2012.07.15 _ 96

All beings being perfectly what they are. Why do I ever think they should be some other way? How great that everyone is unique and different, every day filled with unexpected different experiences. How boring and stale it would become if I could control it...
I read something reassuring today:

'What our society (including a large part of neuroscience) does not see is that even though the short-term memory of the elderly and the speed of their mental processing no doubt decrease, what is called “presence” of the soul and the awareness matured during life isn’t much affected by age-related factors – it actually becomes steadier. Rather, decreased mental abilities may have even evolved in order to lessen our identification with our mental contents and to naturally slow down the mental activity, thus giving space to the observation of thoughts, as happens during meditation.'

Quartiroli, Ivo (2011-09-27). The Digitally Divided Self: Relinquishing our Awareness to the Internet (p. 51). Silens. Kindle Edition.

Greetings, today has been an unusual day, different from many so I sat down being very relaxed and read the last 50 entries of the log. I enjoyed reading and scanning the conversations of Eliza, Storm and Zen (mostly). I see all the fun and interesting posts I've missed. I didn't even know this tread was still making a daily appearance on the wiki, but was glad is was. Thanks for keeping the torch. And thank you all for your wonderful quotes and contributions.

I have taken 6 weeks off from my Tai Chi class for momentary financial concerns and will endevour to continues to practice daily. If I am truly focused I may even attempt to post on these last countdown day to fill in some time I will be missing by not attending class. Feels like I am a shirt tail blogger here but I will see what comes of this. :)

I saw Roger Waters's The Wall concert last night in Philadelphia and stayed over which meant I didn't have a 90 minute drive home in the middle of the night after getting out of the parking lot since I was able to take public transportation back and forth from the hotel downtown. The concert was unlike anything I have ever attended from a music and entertainment quality stand point. I don't think I could have imagined anything better so have seem. The song which I was expecting to carry my soul away were not the one's that did, it was the quieter more vocal songs which sank deeply into my heart as they spoke to me. Now I can listen to it the Album with an entirely new ear.


All this made for a relaxing weekend and gave me time to read the past 50 days of posts. edited 18:05, 15 Jul 2012

Thanks Zen, that rings quite true to me, that in 'fixing' some things that seem like bad ideas (like death) it is so easy to be short-sighted and cut off what may be essential... "presence" as mentioned in your entry.

In "Strangers to Ourselves" there are several angles that touch on something similar, that mechanisms, if we rely on them making decisions (like making lists of pro/con, or logically puzzling out things), may obscure what we *are*, in favor of what we _think_ we 'want' or 'have' or even 'know'. It may just be a matter of, to use a Pema phrase "what contains what" rather than either/or. (techniques;-)

Nice for you to come back to us Stevenaia, and also that you caught up reading so many entries. Thank you! :) So interesting, your noticing that spaciousness, or continuity, then allowed for deeper immersion and experience of openness here. When I hear most songs from that album I think of Jr High school ... would love for that to open up a bit so that I can hear it in the freshness I hear Wish You Were Here. :)

The Art History presentation was an excellent example of how we can think we have heard someone's stories, but hear much more when giving immersive attention. ::claps::: edited 20:31, 15 Jul 2012

Welcome back "shirt tail blogger"! Your dedication in reading is humbling. :))

Talking about seeing things in a different light... There's a new computer in the house. Not mine though! Still, Mrs. Storm was able to wander round some places in Second Life and show me things there that were amazingly familiar yet totally unfamiliar, such is the power of having a fast games machine with a great graphics card. It's like suddenly having a clear eye, or a mind that atcually does one's bidding! Suddenly a whole bunch of obstacles were no longer there, obstacles that I've just learnt to put up with as a matter of course while building stuff with my old office-oriented machine. Could have been a different world.

It's another example of a vehicle, the kind of thing I talked about at the start of these 99 days. How you experience a world is very dependent on the vehicle you use to traverse it. A younger physical body used to get about this physical world rather better than this old one - though the mileage is still fairly low and with care the mechanic says it'll last a while yet! Keeping the mind clear and able and keeping it from declaring tunnel vision may help too. :)

And keeping from rambling like an old man ... ;-))