Information Whore

It seems one of my overarching themes is to gather a lot of information from different people, attempting to integrate many of their varying ideas, perspectives, and views into something I can use personally, especially for navigating the experience of living.

Religion as one of The Ultimate Mindsets?

To me it seems like religion is one of the ultimate mindsets. For those who are able to really be affected by religion to the point of deep resonance, it allows individuals and groups to really endure and persevere. For some it allows for a deep focus on some larger goal. For others it allows them to be willing to suffer or even die. And for some it allows for the willingness to kill others for the sake of something believed in, believing it will somehow protect or even gain favor and respect. Religion seems to serve as a mindset to be able bolster our efforts, allowing us to do some things that perhaps would be much more difficult without religion.

What a Leader is to Me

To me a leader is someone who guides, protects, and builds others up via their own position and strength, fostering growth of individuals for the benefit of the whole.

Sorting Skill Level into Hierarchy and Goldilocks

By sorting people according to their skill level, and having said people interact, it allows for the Goldilocks amount of challenge and resistance: Not too much and not too little... Fostering growth, allowing people to build up gradually without becoming too discouraged or too bored.

The Feel Good Outweighs the Feel Bad

I think so much of what we do depends of the Feel Good outweighing the Feel Bad. From the things we enjoy doing, our habits, and the people we spend time with.  Any kind of major change from our usual way of being often results in a lot of Feel Bad. It takes a lot of time and effort in order to create more of the Feel Good. Because of the initial discomfort, it is helpful to use as many resources as possible that contribute to the Feel Good to help us cope with the initial Feel Bad that results from major sudden change.

Acquiring Skills that Exist Outside of Nature: A Very Human Trait

As humans with a large amount of cerebral cortex, we are able to acquire skills that exist outside of nature. By some combination of modeling, guidance, mirroring, innovation, and intuition, and with enough repetition, we have an extreme ability to adapt and change, so long as we work within the framework of our mammalian rewards system.

It's likely that there are preexisting patterns that exist in nature (easily seen in other animals) that also serve as a framework guiding many of our behaviors, patterns, and predispositions. So likely it helps to work within those existing frameworks when acquiring skills that exist outside of nature.

When we attend concerts or sporting events, very concrete and observable reflections of skill acquisition, I believe that on some level, our admiration reflects our own human desire to continue to learn and adapt: It reflects our very human trait of acquiring skills that exist outside of nature within the framework of our mammalian rewards system.

I believe our admiration is a reflection of our own innate desires. I also believe on some level we know how difficult it is to create changes and acquire or increase our skills: We're admiring the quest and journey involved. As humans we constantly ride The Edge of Adaptation. We have to honor an ever-changing environment (that is often a product of what we create or have created), while simultaneously honoring our underlying primal instinctual desires (of safety and continued survival...  In a social animal context, gaining respect as well as gaining trusted allies are the most obvious manifestations of our underlying desires, as both create a feeling of safety within a group. From a physical body perspective, we wish to be free of too much pain and physical discomfort, and constantly seek ways to acquire resources that allow for hoped for increased physical safety). We also have to honor our preexisting tendencies (either from natural disposition or acquired through earlier experience). We all have a unique map full of desired destinations and obstacles along the way... Traveling that map is somehow very human.

The use of the Word "Baby" in a Romantic Relationship and Vulnerability

It's my belief that in romantic relationships, some people use the word "Baby" as an unconscious link towards feelings of vulnerability and the desire to feel protected. The mindset of being vulnerable creates an opportunity for another to honor that state of rawness (and fear), by offering protection and security. When the call and response are completed and answered via what is desired, oxytocin flows through our brains, by both Being someone who is trusted and by being someone who trusts, allowing for a feeling of deeper bonding and connection... By taking down our armor, we allow others to be there for us. Yet at the same time, taking down armor can result in what our brains consider increased chances of death... The exists of the risk being put into situations not helpful for getting our needs met... so ultimately we must use discernment in order to find those who will honor, respect, and help us along our journey of living.

Accepting as Real and Unreal

My dog (along with many other animals) does not recognize her own reflection in the mirror. She sees the image as another dog, who is real enough to attack... The image in the mirror is real enough to elicit a real emotional response.

It seems humans on the other hand can recognize what is an image representing reality, and simultaneously part of us doesn't recognize the image as not real. Images can elicit real emotional responses. We can watch television, being drawn into the point of experiencing real feelings of emotion. We can play video games, feeling satisfied over accomplishing goals that don't exist in actual physical reality. The imagery and experience is a close representation of real experiences in nature... enough to trigger our neurotransmitters...

As humans this seems to have the advantage of creating new kinds of realities into our environment. We can create new goals in order to shape our environment into a totally different way, creating things that can help get our needs met, things that don't actually exist in nature. Yet at the same time, the ability to feel stimulated by represented realities can create situations where our needs might not be met if what is being done isn't linked to some kind of real survival strategy or means.

This real and unreal experience creates a blurred reality. Part of us knows we can manipulate our experience of reality, while another part is still rooted in a more natural reality... We can only drift so far out of the natural reality, keeping our feet tied to the Earth, while our heads can look onward and upward into the Heavens.

Attempting to give Shape, Form, Definition, and Clarity to Experience

It seems one of my own overarching themes is that of attempting to give shape, form, definition and clarity to experiences, especially the experience of the inner as it relates to the outer. There seems to be an underlying hope that by increasing awareness that there will be some kind of increased understanding of what the inner experience (as it relates to the outer) points to.

All of the inner hopes, dreams, desires...
The wants, the needs, the inner impulses, the fear...
The instinctual as it relates to an ever evolving outer world and how we each must cope with different drives involved, as well as the many needs involved, both our own and others... and the varying needs of each situation in the process we call living or life...
The forks in the road made by choices that do not have an easily reached compromise or solution that can easily fulfill the many inner needs and desires involved...
The many lives lived and un-lived based on each decision...
The many frames of mind that can alter our experience and what we are willing and unwilling to do...

Writing, music, and photography have been a few of the ways I have attempted to give form to my own experience... I have hopes of gaining a better understanding for myself, along with the hope that perhaps the forms I present will also help others gain a better understanding for themselves, so that they may feel heard and understood in a very indirect way. What understanding will lead to, I do not know, but it seems to be my ongoing quest... The very act of writing this entry is an inner impulse within me attempting to give shape, form, definition, and clarity... Somehow I find it fulfilling, which leads me to such questions as Why do we do what we do?... And the bigger question of Why do we live? What is living for? Why do we have such a strong desire to continue along this journey? Why are we willing to struggle and suffer so much to be a part of this whole process???

Perhaps there are some things that are too difficult to answer... But for those things that feel within my grasp, I will continue to attempt to give shape, form, definition, and hopefully clarity to what I come in contact with...