I'm lying here just breathing, and I can't get over how amazing it is that we get to experience this world. We get to see sunsets and smell the rain. We get to hold babies and lie on quilts under tall trees.

How amazing.

We get sick and experience healing, however that looks. We hug our friends hear them laugh. We fall in love...

We experience joy and sorrow all in one day. We taste chocolate and move our bodies to music.
How amazing...

This is what I was missing, this awareness. I want to notice the fog and light and sounds around me. I want to soak in the love offered to me. I want to always notice these things, even if it hurts sometimes.


❤️


Comments

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said…
“Dasein exists. Furthermore, Dasein is an entity which in each case I myself am. Mineness belongs to any existent Dasein, and belongs to it as the condition which makes authenticity and inauthenticity possible.”

- Dreyfus, H., "Being-in-the-World: A Commentary on Heidegger's Being and Time, Division I"
January 13, 2021 at 5:32 AM
Jen said…
I think I've been consciously avoiding this for nearly a year, and it makes sense, considering the constant fear and anxiety being shoved down our throats. But it's an illusion that by avoiding being present I can avoid the noise.
January 14, 2021 at 2:03 PM
-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said…
"They" will always be there. It's hard to boost/amplify the positive signals and turn around and ignore the negative ones... to separate signal from noise. It's easy for "attention" to be lured away to the negative. But it's a risk worth taking, so we can be "present" in the positive.
January 16, 2021 at 6:02 AM
-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said…
...and not descend into the Shadowlands of lachesism.
January 16, 2021 at 9:05 AM
nicrap said…
I dont trußt epiphanies. Life, awareness require work. Epiphanies are dime a dozen.(no disrespect intended)
January 17, 2021 at 6:34 PM
Jen said…
Sometimes an epiphany is what's needed to know where to do the work. And sometimes it's not an epiphany, but a reminder of what you knew all along.
January 18, 2021 at 12:34 AM
nicrap said…
Let me rephrase myself then. I don't trust most mental experience, as more often than not they become a kind of substitute for real life work.
January 18, 2021 at 5:55 AM
nicrap said…
Get out of your mind is what i often tell myself. :)
January 18, 2021 at 5:55 AM
nicrap said…
Life, truth, freedom, beauty, you name it, it all takes outside of your mind.
January 18, 2021 at 6:01 AM
Thersites said…
...but not outside of your cerebellum. ;)
January 18, 2021 at 6:07 AM
Jen said…
To me, that's the point I was making. 🤓 By being present, I am getting out of my head.
January 18, 2021 at 10:33 AM
Jen said…
Intense video, FJ. Do you know who is behind the channel? I wonder where the line would be drawn between mental function vs dysfunction?
January 18, 2021 at 10:45 AM
Joe Conservative said…
Nope. I haven't a clue who's behind it.
January 18, 2021 at 12:53 PM
Jen said…
Ok wait, now I'm confused. If I am trying to be "present", is that not the same as the Daesin described by Heidegger? And so, my assuming for that kind of presence (Being), I am focused on the experience itself, instead of the mental problem-solving / anxiety that is only focused inwardly. Am I explaining that correctly? If so, it sounds like Nikhil and I agree.

Another phrase that I think is similar is: "chop wood, carry water", which to me has always meant: going through the steps of living (physically going through the motions of life) will usually give us more insight and mental freedom than over analyzation.
January 19, 2021 at 6:56 PM
Jen said…
Ok wait, now I'm confused. If I am trying to be "present", is that not the same as the Dasein described by Heidegger? And so, my understanding of that kind of presence (Being), is that I am focused on the experience itself, instead of the mental problem-solving / anxiety that is only focused inwardly. In other words, by experiencing "Being", I am "getting out of my head". Am I explaining that correctly? If so, it sounds like Nikhil and I agree.

Another phrase that I think is similar is: "chop wood, carry water", which to me has always meant: going through the steps of living (physically going through the motions of life, and experiencing the sensations of such) will usually give us more insight and mental freedom than over analyzation.
January 19, 2021 at 7:01 PM
Joe Conservative said…
Meden.. Agan. Muscle memory resides in the cerabellum.

January 20, 2021 at 6:55 AM
Joe Conservative said…
Biden. First true post-Republican neo-capitalist president. Trump reminded people of what the Republic has once been, before the neo-capitalists made Republican life "impossible".
January 20, 2021 at 7:30 AM
nicrap said…
Could you explain it a bit more, fj?
January 20, 2021 at 8:24 PM
Jen said…
You don't consider Trump a populist?
January 20, 2021 at 9:30 PM
Joe Conservative said…
Given what Trump DIDN'T do, like pardon Assange and Snowden, no. I consider Trump a pre-Reagan (paleo-liberal/conservative). He's still very much a man of "established" wealth and privilege, as opposed to the new-money neo-liberal "Reagan" world order.
January 21, 2021 at 10:00 AM
Joe Conservative said…
Reagan and Thatcher opened the "nationalist" world to global capitalism, and there arose a "salaried bourgeoisie" of bank and investment "managers". They were "salaried"... not "owners". They created a lot of "new money" envious of "old money" privileges. Old money was nationalistic. New money is global. Trump fell into the former class, and maintained his "national" loyalties. The post-Republican globalist "managers" have no real national loyalties, they only care where they can access the cheapest labour to produce their products and acquire more capital to increase their own "personal" wealth. Biden falls into this class.
January 22, 2021 at 4:57 AM
nicrap said…
Yes. I see what you mean.
January 22, 2021 at 8:57 PM
-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said…
We live in a global corporate capitalist world. Democracy is now just something to tie the hands of the petite bourgeois and keep your "markets" from throwing you off and producing their own "less efficiently produced" products/ services.. Progress is achieved through greater systemic "efficiency" (energy reductions), not "denser energy sources" (ala Lazare Carnot).
January 23, 2021 at 7:47 AM
-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said…
We ain't ever going to form a Star Trek "federation of planets" with wind mills and solar cells.
January 23, 2021 at 8:05 AM
nicrap said…
I was browsing through the sites of some literary magazines to see where i can send my works. And this is what i found in one.

