tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post8811027889587969187..comments2024-03-01T06:20:29.087+00:00Comments on qualia and other wildlife: living the questionrosellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-86240620263029176002014-02-13T15:26:18.476+00:002014-02-13T15:26:18.476+00:00Interesting one, Roselle and so easy to feel exasp...Interesting one, Roselle and so easy to feel exasperated with friends who do just that because in them, we're seeing the things that exasperate us about ourselves. Or at least I do but I'm more mindful about it than I used to be and beat myself less than I used to (though it's not always obvious, I know!). Fellow-feeling is what one needs to express, perhaps, in a spirit of – 'isn't it hard being like this'. It's easy to sound too forceful when someone close to you falls into the same traps as your own. And then, I find, you've lost them.<br /><br />I've done no writing today and though I woke up in the night worrying about it, I realised by day that I simply needed a rest. And I've survived! I've more time than I think; worrying won't help. A lot to do with all you've said, but also a dose of Tai Chi this morning.<br />M xxAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-6236934676444355462014-02-13T15:25:14.604+00:002014-02-13T15:25:14.604+00:00Ps Miriam - thanks for the Grossman alert - got Sa...Ps Miriam - thanks for the Grossman alert - got Sat's Review but haven't had time to read it! (What does that say in light of all this pushing??) Will look it out. Rxrosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-23627858080024094742014-02-13T09:09:22.156+00:002014-02-13T09:09:22.156+00:00As always, Miriam, thank you. We usually say/teach...As always, Miriam, thank you. We usually say/teach what we ourselves need to learn, don't we, as they say? - Found myself easily falling back into the old driven patterns this year (mental excitement as much as 'ought tos'), but last year taught me something crucial, that I need to listen to.<br /><br />I do ask myself these days 'What would I say to my best friend if she was driven as I am?' - Yes, you raise that too.<br /><br />A big thank you.<br /><br />And with love<br /><br />Rxrosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-40032442313472390102014-02-12T19:56:03.242+00:002014-02-12T19:56:03.242+00:00Oh Roselle, such wise and compassionate words. Tha...Oh Roselle, such wise and compassionate words. Thank you. I like your 'precious Iona greenstone image and 'letting each stitch be gentle, and be enough.' It's much kinder than 'working myself' and I do need to ask, continuously – am I as kind to myself as I am to others? Do I still expect too much, too soon, of myself? It is too easy to slip into those old hard habits: whipping myself into action, for instance; forcing a discipline instead of simply writing something each day. What a relief to 'stop struggling and simply listen'. <br />Interestingly, I've just read a review (last Sat's Guardian Review, p10) of David Grossman's book – Falling Out of Time. Sounds remarkable, especially the last paragraph – a quote from Grossman's lecture, Freedom to Write. Maybe you've already seen it. <br />Also meant to say – delighted about Living The Questions and shall definitely be interested in participating (J also).<br />These wise words of yours mean so much to me. The tension's released for the time being.<br />With love, M.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-46960150155701544852014-02-12T16:05:55.805+00:002014-02-12T16:05:55.805+00:00Miriam how could we have asked the questions then ...Miriam how could we have asked the questions then that we need to ask now? Our concerns then were different.<br /><br />I'd expect that q right now to be one that one holds and polishes, as a precious Iona greenstone, over and over - simply as a question! That's the point, really, isn't it – to ask the question, to be led to LIVE the question - until one knows deep deep deeply what it is... And maybe it's not articulable...?<br /><br />- I like your play on words. And it hurts a little that you are hard on yourself - as in working yourself, like a blacksmith! - rather than letting each stitch be gentle, and be enough - I say this as one who also needs to hear this! Hope that's not presumptuous.<br /><br />One of my qs this year is: 'How can I trust my life, and life itself, enough as to stop struggling and simply listen?'<br /><br />With love to you, fellow-wayfarer. Rxrosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-60798049683773485532014-02-12T16:03:25.636+00:002014-02-12T16:03:25.636+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.rosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-26526207345883803272014-02-12T15:03:41.040+00:002014-02-12T15:03:41.040+00:00Thanks, Roselle. Such a timely post for me, immers...Thanks, Roselle. Such a timely post for me, immersed in the novel (very slow progress, though) and the questions asked by the characters therein as well as the ones they don't ask! The James Hollis quote is particularly relevant; I ask far more questions now than I did as a younger adult, so much so that I often wonder if they sound naive: why didn't I ask them more thoroughly then? I was immersed in Jung & Psychiatric S.W. Perhaps I did but not as deeply as I'd thought; or maybe I simply didn't ask enough of the right questions. (More likely that I asked them but neglected to hear the answers.) And interestingly, reading your vital (familiar from Iona) question: 'what is the question your life is asking of you right now?' –I'm suddenly stumped for an answer – the right answer, that is. <br />Does what I write here make any sense at all, I wonder?<br />Ah well, back to work. Let's see if I can write/wright (as in wrought or work) myself into a wiser, more compassionate, more enlightened self and help, at the very least, one other on the way.<br />With love, Miriam.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com