The horror of direct experience
Stranger danger
Hi there,
Yesterday I found out I could deadlift my body weight +50lbs! I am so excited to find out what else my body is capable of achieving. Theoretically, I could deadlift double my body weight + some: Maaaaaaaaagic! Training is a good use of my time and attention. How have you made good use of your time and attention lately?
Five things to share:
I once knew of grown men that had no say over their lives, complacent and trapped in the misery of their own making. It horrified me endlessly but I would listen carefully as they tried to justify their predicament: “You must understand,” they would plead with themselves, “she’s the boss!” and we would all laugh raucously. Nothing is funny, of course, but such predicaments require humour to placate the rage. “Want another beer?” he asks right on time and I just smile and nod. I have learned a long, long time ago to leave the grown-ups alone: When you have spent a lifetime weaving the traps of misery tightly around your life, the kindest thing someone can do for you is to leave you alone to it. Sometimes, it is too late. When I get the time to be alone with my thoughts, my journal, I ask the empty pages the question that’s been bugging me all afternoon in-between the beers and niceties: How does one end up trapped in such predicament? Before it’s too late for me too, I plead. The page whispers back: The horror of direct experience.
The internet has to be self-directed: More search, less feed.
A quote I want to share with you:
"Everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
— Viktor Frankl
Mind | Matter
There is surely something ironic about Christ’s injunction to love thy neighbour as thyself – because actually, of course, people hate themselves.
A question for you: (Again) How have you made good use of your time and attention lately?
P.s. I’m realizing I have no good advice to give you, just stories to tell. I know you know enough to figure it out for yourself— The only worthwhile lesson is the one you have figured out for yourself.
That’s all for this week!
Thank you for reading, and share with anyone you think may benefit.
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Until next time,
Mehret