...is committed to participating in the ongoing conversation and practice regarding inclusion and equity. To this end, we encourage submissions from underrepresented voices and writers from marginalized communities.

Now as a member of a third world country do i belong to a marginal community or not? ;)
January 25, 2021 at 8:44 PM
nicrap said…
And, also, as a fiction writer who really wants to write fiction, am i not the most "underrepresented voice"? :)
January 25, 2021 at 8:45 PM
Joe Conservative said…
I think that you're competing with "journalism" in the fiction-writer category making you OVER-represented. :)
January 28, 2021 at 9:56 AM
Jen said…
"under represented" is code for "who we can promote to gain the most social capital". It has nothing to do with actual representation.... Or talent.

Or maybe I'm in a black hole of cynicism...
January 30, 2021 at 11:21 AM
Joe Conservative said…
India is definitely under-represented in many categories of English literary fiction, but I suspect that's because the English (and many American) audiences are biased in favour of "posh" speakers of the language.... so the genre is WAY over-represented by rich and or titled aristocrats. Even television shows tend to feature the "professional" classes. It's one of the reasons I love YOUR writing, Nikhil. You write about Indians and allow them to speak in their own voices without explanations or apologies. They're stories that have "inter-personal" value w/o all the need for allowing the reader to pretend to have achieved the greater "social capital" or wealth that typical English and American authors so value.

...so don't listen to that "black hole of cynicism" and SUBMIT YOUR WORK! ;p
January 30, 2021 at 2:05 PM
Joe Conservative said…
...and whatever you do, don't let them discourage you. Most publishers pander to their audiences poor tastes and wouldn't recognize a worthwhile submission if it hit them in the face.
January 30, 2021 at 2:08 PM
Jen said…
I think you misunderstood me, FJ. I was implying that Nikhil is talented enough to get published, period... whether he qualifies as "under represented or marginalized" according to these publishers or not.
January 30, 2021 at 3:54 PM
nicrap said…
Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys. Appreciate it much. Frankly, I was being ironical. Inclusion and equity while noble aims can never be the criteria for judging a piece of writing. What should alone matter in this regard is if the piece is good or not.

Jen is right "under represented" is nothing but a code.
February 1, 2021 at 2:56 AM
-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said…
The problem is that the "code" has become mainstream, so please, don't let it be an impediment to submitting your work for consideration.

America and most of the West have "thrown off" the Western literary canon in a crazy progressive social experiment. I believe THAT to be a mistake, as Shakespeare is still "the best" of what Western Lit has to offer. But that doesn't mean we've seen the "best" of what English (et al) speaking India has to offer. It only means that whether or not you get published (or not) doesn't mean much. Ultimately, it's what you (and history/ posterity) believe the merit of your work is that counts. So "timelessness" counts, not progressive social experiments.
February 3, 2021 at 5:05 AM
Monika said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
February 3, 2021 at 6:34 AM
nicrap said…
Thanks fj. I totally agree with you.

That earlier comment i was ußing someone else's mobile ànd accidently used her id. Sorry about it.
February 3, 2021 at 6:39 AM
Jen said…
Tell Monika we said hello. 😘
February 4, 2021 at 10:23 PM
-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said…
Monika... she's probably a lot like "Bertie" or "Alice"... ;)
February 6, 2021 at 5:25 AM
-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said…
Alice and Bertie were the two female personas in my sock puppet stable...
February 7, 2021 at 5:37 AM
nicrap said…
Lol. Monika is very much real. And i always thought Bertie was a male name.
February 8, 2021 at 2:30 AM
-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said…
Monika with a 'k...Is that a Moldavian spelling? ;)
February 11, 2021 at 2:58 PM
nicrap said…
Lol. You will be surprised to find how many Monikas there are in india. Just do a facebook search.
February 14, 2021 at 1:48 AM
nicrap said…
Try it with Joshi, a common Indian surname.
February 14, 2021 at 3:54 AM
-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said…
I can't... i quit Facebook. :(. I'll take your word for it, though.
February 15, 2021 at 4:29 PM
-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said…
...that, and just assume that Nikhil is quite a PLAYAH! ;)
February 15, 2021 at 4:33 PM
nicrap said…
Lol. That song was hilarious.
February 16, 2021 at 5:46 PM
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