mowbray: Hello, Mellie.
Mellie McMinnar: hello tree :)
Bruce Mowbray: sry.
Rosatta Resident: Is there a group to join?
Eliza Madrigal: just noticed Blub is circling Rosatta ^^
Mellie McMinnar: what is the topic?
Eliza Madrigal: it is called "friends of playasbeing"
Rosatta Resident loving Blub's company
Bruce Mowbray: you could the join group Eliza just mentioned. Friends of Play as Being.
Mellie McMinnar: Blub?
Eliza Madrigal: we've basically been playing dress up Mellie
Bruce Mowbray: Blub is a very gregarious fish, you see.
Rosatta Resident: The little fish
Rosatta Resident: Would someone send me an invite?
Rosatta Resident: For the group?
Eliza Madrigal: (on way, one moment)
Rosatta Resident: ty :)
Mellie McMinnar: ok, I am with you :)
Rosatta Resident: beautiful tree dancing, Eliza
Rosatta Resident: Ty. I hope to see each of you again soon
Eliza Madrigal: yay, I see the tag, bfn and enjoy the party
Mellie McMinnar: I would like to climb into you Eli... is that awkward? :D
Eliza Madrigal: Oh, cute Mellie

--BELL--

Eliza Madrigal laughs... no it would be fun to be climbed
Bruce Mowbray: Tis time for me to scrape up some dinner. . . . May all trees and . . . Mellies be happy!
Eliza Madrigal: bye Bruce, ty for hosting and playing :)
Bruce Mowbray: Bye for now, folks.
Eliza Madrigal: Be well and happy
Mellie McMinnar: bb Bruce
Bruce Mowbray: TY Eliza!
Mellie McMinnar: I broke the rule to say goodbye
Eliza Madrigal nods.... well, it is a friendly rule
Eliza Madrigal: if someone lingers as they leave I do so but if they are someone who poofs quickly I tend to stay quiet :)
Mellie McMinnar: why was there a meeting anyway? it's way outside the times
Eliza Madrigal: I suppose it started on time and then continued... I arrived late
Eliza Madrigal: we've had really long meetings before though....
Eliza Madrigal: as much as one running into the next a few times
Mellie McMinnar: you did? look at me :)
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Mellie McMinnar: it's 12:15 am for me and I just woke up... I locked in here (no idea why) and I found you all sitting here ^^
Eliza Madrigal: Oh, often with insomnia or rare?
Mellie McMinnar: often at the weekends ^^
Eliza Madrigal: ah :)
Mellie McMinnar: I have a normal life and a normal job... don't worry ^^
Eliza Madrigal: I love waking around 4am my time and coming to a session.. SL feels like a half dream then, not quite awake
Mellie McMinnar: hehe, I know that feeling :) ... where are you from?
Eliza Madrigal: Miami, FL US
Mellie McMinnar: ah, so you are close to SL time
Eliza Madrigal: just 3 hours difference
Eliza Madrigal: it is nearly dinner time here, like for Bruce 5:22
Eliza Madrigal: I think I need a nest to wear as a hat
Mellie McMinnar: Bruce 5:22... sounds like a verse from the bible :D
Eliza Madrigal: haha... wonder what that verse would say....
Mellie McMinnar: Bruce 5:22: "If you are hungry, you have to eat"
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Mellie McMinnar: Bruce was a wise guy ^^
Eliza Madrigal: that's how he got into the book eh?
Eliza Madrigal: I am female so I was written out
Mellie McMinnar: me too.... And I changed the glasses and everybody was wondering like "wooooow it's suddenly wine"
Eliza Madrigal: hehe.. invisible touches
Mellie McMinnar: Bruce 5:22: "If you are swimming against the stream, you are still following the river"
Eliza Madrigal: ohhh, like that one
Mellie McMinnar: made that one up a long time ago... to someone you would call a hipster today ;)
Eliza Madrigal: :) hipsters are all the fad now
Mellie McMinnar: fad?
Eliza Madrigal: well yes judging by my kids.... their style of glasses and things they seem drawn to
Eliza Madrigal: seems a fashion/fad
Mellie McMinnar: I am glad that when I was in school, people didn't care about that kind of stuff
Eliza Madrigal: that must have been wonderful, quite rare
Mellie McMinnar: about 20 years ago
Eliza Madrigal: so many ways people find to differentiate and group themselves

--BELL--

Mellie McMinnar: even toddlers know about grouping up and hating difference.... there was a study about that
Eliza Madrigal: was there...? very early signal-reading I guess?
Mellie McMinnar: it was about puppets.... one did like the cookies the child liked, and the other one didn't.... the child preferred the puppet who liked the cookies and even enjoyed when the "bad" puppy got hurt
Eliza Madrigal: ooh I see, interesting
Mellie McMinnar: it seems to be a basic instinct.... so it takes intelligence to beat it
Eliza Madrigal: there was a question posited a few nights ago in another setting, about whether if babies were not socialized to see friends/enemies, if they would..
Mellie McMinnar: well, the study I've read would have been a good argument back then
Eliza Madrigal: some felt the tendency would already be there due to conditioning
Eliza Madrigal: patterns before birth
Mellie McMinnar: I tend to be with them
Eliza Madrigal: my tendency too, mostly because we could never know otherwise really
Mellie McMinnar: spoken like a true scientist
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Eliza Madrigal: was nice to see you again Mellie, but I have to go - am going to nap actually - hope you are able to rest too
Eliza Madrigal: I woke too early for a somewhat stressful appt that has lifted off my shoulders, thanks for helping with that
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Mellie McMinnar: oh, I just woke up.... but I am going to enjoy my day :) have a nice sleep and awesome dreams... about squirrels and robots... and spaceships :)
Eliza Madrigal: haha, thanks - awesome day to you then
Mellie McMinnar: and trees ^^
Eliza Madrigal: seems early, but as you like!
Eliza Madrigal: bfn, tc
Mellie McMinnar: bb